Report on the Exhibition of Live Stock at Oxford. 537 
to be worse than iiseless), by all means let it be retained, but take care that 
the hair is fine and long rather than short and bristly. 
In the class for stallions foaled before January 1, 1868, nineteen in number, 
we had some little doubt in deciding between the first and second jirize horses, 
but finally jilaccd Mr. Wclcher's first — a bay horse, we believe, first at Bury 
St. Edmunds as a two-year-old, and first again at Manchester last year. Wc 
thought him a remarkably good animal, though certainly worn rather too 
much for a horse of only five years old. Whether this is the effect of forced 
feeding, or general weakness of constitution, is a question not easily answered 
— capped hocks, bad splints, and small feet may be the result of either. The 
second prize horse, Mr. Manning's curiously whited three-year-old chesnut is a 
colt of great promise, has the best of clean legs, with plenty of hair, and very 
active on them. I fully expect to hear of him again in the show yard. The 
third prize went to Mr. Hunt's horse, a very useful hardy animal, and now in 
his thirteenth year api^earing fresh and sound. His loins and hind quarters may 
be taken as a model of what a cart horse should be, of all sorts. The reserved 
number we gave to Lord NoiTeys's No. 8. — a magnificent black, with a faulty 
middle, and coarse, rather long legs, but with all his faults, will always find 
many admirers. No. 5, ticketed "A 1," we were obhged to pass over on 
account of a blemished hock from some cause, and, worse still, a contracted 
hind foot ; otherwise, he would have had a place in our list of awards. 
The young stallions were represented by a class eight in number, two of 
which were rejected by the Veterinary Inspector. Those x^laced first and 
second were very good colts ; both have action, and bid fair to gi'ow into first- 
class horses. The third prize went to a colt of fair pretensions, and the reserved 
number to the best of a very middling lot remaining. 
The aged mares, in or with foal, were strong in numbers — nineteen, eleven 
of which were quickly dismissed as being quite out of the race. The best of 
the lot, we decided, was Mr. Staffer's, No. 94, a smart, clean-legged, active 
chesnut, a little disfigured by capped hocks, probably the result of accident ; 
otherwise they were hard and sound. The second prize went to Mr. Coldicott's 
catching-looking grey, with only a middling loin and not the best of feet. The 
third prize, Mr. Thursby's " Nelly," another grey — a level, hard-fleshed four- 
year-old of good promise — Lord Norreys's, No. 83, and another, were of apparent 
equal merit, but the latter failing in the veterinary test, Lord Norreys's had the 
barren honour of the reserved number. 
Of the six three-year-old fillies we selected Mr. Lister's, No. 45, for the first 
prize; Mr. Howard's, No. 140, for the second prize ; and Mr. Druce's, No. 139, 
for the third ; but neither of these, or those not placed, call for anj' particular 
notice. 
In the two-year-old class fillies the first and second prize animals were a long 
way above the others — Mr. Davies getting the first and Mr. Denchfield the 
second. The third prize, No. 152, has weak hocks, and stands high on 
the leg — a fault the reserved number-, a hearse-like-looking black, shares with 
her. 
The Clydesdale horses as a breed have always stood high in repute, a,nd one 
is at a loss to account for the short and poor appearance they made at this 
meeting. We are obliged to record their number as small and their quality 
"bad. We have always looked upon these animals as good on the land, and 
superior to most for heavy work on the road, but if the specimens brought 
before us are a fair sample of the breed, their re2:)Utation is not likely to be 
increased in their favour by this exhibition. At any rate I must express my 
disappointment at finding so many unsound inferior animals in the short 
entries which composed the class. For the aged stallions only three competed. 
Lord Beauchamp's, No. 33, to which we awarded the first prize, has most 
curiously formed feet — the heels forming quite a study for those interested in 
