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their  Breeding  and  Management. 
Mr.  Pain. 
My  friend  and  colleague  on  the  Council  of  the  Royal  Agri- 
cultural Society,  Mr.  Pain,  ex-Master  of  the  South  Wilts  Fox- 
hounds, with  inherent  and  helpful  good-nature,  not  only  spent 
part  of  a hunting  morning  in  writing  for  me  the  following  letter, 
but  also  very  kindly  interested  his  partner,  Mr.  Tattersall,  in 
my  undertaking.  I hail  with  great  satisfaction  two  additional 
and  altogether  undoubted  authorities  ; and  I have  great  pleasure 
in  thanking  both  these  well-known  gentlemen  for  their  valuable 
and  welcome  contributions. 
“ Audley’s  Wood,  Basingstoke, 
“ Dear  Lord  CATHCART,  11  February  22,  1883. 
“ The  breeding  of  the  thoroughbred  and  cart-horse  is 
much  more  easy  to  write  about  than  the  half-bred,  which 
includes  every  horse  not  in  the  Stud-book.  The  subject  is 
one  of  difficulty,  as  it  is  almost  impossible  to  lay  down  a prin- 
ciple by  which  you  are  certain  to  get  a good  half-bred  horse,  as 
in  breeding  these  animals  they  so  often  ‘ throw  back.’  All  I 
can  do  is  to  give  an  opinion  as  to  the  best  course  of  proceeding 
to  secure  for  general  purposes  a good  sort  of  half-bred.  The 
stallion  should  be  a long,  low,  muscular  horse,  with  strong 
shoulders,  laying  well  back  ; short,  flat  legs,  with  plenty  of  true 
action  ; standing  not  over  15*2,  but  looking  much  higher,  and 
always  with  a good  countenance.  We  have  then  something  to 
begin  with.  The  mare  should  have  as  many  crosses  of  blood  as 
possible,  provided  she  has  size,  plenty  of  bone,  is  very  roomy, 
with  good  feet,  and  as  big  as  possible,  provided  she  is  level  made. 
No  doubt  the  perfection  of  a brood  mare  was  the  old-fashioned 
‘ Cleveland,’  but  she  is  as  difficult  to  find  now  as  a nugget  of  gold 
on  Salisbury  Plain.  Forty  years  ago  there  were  plenty  to  be 
found,  but  a great  desire  arose  to  obtain  more  action,  and  for 
this  purpose  many  Hanoverian  stallions  were  imported,  and 
from  that  time  the  breed  became  deteriorated,  the  foreign  stallion 
having  imparted  softness  and  entirely  changed  its  character. 
The  foreigners  about  this  time  begun  purchasing  all  the  good 
mares  they  could  find.  In  Ireland  * no  man  would  part  with 
* Ireland  is  the  great  nursery  of  hunters.  The  agricultural  returns  (‘  Whitaker’s 
Almanack,’  1882,  p.  386)  shows  an  increase  of  horses  in  England  and  Wales  of 
nearly  5000,  a decrease  in  Scotland  of  1000,  and  a decrease  in  Ireland  of  10,000. 
The  late  Lord  Charlemont,  the  largest  breeder  of  half-bred  horses  in  Ireland,  told 
the  Lords’  Committee  that  tillage  there  was  done  by  all  sorts  of  horses,  from 
the  pony  to  the  thoroughbred.  The  hunter  got  by  a thoroughbred  horse  out  of 
a cart-mare  with  a dash  of  blood  in  her.  Clydesdales  have  been  imported  into 
Ireland,  Meath,  and  co.  Dublin  ; this  is  disadvantageous  as  regards  the  breeding 
of  hunting  horses.  The  15  2 Irish  cob  horse,  thick,  short-legged,  and  well- 
shaped, is  getting  scarce.  Ireland  differs  from  England  remarkably  in  this 
respect,  much  greater  importance  and  interest  is  attached  to  pedigree : even  as 
regards  a half-bred  horse  there  is  always  forthcoming  an  ample  pedigree. — C. 
