344 
Breeding of Hunters and Roadsters. 
farmers, sporting and amateur breeders of various animals, all of 
whom have evidence to show that they can produce certain 
desirable qualities in the offspring which neither of the parents 
possessed. The mule may be referred to as a case in point : 
here we find the produce much superior in size, power, and 
action, to the ass ; whilst its continuous powers of endurance 
under exposure to weather and privations, exceed those of the 
class of horse to which his dam belonged ; this superioritv is in 
part traceable to differences in physical conformation, and in 
part to the temperament resulting from a combination of races. 
In this case, however, nature has, as is well known, set a boundary 
to modifications of race, which protects the noble horse from 
becoming an utter mongrel. 
Breeders of dogs obtain, even in the first cross, courage and 
larger size for hunting and other uses without the sacrifice of 
reliable exactness ; those breeders, however, who succeed best, 
are most careful to select from types of the purest blood on 
either side, and without the English bull-dog, the means of pro- 
ducing many of the most useful specimens combining high 
courage and great strength with other requisites, would be 
wanting. 
Since different classes of English horses varying in height, 
form, and power, are available for breeding hunters, these can 
be more readily brought to any standard desired than any par- 
ticular race, even the blood-horse ; power, speed, and bottom, are 
the first requisites in the hunter, in whom, if the first two c[ualitics 
are combined, the last or staying power usually results as a 
consequence. 
The height best suited for the hunter required to carry a given 
weight, is a point on which turf statistics throw but little light. 
The Derby is sometimes won by a horse more than 16 hands 
high, and a little less frequently by one under 15, but in the 
majority of cases by horses which measure between 15 hands 
2 inches and 16 hands; so that 15 hands 3 inches may fairly be 
laid down as the nearest standard height of the blood-horse ; and 
within an inch under or over that standard will be found eight- 
tenths of the best race-horses and blood-stallions in England. 
An attempt to produce horses of any given class much above 
its normal standard, will, with few exceptions, be realised at the 
exjTense of symmetry, action, and power, the latter being de- 
pendent on form. VVhere great power is required, and some of 
the speed of the race-horse can be dispensed with, the welh- 
chosen blood-stalli(m may be put to a stout, well-formed, well- 
bred hunting mare, with a probability of the best result. 
One of the greatest errors that has been made in the employ- 
ment of thorough-bred stallions for country mares has been the 
