Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/199

187 THE HUNTER.] with no signs of contraction. The body or barrel should be moderately deep, long, and straight, the length being really in the shoulders and in the quarters ; the back should be strong and muscular, with the shoulders and loins running well in at each end ; the loins them selves should have great breadth and substance, this being j a vital necessity for weight-carrying and propelling power uphill. The hips should be long and wide, with the stitle and thigh strong, long, and proportionately devel oped, and the hind quarters well let down. The hock should have plenty of bone, and be strongly affixed to the leg, and show no signs of curb ; the bones below the hock should be flat, and free from adhesions ; the liga ments and tendons well developed, and standing out from tiie bone ; the joints well formed and wide, yet without undue enlargement ; the pasterns and feet similar to those of the forehand. The tail should be high set on, the croup being continued in a straight line to the tail, and not falling away and drooping to a low set tail. Fine action is the best criterion of everything fitting properly, and all a horse s points ought to harmonize or be in pro portion to one another, no one point being more promi nent than another, such as good shoulders, fine loins, or excellent quarters. If the observer is struck with the remarkable prominence of any one feature, it is probable that the remaining parts are deficient. A well-made horse wants dissecting in detail, and then if a good judge can discover no fault with any part, but finds each of good proportions, and the whole to harmonize without defect, deformity, or deficiency, he has before him a well- shaped horse; and of two equally well-made and equitably pro portioned horses the best bred one will be the best. As regards hue, the favourite colour of the ancients, accord ing to Xenophon, was bay, and for a long time it was the fashionable colour in England ; but for some time chest nut thoroughbreds have been the most conspicuous figure on English race-courses, so far as the more important events are concerned. Eclipse was a chestnut ; Castrel, Selim, arid Rubens were chestnuts ; so also were Glencoe and Pantaloon, of whom the latter had black spots on his hind quarters like Eclipse, and more recently Stockw r ell and Doncaster. Birdcatcher was a chestnut, so also were Stockwell and his brother Rataplan, Manganese, Mandra- gora, Thormanby, Kettledrum, St Albans, Blair Athol, Regalia, Formosa, Hermit, Marie Stuart, Doncaster, George Frederick, Apology, Craig Millar, Prince Charlie, Rayon d Or, and Bend Or. The dark browns or black browns, such as the Sweetmeat tribe, are not so common as the bays, and black or grey horses are almost as unusual as roans. The skin and hair of the thoroughbred are finer, and the veins which underlie the skin are larger and more prominent than in other horses. The mane and tail should be silky and devoid of curl, which is a sign of impurity. Whether the race-horse of to-day is as good as the stock to which he traces back has often been disputed, chiefly no doubt because he is brought to more early maturity, commencing to win races at two years instead of at five years of age, as in the days of Childers and Eclipse ; but the highest authorities, and none more emphatically thau the late Admiral Rons, aver that he can not only stay quite as long as his ancestors, but also go a good deal faster. In size and shape the modern race-horse is unquestionably superior, being on an average fully a hand higher than the Eastern horses from which he is descended ; and in elegance of shape and beauty of outline he has certainly never been surpassed. That experiments, founded on the study of his nature and properties, which have from time to time been made to improve the breed, and bring the different varieties to the perfection in which 187 we now find them, have succeeded, is best confirmed ly the high estimation in which the horses of Great Britain are held in all parts of the civilized world ; and it is m t too much to assert that, although the cold, humid, and variable nature of their climate is by no means favourable to the production of these animals in their very best form, Englishmen have by great care, and by sedulous attention to breeding, high feeding, and good grooming, with con sequent development of muscle, brought them to the highest state of perfection of which their nature is cap able. See the section on Horse-Racing, p. 199. The Hunter. A good specimen of an English hunter Ths may be described as a horse for universal use. He may inter, be a coach-horse, for in many of the animals running in the coaches called into existence during the summer months by the coaching revival may be recognized a hunter of known character ; he may be a good roadster, for, so far as conformation is concerned, there is nothing in a hunter to unfit him from being a first-class hack nor is hunting incompatible with military duties, for, by the regulations of the service, officers are permitted to hunt their second chargers. For harness work he is perfectly adapted, pro vided only the vehicle to be drawn is in proportion to his size ; while most people will recall instances of hunters having for some reason or other to be so far humbled as to have to take a turn at the plough or harrow, or, in their older days, even in a chaff-cutter. A hunter may be either Tho- thoroughbred or halfbred. In the grass countries, such as rough. Leicestershire or Northamptonshire, riders to hounds endea-. : ... . ., ... hunten vour to get their hunters as nearly clean bred as possible ; but, in spite of this ambition, it may be doubted whether one in twenty, even in the most fashionable countries, is thoroughbred, thereby proving that a thoroughbred hunter, although undoubtedly a luxury, is not a virtual necessity. When it can be acquired, a thoroughbred hunter that knows his business is a most desirable possession, save perhaps in a rough country, where his fine skin shrinks from contact with the objects therein encountered. The comparative scarceness of these animals is, however, easily accounted for. From 12 to 14 stone is by no means an uncommon weight for a man to ride hunting, saddle included, but few thoroughbreds are up to it ; one that is commands a large price, from 250 upAvards, according to &quot;manners.&quot; It is often said that thoroughbreds do not make pleasant hunters, but the complaint, if there is any ground for it at all, is really against the result of the treatment to which nineteen out of twenty thoroughbreds have to submit, and not against pure blood itself. A large proportion of thoroughbred stock come to the starting-post at two years old ; and this means that they have been in the trainer s hands since they were yearlings at least. Now a training stable is just the place for colts to pick up sundry un desirable tricks, which may at some future time cause the unprofessional rider a little trouble ; they get to lean on the hand, often turn out fidgety and fractious, and ate not unfrequently inveterate pullers. When fit to go, the young one will have been tried, and if he fails to gallop half a mile at best pace he is probably turned out of train ing, although perhaps it was not till the last dozen yards were reached that there was any sign of failing power. Now, although the colt may be unable to stand the test applied to him by the trainer, there is no reason at all why he should not be able to go all day at hunting pace, because the powers of speed are not taxed to the same degree. The young thoroughbred is then perhaps educated for hunting ; and hence it is that nearly all hunters thoroughbred one. j , that is to say begin life in a training stable. Instances are comparatively rare of persons breeding thoroughbred stock and then keeping them for hunting purposes. The ranks of hurdle -racers and steeple -chasers too are filled