Breeding of Hunters and Roadsters. 
337 
which just misses the character of the first-class hunter is of a 
quality which is available for the greatest variety of purposes, 
either for saddle or harness, or for recruiting the military depots 
of the nation with the horses best suited for the service. 
The subject requires to be considered in its economical as 
well as in its scientific and practical aspects. No amount of fore- 
sight will enable the breeder of hunters to obtain his highest aim 
with more than a fair proportion of his produce. In order, 
therefore, that a profit may be realised, the average horse must 
pay its expenses ; those of a superior quality will then leave 
a good surplus gain, of which part will be required to cover 
deficiencies arising in a few inferior lots. This law of compen- 
sation applies to the breeding of horses of all classes ; but its 
range becomes more extended as the stock rises in the scale of 
value ; so that in breeding for the Turf, where the real prizes, 
when secured, run very high, the failures — weeds, as they are 
called — are most numerous and most unremunerative. Therefore, 
the more generally useful the class of horse is which the breeder 
aims to produce, the less will be his risk, and the greater the 
probability of profit if proper means are employed. When 
breeding is conducted on this principle, the type or model 
specially sought after, is that of the noble weight-carrying 
hunter. 
To define what is understood by the term hunter, it is neces- 
sary to go somewhat at large into the character of English horses, 
the different breeds or classes into which they are divided, and 
also into the history and progress of the race. The hunter has 
at no time constituted a distinct breed ; in that respect he differs 
essentially from the pure blood-horse, whose genealogy has alone 
obtained a reliable record. The long-established renown of the 
English and Irish hunter has depended and must depend on the 
judicious crossing of breeds, with equally judicious management 
in their rearing, as well as on the judicious development of the 
breeds thus blended together. That some thoroughbred horses 
make clever, nay, the best, of hunters, does not alter the propo- 
sition just laid down, because they form exceptional specimens. 
The hunter is required to possess power, speed, and endurance 
in combination, to fit him for the stiff country he may have to cross, 
and for the high weight he will have to carry ; but few thorough- 
bred horses can be found capable of fulfilling these requirements, 
and still fewer of these are generally available for the purpose, 
since the turf and the stud monopolise such choice specimens. If 
there be some gentlemen who, having no predilection for the turf 
or for breeding, prize good hunters so highly that they secure a 
few thoroughbred colts of tlie highest stamp for this object, still 
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