their  Breeding  and  Management. 
49 
the  Norfolk  stallions  when  I was  a boy,  and  I have  never  seen 
such  trotting-action  since. 
“ I had  an  old  ‘ Shales  ’ * mare  to  ride  in  the  holidays.  She  was 
a dark  chestnut,  with  some  white  on  her  legs  and  a slight  streak 
on  her  face,  with  a head  like  a pure  Arab.  She  was  warm  in 
her  temper,  and  could  trot  up  to  seventeen  or  eighteen  miles  an 
hour.  I rode  her  hunting  in  the  holidays,  and  one  day,  when 
the  Royal  Staghounds  met  at  my  father’s  farm  at  Dawley  Hall, 
with  Charles  Davis,  I think,  on  ‘ The  Hermit,’  I,  then  a boy 
in  a jacket,  asked  the  man  on  the  deer-cart  what  deer  he  had. 
Upon  which  he  said,  ‘ Old  Ripley,’  so  named  because  he 
always  ran  to  or  near  to  Ripley,  in  Surrey.  A young  officer 
laughed  at  my  asking  about  the  deer ! I made  a mental  note  of 
him ! The  deer  went  away  straight  to  the  Thames,  about  ten 
miles,  swam  it,  and  went  away  for  Ripley.  In  the  latter  part  of 
the  run  I passed  my  friend  of  the  morning,  and  said,  * I am 
afraid  you  will  not  get  to  Ripley  to-day,  sir.’  His  horse  was 
dead-beat  then,  and  my  old  mare  was  going  like  a steam-engine. 
I saw  the  deer  taken  at  Ripley  ; there  were  not  many  up.  The 
mare  trotted  home  the  twenty-one  miles  as  gay  as  a lark,  and  as 
only  a real  good  bred  one  could  have  done.  She  ran  away  with 
me  when  she  was  27,  and  died  from  an  accident  in  the  field 
when  turned  out.  I often  trotted  her  fifteen  miles  to  London  to 
breakfast,  and  home  in  the  evening,  in  about  an  hour.  She 
was  a real  good  Norfolk  hack.  The  gTeat  difficulty,  no  doubt, 
is  to  find  the  right  sort  of  mares  and  encourage  the  farmers  to 
breed  from  them  ; and  anything  that  can  be  done  to  that  effect 
will  be  a step  in  the  right  direction.  We  ought  to  give  more 
money  for  our  troop-horses.  What  farmer  will  breed  a half-bred 
horse  to  get  40/.  or  50/.  for  him  at  three  or  four  years  old,  when 
he  can  get  the  same  price  for  a cart-horse  at  two  years,  and 
work  him  into  more  money  till  he  is  four  or  five  years  old  ? 
We  should  get  up  our  regiments  to  their  full  complement  at 
once,  and  encourage  the  breeders  by  giving  a better  price  for 
their  young  horses.  Buying  in  the  cheapest  market  is  not 
always  the  best  policy  for  a nation  ; and  although  upon  a sudden 
emergency  2000  or  3000  horses  might  be  bought  from  abroad 
and  in  the  home  market,  they  would  not  be  cavalry  horses,  as 
it  takes  time  to  make  and  train  them,  as  well  as  the  men  who 
ride  them,  and  who  deserve  to  be  well  mounted. 
“ There  are  a great  many  good  hunters  still  bred  in  England 
and  Ireland,  and  I feel  sure  that  anything  the  Royal  Agri- 
cultural Society  can  do  to  encourage  the  breed  of  good  sound 
horses  will  entitle  them  to  be  thanked  as  benefactors  to  the 
* For  “ Marshland  Shales”  see  ante,  p.  36. 
VOL.  XIX. — S.  S. 
E 
