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478 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Nov., 1899. 
‘barrel; lever back, not too long ; tail well set up ; nicely-rounded hindquarters ; 
well-muscled thighs and arms; short, stout legs with good flat bone below the 
knee and hock; pasterns of correct shape and slope ; shapely feet; straight 
front legs that stand firmly, and thus support the fore end of the body; well- 
formed hind legs that are so placed as to support the hindquarter—the one well 
forward under the body, and the other in direct line with the buttock—both. 
looked at from behind, being straight, and not spreading apart. The whole body 
of the horse is in true proportions, and shows yerfection of symmetry, so that, 
whether at the walk or trot, the horse can be counted upon to move with 
regularity and precision, making no false steps, and having one hind leg always 
underneath him while his front legs are acting high. 
STYLE AND ACTION. 
The hackney type is admitted to be the correct one where ability to draw 
weight without undue exertion is necessary. A light, long, and narrow trotting- 
bred horse or thoroughbred uses up too much nervous or muscular energy when 
he is asked to pull anything heavier than the featherweight buggy. The hackney 
js a combination of the light and heavy horse. He has substance enough not to 
‘oyerstrain his muscular energy, and energy sufficient to make full use of his 
substance. This is the reason why one large or two small hackneys look so well 
in action in front of a brougham or other heavy carriage. The vehicle seems to roll 
along smoothly, while the horses trot in the height of style and pull the weight 
without apparent effort. This easy and regular action is the quality which adds 
value to harness horses, and which makes them sell well and quickly. Action, 
true and high, is what the hackney has always been famous for. He has been 
bred for it through many generations. It is in his blood, and when a hackney 
mare and her foal are allowed out of their box for the first time the foal will be 
seen to trot alongside of its dam, whereas a thoroughbred foal will lope or 
canter, This is why it is only necessary for breeders to send such mares as have 
some action to hackney stallions when they desire to produce foals that are to 
be trained for stylish harness. Turn a hackney-bred horse loose in the field, and 
he will immediately throw up his knees almost to his chin. Turn a speedy horse 
out, and he will sweep close to the ground. It is natural for the hackney-bred 
horse to lift his knees, and this is why breeders show them to halter at exhibitions, 
‘so as to prove that they can act high without being bitted and checked up in 
harness. Breeders who try to pass off speedily trotting-bred or thoroughbred 
horses as high actors invariably show them in harness and at a high rate of 
-speed, because when such horses go slow they lose their action. 
: CAN ONLY TROT. 
The action of the hackney is free, and from the shoulder. The feet, while 
‘being lifted high, are sent outwards—not propped straight up and down. The 
‘hinds legs are at the same time shot well orward, and the hocks flexed to 
-support the body and send it forward. It is this kind of action that lasts, and. 
‘that is safe on stones or asphalt pavement, a horse with such action always 
‘being well balanced and prepared to recover should he slip. Horses that pump 
their knees up and down, and leave their hocks behind them, soon pound their 
front legs to pieces, and never have a hind leg under them far enough to prevent 
a fall. A horse with good hind action pulls more weight up a hill, and is 
infinitely safer going down a hill than a horse with poor action. The hackney, 
having been for many generations made to pull heavy vehicles, and go at an 
-even pace, and reined in so as to make it ‘ere its knees up and trot at a 
regular one, two, three, four pace, has become a natural high actor. The 
American trotter, on the contrary, has, for 100 years, been bred for speed, and 
taught to lower its action so as to waste no time. It has also, been bred for 
long hindquarters, and taught to carry its hind legs forward with a swing, so as 
to cover a great distance at each stride. If you push a trotting-bred horse 
beyond its speed, it breaks into a canter or gallop. If you push a hackney-bred 
horse beyond its speed, it merely lowers its action, but does not break its trot, 
for the reason that it has never been taught to do anything except the trot. Its 
