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 3 9090 013 407 644 
 
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 Merit 
 
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 THE 
 
 HORSE 
 
 IN ALL HIS VARIETIES AND USES 
 PHS 33mtring, bearing, antr /Hanagement, 
 
 WHETHER IN LABOUR OR REST ; 
 WITH 
 
 RULES, 
 
 OCCASIONALLY INTERSPERSED, 
 
 FOR HIS PRESERVATION FROM DISEASE. 
 
 BY JOHN LAWRENCE, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRACTICAL TREATISE ON HORSES," 
 " THE HISTORY OF THE HORSE," ETC. 
 
 A Horse! a Horse ! my money for a good Horse. 
 
 Shakespeare Jun. 
 
 'Tis the Pace that kills the Horse!— Sporting Mag. 
 Ille ego qui quondam. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED FOR M. ARNOLD, TAVISTOCK STREET, 
 
 COVENT garden: 
 
 SOLD BY LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN; WHITTAKER, 
 
 TREACHER, AND ARNOTT ; HURST, CHANCE, AND CO. : 
 
 AND OLIVER AND BOYD, EDINBURGH. 
 
 1829. 
 
\iv\ 
 
 C Whittlngham,2l,Tooks Court, Chancery Lane. 
 
 f 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Methixks I hear certain of my readers ex- 
 claim, " What ! ecce iterum Crispinns ! — -more 
 on the well-worn subject of the Horse, from 
 this prosing and argumentative old man !" — 
 The act is indeed committed : but, for the last 
 time — new editions to old books excepted. The 
 size of the present will not be alarming ; and 
 if much novelty cannot be expected on the sub- 
 ject, yet that subject and all others, of necessity, 
 vary so much with times and circumstances, 
 as to authorise further attempts at public uti- 
 lity. Moreover, somewhat must be conceded 
 to an old author, on the score of reminding his 
 patrons the public, of his former labours. The 
 object of this little book, a galloway or poney 
 in size, is to form a convenient manual for the 
 use of the hitherto uninitiated, who may have 
 neither inclination nor leisure to ride the great 
 horse in larger volumes ; or whose other indis- 
 pensable avocations may have precluded them 
 from the opportunity of obtaining practical in- 
 formation on a subject, certainly of great and 
 every day importance in this country. 
 
 The difficulty of obtaining good, safe, and 
 useful horses, for any purpose, always suffici- 
 ently great, even in this country, has been of 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 late years infinitely enhanced, the causes of 
 which will be apparent in these pages ; and if 
 the author cannot guarantee his readers on the 
 main point, long habits have enabled him to 
 render the service next in importance, that of 
 tendering the needful practical cautions. It will 
 be acknowledged on all hands, that such cau- 
 tions had never before any thing equal to the 
 present necessity : and in contemplation of the 
 old idea, of "perils by land, and perils by water," 
 the former appear greatly, at any rate in fre- 
 quency, to overtop the latter. The author 
 trusts he has omitted nothing of utility or im- 
 portance, in those branches of his subject on 
 which he has undertaken to treat. 
 
 It being demanded of an eminent politician 
 and grammarian of the last century, by the 
 Commissioners of the Income Tax, " how he 
 lived ?" he replied, " by begging, borrowing, 
 and stealing !" Should it be demanded of me, 
 " how I have composed my book ?'' my reply 
 would be, " from my own knowledge, by beg- 
 ging and borrowing :" the latter occasionally 
 from my former writings ; ?nd whenever from 
 those of others, it will be found always accom- 
 panied with due acknowledgment. I have 
 freely collected from any source that presented, 
 whatever I deemed useful. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Geseral Character of the Horse, p. 1. Indigenous breed and 
 improvements, p. -Z. Measures pursued by the government in 
 the reigns of Henry the Seventh and Eighth to promote ami 
 extend the breeding of horses. The quality of English horses 
 from that period to the reign of Elizabeth. Foreign breeds 
 then imported, p. 3, 4. Racing, an early and peculiar English 
 diversion. The Smoothfield or Smithheld races in London. 
 The breeding system peculiar to England. The art of farriery 
 originally derived from the schools of Italy and France. Great 
 number of writers on farriery and veterinary Science, in the 
 reign of James the First. Early improvement chiefly confined 
 to the racer, hunter, and hack. The improvement of our coach, 
 troop horses, and chargers, commenced about sixty years since. 
 Anecdote of a late Lord Mayor of London. Present import of 
 heavy draught horses from the Continent. Military and coach 
 horses. Scotch and Welsh ponies, p. 4 — 7. 
 
 SECTION II. p. 8. 
 
 Divisions and subdivisions of the horse genus into a number of 
 species and varieties of quality and nomenclature. Designation 
 of thorough bred, or the Racer. The Yorkshire horse Sampson, 
 p. 8, 9. Procreation. Age of the horse. Two aged geldings 
 at Dulwich. Age at which the colt is put to labour. Conven- 
 tional (general) form of the horse. Of the hack, hunter or racer, 
 and coach horse. Of the slow draught horse. The old Suffolk 
 punch. Drawing dead pulls. Gibbing. Yorkshire cross in the 
 Suffolk punches. Cleveland bays. Present "Norfolk cart horse, 
 p. 10 — 13. Colours. Age of the horse, its marks. Fraud and 
 cruelty practised in the case, p. 14 — 16. 
 
 SECTION III. p. 17. 
 
 Management in the breeding Stud. Fatal accidents to the horse. 
 Method of security formerly proposed by the author. Barren 
 mares. Treatment of the stallion and brood mare. Twin foals. 
 Detestable cruelties to procure abortion. Term of gestation. 
 Indications of parturition. Chance medley and regular breeding. 
 Chief breeding districts. Foresters, p. 17 — 21. 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION IV. p. 21. 
 
 The countries best adapted to breeding the horse. Conveniencies 
 necessary in a regular breeding establishment. The royal breed- 
 ing studs of the ancients — of the moderns in South America. 
 Breed of the United States North America. The English stud. 
 Soils proper for breeding the heavy draught horse. The Phra- 
 seology of the stud, with the late dandy additions. Chief preli- 
 minaries in breeding. Form of the mare to be considered. In 
 regular studs corn allowed to the brood mares and foals. Use of 
 carrots. Markets for brood mares. Particular incidents of the 
 breeding system. Accidents to the brood mare. Weaning the 
 foal. Castration. Ancient practice of docking the foal at a 
 month old, successfully revived by the author, p. 21 — 27. 
 
 SECTION V. p. 28. 
 
 The Stallion. Racing stallions formerly used in the stud, whilst in 
 training. Brood mares. Ancient dangerous practice of turning 
 the stallion loose among the mares. Modern extreme of an 
 opposite nature. Treatment of the Stallion. Cleanliness. Case 
 of an accidental wound. Death of a famous racing stallion 
 (King Herod) from uncleanness and neglect. Neglect of Eclipse's 
 feet. External and visible defects in a horse and mare, that may 
 be propagated, also good or evil qualities. Blindness from Saltram 
 and Whiskey. Broken winded mares generally barren. Age no 
 bar in a healthy mare. Welsh mare produced four colt foals 
 at a birth, all black, p. 28—31. 
 
 SECTION VI. p. 31. 
 
 Colt breaking, of racers at a year old. Barbarous mode in Devon- 
 shire twenty years since, reported by the author to the late Sir 
 Lawrence Palk. Colt tackle. Character of the true domitor 
 equorum, or colt breaker — method. Unsafe to leave colts tied up 
 by night. Loss of Sir Charles Bunbury's full brother to Smo- 
 lensko. Method of treating stubborn or restiff colts. Importance 
 of giving them a good mouth. The paces. First shoeing. 
 Analogy of temperament and disposition between the horse and 
 the human animal. The naturally vicious colt. Nature of shy- 
 ing in the horse, and its proper treatment. Affected shyers. 
 Three cases of the author. Mode with a careless and blundering 
 goer. Incorrigible biters, p. 31 — 36. 
 
 SECTION VII. p. 36. 
 
 Castration — the rationale of the practice. Nicking and Crop- 
 ping — barbarous and useless. Trimming, the modern method. 
 The mane and tail. The hogged mane. Breaking and training 
 the slow draught horse — should be taught to back at command. 
 The plug tails of former days advantageously superseded by the 
 
CONTENTS. Vli 
 
 switch. Break carriage for the coach horse. As to matches with 
 coach horses. Saddle horse furniture. Crupper and saddle cloth 
 nearly obsolete. Martingale. The sash or breastplate introduced 
 by Sir John Lade. The jackboot stirrup & laFrancaise. Bridles, 
 the ancient snaffle and double reigned curb. Variety of bits, or 
 instruments of torture. The snaffle-bridle horse. The check 
 cord. Mild bits most profitable. The curb with a single rein, 
 severe and unfavourable. General riding, or jockey system of 
 England, little in accordance with the riding school practice — 
 use of the latter, p. 36 — 42. 
 
 SECTION VIII. p. 42. 
 
 Shoeing. Heavy shoes of former days. Improved about seventy 
 years since, by Lord Pembroke, Osmer, Bartlet, Snape, and 
 Clarke of Edinburgh. Our national Veterinary College, the idea 
 originating with the late Lord Grosvenor. Professor Charles 
 Vial de Saintbel. His character — of his successors. Notorious 
 infallibility of every writer's favourite form of shoe. Modern 
 novelties in shoeing, and the veterinary art, several centuries old. 
 Ccesar Fiaschi's discoveries and practice. The terrible buttress 
 should never come near a weak foot, perhaps any foot, the paring 
 knife being the proper instrument. The toe may be generally 
 made most free with. The good and tough hoof. Shoeing the 
 horse, a necessary evil. Error of the late Mr. AVhite. The foot 
 of the horse described. The once celebrated shoeing system of 
 La Fosse. Opening the heels. Exceptions to the general prin- 
 ciples of shoeing. Internal structure of the foot. Mobility and 
 elasticity of tendons, in defiance of the early decrees of the Vete- 
 rinary College. Natural functions of the frog. Summary of the 
 parts of the internal and sensible foot, p. 42 — 52. 
 
 SECTION IX. p. 52. 
 
 Defects of the feet and legs. Wide, flat, and soft hoofs — their oppo- 
 sites, with contracted or narrow heels and deficient frogs. Too 
 small feet for the size of the horse, a defect. General defect in 
 the feet of English road horses, a thin and weak hoof, and tender 
 crust. Grand defect in a saddle or quick draught horse, the toe 
 not pointing in a right line, whence ' knocking and cutting,' 
 either with the toe or heel. Hinder hoofs the strongest. ' Ham- 
 mer and pincers,' or over-reaching. The running thrush. Corns. 
 Sandcracks. False quarter. Quittor or javart. The founder. 
 Grcgginess, styled by the Italians sobitaturu, or surbating. 
 Canker. Loss of hoof. Nerving, no novelty, p. 52 — 56. 
 
 SECTION X. p. 57. 
 
 Various defects in the legs, their seat and causes — in the hoofs and 
 heels. A further enumeration, comprehending those in different 
 
VI11 CONTENTS. 
 
 parts of the body. Professor Coleman and Mr. White on the 
 bursa mucuscc or windgalls. Strains in the back sinews. Break- 
 ing down. Ligamentary shoulder strains, difficult to be distin- 
 guished from lameness in the legs or feet. Strained in the loins, 
 or megrim horses. Lameness in the stifle — of the hip-joint, round 
 or whirl-bone. Jardons or capped hocks. Stringhalt. Rheu- 
 matism, p. 57 — 62. 
 
 SECTION XI. p. 62. 
 
 General appearance and condition of the horse, of consequence to 
 a purchaser. Lean and unthrifty. Hide bound or surfeit. War- 
 bles or small tumours on the back, indications of high keep and 
 want of exercise. The dreadful and incurable glanders. Lam- 
 pascus — the lampas in the mouth. Gigs, bladders or flaps. 
 Barbs or paps. The cankered or ulcerated mouth. Hurts from 
 heavy and lacerating bits. Wolves' teeth. The legs. Chronic 
 lameness from derangement of the internal structure of the foot, 
 a lost case. The navicular lameness, said to have been discovered 
 by Messrs. Turners of Croydon and Regent Street. The patten- 
 shoe. The author's deference to the superior authority of Mr. 
 Goodwin. The horrible, damnable, and useless conti- 
 nental OPERATION OF TEARING OUT, OR DRAWING THE SOLE 
 — now, or ought to be, universally and utterly exploded in 
 Britain. Shoeing. The common methods. Osmer's seated shoe. 
 Mr. Goodwin's shoe. This man's shoe, and that man's shoe — 
 fancy articles, p. 62—68. 
 
 SECTION XII. p. 68. 
 
 Fanciful theories. La Fosse's half-moon shoes. The patent iron 
 frog. Expansion. Necessity of iron shoes. The legs univer- 
 sally fail before the feet. The great consequence of this branch 
 of art, p. 68—72. 
 
 SECTION XIII. p. 72. 
 
 The bar shoe. Mr. Goodwin's bar shoe. And old experiment with 
 those shoes. Snape. Grass shoes or tips. Hunting and racing 
 shoe, or plate. Probable use of Cherry's portable forge for the 
 running stables. Ancient screw shoe. The moveable toe for 
 hard wearing horses. Frost shoes. Frost nails in racing piates 
 for dry and slippery courses. Old sweepstakes over Epsom, by 
 officers of the Guards. Spectacles for Jockeys in wet seasons 
 and deep courses, p. 72 — 77. 
 
 SECTION XIV. p. 78. 
 
 Striking and wounding the legs. The common cause. Osmer's 
 proposed remedy. Moorcroft's experiments. The only resource 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 a leathern boot. Poultice and water boots. The miserable 
 practice of compelling a horse to stand upon the bare stones. 
 Dung or clay stopping for hoofs, hurtful — other measures recom- 
 mended. Allowing great modern improvement, the old leven, 
 haste, profit, and bad shoeing, too much the order of the day. 
 Bad effects of the heavy, wide webbed, convex-surfaced shoes 
 for draught horses worked on pavements. Opening the heels, 
 p. 78—82. 
 
 SECTION XV. p. 82. 
 
 Old English shoeing. Quotation from Blunderville, on the art 
 generally. Ccesar Fiaschi on the narrow heels of Barbs and Jen- 
 nets — on the form of the nails, and on shoeing the perfect hoof. 
 On the imperfect hoof. Paring and shoeing for interfering. 
 Character of the planch, pancelet, or bar-shoe. Enumeration of 
 the varieties and fancy shoes of that period. The Turkish shoe 
 used in Italy for racers. The present countersunk nail then in 
 use. Figures in Blunderville, of fifty different bits, and a head 
 strain, three only of them by him regarded as useful. Quotation 
 from Goodwin on the character of the present race of operative 
 shoeing smiths. Farriers' tools in present use from the same. 
 The drawing knife much improved by Mr. Long, instrument 
 maker of Holborn. List of the farriers' instruments in the days 
 of Blunderville and Markham, p. 82 — 90. 
 
 SECTION XVI. p. 90. * 
 
 The Stable. Stables of the first class in the country — as they are 
 in the metropolis. Flooring or pavement. Draining. Aeration. 
 Mr. Goodwin's experiment with cast iron flooring. Advantage 
 to a horse to stand loose. The author's plan of converting stalls 
 into boxes for that purpose. Racks and mangers. Cleanliness, 
 whitewashing, fumigation. No manger in a loose stall. The 
 circular, straight, or level rack, lower than usual. Iron prefer- 
 able. The hay chamber to be abolished in all regular stables. 
 Receptacles for horse corn. Heated and impure atmosphere of 
 the old running stables. Improvement commenced in the stables 
 of the late Earl Grosvenor. A moderate warmth of stable tem- 
 perature, with the periodical admission of fresh and pure air, 
 constitutionally necessary to the horse. The Rodunda form of 
 stabling, its various convenience. Due thickness of stable walls. 
 Dr. Plot, in the History of Oxfordshire, his plan of a eorn chest, 
 p. 90—100. 
 
 SECTION XVII. p. 100. 
 
 General stable duties and customs. Protection of weak horses 
 against the stonger while feeding. Cruel anecdote of a head 
 carter. Compelling horses to stand in their stalls on the bare 
 
 A 2 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 pavement no novelty — recommended by Morgan, -who wrote in 
 the reign of James the First, and successfully ridiculed and 
 opposed by Michael Baret. The nomenclature of the stable. 
 The tea-kettle groom. The grand points of feeding and care of 
 the legs and feet. The turf and hunting stables stand at the 
 head. Anecdote of a trading groom. Clothing. The roller, 
 and ' getting up the carcass.' Covering for the loins of coach 
 aud cart horses, abroad upon duty, during bad weather. Exer- 
 cise for hacks and hunters clothed or not. Clipping or burning 
 the hirsute horse. Dressing and currying the nag. The teeth 
 of the currycomb should not be too sharp, p. 100 — 107. 
 
 SECTION XVIII. p. 108. 
 
 English stable food for saddle horses. Superior profit of good 
 heavy oats. Ground corn for carthorses. No general rule as to 
 quantities. Racks for hay not easily to be dispensed with. 
 Horses eating their litter. Occasional use of clover, lucerne or 
 melilot hay. Horses given to drinking. The golden rule in the 
 case. Soft aud hard water. Exercise after water. Bad effects 
 of stinting ahorse of his due quantity of water. Green food and 
 roots in their seasons. Autumnal soiling. The carrot and parsnip. 
 Rutabaga or Swedish turnip, and mangel wurtzel, or beet. Un- 
 threshed peas or oats. Rowen or cow hay. Diet of slow draught 
 horses. Barley substituted for oats, as horse corn, in Norfolk. 
 Bad hay and fodder profitless and injurious, p. 108 — 114. 
 
 SECTION XIX. p. 114. 
 
 The Straw yard. Great benefit of a winter's run to a horse injured 
 by labour. Necessary cautions in the case. Parks to be pre- 
 ferred. The author's plan for turning horses off, winter or sum- 
 mer, also for grass and straw stacks, alternate layers. Horse 
 stealing, ' has increased, is increasing, and ought to be dimin- 
 ished,' — various recommendations, p. 114 — 119. 
 
 SECTION XX. p. 119. 
 
 Exercise for saddle and coach horses. The most proper kind for 
 those engaged in constant labour. Condition, its meaning and 
 means. Modes of exercise adapted to various occasions. The 
 improper exercise in London used with crippled post hacks and 
 coachers. Treatment of a horse by a disciplinarian, p. 119 — 
 123. 
 
 SECTION XXI. p. 123. 
 
 Purchase. The hackney, resorts for buying and sale. Difficulty 
 of obtaining a good and sound nag. Inexperienced persons should 
 not purchase for themselves. Buying of a friend. Cause of the 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 great number of unquiet horses. Late fatal accident to a well 
 known dealer. Runaways, biters, and kickers. List of defects 
 in horses. Commentary on this list. Hereditary and constitu- 
 tional blindness. Waif eyes. Ceremony of inspection. Fig- 
 giug — bar ginger for ware horse ! Kicking, comparison between 
 the horse and the cow. Examinations previous to purchase. 
 Anecdote of an adept at showing a horse. Barbarous stable 
 discipline of some dealers, and at the repositories, perhaps more 
 prevalent than ever. The show of the horse out of doors. Ex- 
 quisite barbarity ! The second hand horse. The eyes and ears 
 of the horse, in ditferent modes, indicate both vice and good 
 nature. The naturally vicious, however temporarily subdued 
 never to be depended upon ; the naturally kind and tractable, 
 ever, p. 123 — 137. 
 
 SECTION* XXII. p. 137. 
 
 The above examinations not to be final. The intuitive subtilty of 
 the restiff horse. Riding and trying the nag previous to pur- 
 chase. High qualification of a horse going well down hill. 
 Defect of the need of martingale or crupper. Shying from 
 defect of sight in horses, and unavoidably making a false step 
 on a slippery pavement, how treated by brutal human idiots. 
 Signs of soundness of the wind to be correctly judged of by the 
 motion of the flanks. Sound, but thick winded horses. The 
 customary method of coughing the horse often injurious. Roar- 
 ing, how discovered. Crib biting. Hacks of high qualifica- 
 tion. Masters of high weights described. Fast trotters. The 
 author's plan, of setting up racing weights in trotting matches, 
 succeeded after twenty years' solicitation. Robson's Phenomena. 
 The true trot. The running trotter. Amblers and natural pad- 
 ders. Speed of trotter for one mile. An hour's performance. 
 Two hours'. The American trotters. Prices, p. 137 — 144. 
 
 SECTION XXIII. p. 144. 
 
 Ladies' Horses. The true lady's pad described. The canter. 
 Carriage Horses. Their varieties described. The enormous 
 destruction of horses, in consequence of our travelling rate 
 during the last forty years upwards, whence the scarcity and 
 high price of fresh and sound ones. Grey, in the coach horse, 
 the most expensive colour. Dealers. The cheapest marts for 
 second hand coach horses. As to matching. The attachment 
 of pairs of horses one to the other. Horses for single harness. 
 The old gig mares. Aldridge,- late of St. Martin's Lane. 
 Ponies for draught. The perpetual recurrence of accidents — 
 the causes. Country marts for horses. London, the universal 
 market for all descriptions. Speculations. Repositories — 
 Beavor, about 1740, the original introductor — succeeded by 
 Aldridge, father of the present Mr. Aldridge, whose successor is 
 Mr. Morris. Tattersall's Repository, Hyde Park Corner, opened 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 about the year 1760. The author's first knowledge of ohl Mr. 
 Tattersall in 1773. Character of old Tat. Langhorne's Repo- 
 sitory, Barbican, now the property of Mr. Dixon. The Horse 
 Bazaar, King Street, Portnian Square. The Repository Gray's 
 Inn Road, opened in 1828. Sale days at the various London 
 repositories, with their rules, and the proper method of attending 
 them. Conditions of sale at the new repository, Gray's Inn Road 
 — at the Horse Bazaar. Smithfield, the horse market, an epi- 
 tome of Hell. Where to purchase first rate slow draught horses 
 — foreign horses, p. 144 — 155. 
 
 SECTION XXIV. p. 155. 
 
 Warranty. Good hard swearing in the case. Anecdote of 
 Judge Mansfield and a Bow Street runner. Present rules of 
 warranty, aud manoeuvres. Blemishes. Judicial decisions, 
 p. 155—159. 
 
 SECTION XXV. p. 159. 
 
 Equitation, male and female. The horseman to ascertain, before 
 mounting, that the furniture be rightly placed. Negligence 
 even of regular grooms, in this respect. Better your horse be 
 cruppered than do worse. The old breastplate. Mounting, 
 bow performed. The perfect centaur. The sporting seat on 
 horseback. The straight-kneed jockey. Foot home in the 
 stirrup. Spurring. Dismounting. Mounting on the off side. 
 How a horse should be held for mounting. Altering the length 
 of the stirrup leathers. Bakewell's opinion in the case of a 
 horse stumbling. The start and progress. Jog trot the pace of 
 health. Seat in the various paces. Rising in the trot, and lift- 
 ing and working the horse in the gallop, purely English practices. 
 The trot and canter. Trotting aud cantering hacks, p. 159 — 166. 
 
 SECTION XXVI. p. 167. 
 
 The left the right side of the road, in English. Use and abuse of 
 the curb. Hard and sharp snaffles. The folly and cruelty of 
 torturing bits. To ensure a good mouth, young horses should 
 be first put to work with mild bits. The good snaffle-bridle 
 borse described. The two different intents of a pull. Danger- 
 ous ways, hills. The martingale a necessary evil. Little success 
 of the attempt to amend natural defects. When the reins may 
 be taken separate in each hand. Seat in case of plunging, kick- 
 ing, or rearing. Correction. The vicious horse. Warranty. 
 Use of spurs in a critical case. True use of the reins. The 
 seat. Starting and shying. Great severity ever to be reserved 
 for vice and roguery. The docile and kind nag — an example 
 from Sex's livery stables. Duty of masters to teach their ser- 
 vants mild and fair treatment of animals, p. 167 — 174. 
 
CONTENTS. X11I 
 
 SECTION XXVII. p. 174. 
 
 Quotations from the ' History of the Horse.' Military menage. 
 Use of the petit, or inferior manage. Barbarous practice of the 
 old school. ' Adams on Horsemanship' — and Beringer. The 
 author's opinion of riding the ' Great Horse.' Opinion of the 
 late Charles Hughes of the Circus. Of the author on the general 
 use of riding schools, p. 174 — 180. 
 
 SECTION XXVIII. p. 181. 
 
 Female Equitation. Present fashion of the lady's seat on 
 horseback. When first, introduced. Anecdote of two Suffolk 
 ladies. Male seat most secure for ladies who venture into the 
 field. Lady Craven. Lady Hester Stanhope. Cantering the 
 most dangerous pace. Lady Elizabeth Belgrave. To put a 
 Lady on horseback. Lady scholars to ride on either side the 
 horse. Ladies' riding shoes. The lady to have sufficient hold 
 on the bridle in case of accident. Contrary practice of an ex- 
 cellent horseman. Some ladies very expert in improving the 
 waik of their pad. The dismount — with the assistance of one 
 person only to hold the horse. A lofty nag and a strained ankle. 
 The gentleman's side, attending a lady. The woman's bridle, 
 double reined, bridoon, and moderate curb. The gallant author 
 craves pardon of two young ladies, p. 181 — 186. 
 
 SECTION XXIX. p. 187. 
 
 The Road. Various tastes in journey riding. The author of the 
 impatient class. Great powers of our best English hacks. Al- 
 ternate trotting and cantering. Distance for a single day or 
 two — for long journeys. Variety of qualifications in hacks. 
 Condition for English riding — all in all. Feeding according to 
 work. The patient horseman carries condition in his pocket. 
 Feeding and management on the road. Start at a very 
 moderate pace and finish the last three miles as leisurely. 
 Every eight or ten miles, a few go-downs of water; and in fast 
 travelling over hard roads, in hot weather, ride the horse momen- 
 tarily, over his pasterns, through any water that may be acces- 
 sible. Danger, be the weather hot or cold, «f keeping a horse 
 in a state of perspiration standing, any length of time, in water. 
 Up and down hill. Flinty and chalky hills of Surrey and Kent. 
 Attention due to the known quiet hack, not setting off readily, 
 or making a stop on the road. A knowing practice of your 
 quidding country jockeys. Arrival at the inn. Proper treat- 
 ment of the horse. As to his appetite. Inspection of the lining 
 of the saddle and the horse's back. In summer the horse best 
 dried abroad, but in the shade. The dog-day fever. Smolensko. 
 Master, or groom to attend every feeding, and prevent stopping 
 the feet. Convenience in a groom being able to fix a shoe or 
 drive a nail, p. 187 — 193. 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION XXX. p. 193. 
 
 Driving. The author's late letter on the subject to the Sporting 
 Magazine. Every one for himself and God for us all — the devil 
 take the hindmost. Associations recommended. The merit of 
 certain coach proprietors and quality dragsmeu. A legislative 
 call for the general rate of twelve miles per hour. Coach racing 
 on the roads. Accidents. Furious driving through the crowded 
 streets of the metropolis. The author's hair-breadth escape. 
 His funereal paragraph on speculation. Rapid whirl round cor- 
 ners of our swell gig-drivers. Eight to ten miles per hour suffi- 
 cient speed for our stage coaches. Horses changed and har- 
 nessed, light or dark, in a certain number of seconds! Mortality 
 among coach horses in the hot season. As to turning off worked 
 coachers for improvement. Driving in single harness. The old 
 1 Whip, or Four in Hand Club.' Six in hand. Bob Allen. 
 Tommy Onslow, his eloge. The driver of a buggy (solus) yet 
 ever to be found on his own side, and why. Trotting the 
 pace for a single or pair of horses, p. 193 — 205. 
 
 SECTION XXXI. p. 205. 
 
 Driving continued. The author's lowly pretensions. The high- 
 est and best existing authority — Nimrod, of the Sporting 
 Magazine. Selections from thence. Never turn a loaded coach 
 short, even at a slow pace. As to the trot and canter in harness. 
 Various qualities in coach horses, p. 205 — 210. 
 
 SECTION XXXII. p. 210. 
 
 Management of high blowers. Use of the bearing rein. Tem- 
 per in horses to be regarded. A horse fancying his place should 
 have it. Affectionate partners should not be parted. Tender 
 and hard mouthed horses, expedients to hold the latter. Re- 
 marks on these by the author, with a remedy. Kickers. The 
 hip-strap. Speaking to coach horses, long since out of print, 
 but useful. Anecdote of a mail coachman, who ought to have 
 been taught common sense under the most effective discipline at 
 the halbert. Night work. Lamp light treacherous. Golden 
 Rules of Nimrod for a night coachman. Anecdote of two 
 horses which have stood the coach work more than ten years. 
 Abram Stragler, of the old Colchester, successor of Abram Met- 
 calf, who commenced driving about the year 1740. Good flesh 
 upon a coach horse the thing. Periodical purges beneficial to 
 all kinds of horses, kept at hard meat. Rate of work in fast and 
 slow coaches. Broken legs. The megrim and the lick. Legs 
 and loins broken in the late insane attempts at increase of speed. 
 Blegrim, or swooning in the collar. The lick. Nimrod's excel- 
 lent correspondent Mr. Buxton. Various useful rules, p. 210 
 —219. 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 SECTION XXXIII. p. 219. 
 
 " Je-\vhoo it," and " Ya-up," defunct. Politeness of our present 
 gentlemen of the road. Mr. Buxton's counsel, that horses should 
 have some notice, a click or a whistle. Hallooing! to a kicker. 
 Whipping on the ears, its use and its danger. The author's 
 agreement with Niinrod as to coach horses, and the preference due 
 to trotting in harness; and on the danger of putting a young 
 horse, untrained (the common practice), into a coach laden with 
 passengers. Wages of coachmen. Mr. Mason. The coachman's fee. 
 A coachman ought not to drive more than seventy miles a day, 
 and that at two starts. An old Norwich coachman living in 
 Whitechapel. A young postilion killed by excess of service 
 in the old Ipswich. Road Slang — of the pugilistic ring, 
 and of the respectable profession of the abstractors. The 
 slang or flash of other classes, p. 219 — 223. 
 
 SECTION XXXIV. p. 224. 
 
 The Field. The fox, hare, and deer, chief beasts of venery 
 in this Country. Nature of the chace. Fox hunting the most 
 popular. The general instinctive hunting principle a source of 
 great barbarity. Erroneous speculation on the probable decline 
 of field sports and of the turf. The vile passion for baiting 
 animals. Deer hunting contemptuously styled calf hunting. 
 The opinion of an old foxhunter. The author's opinion. Com- 
 parison in respect to income required for keeping a pack of 
 hounds, between former and present days. Subscription packs. 
 Leicestershire the national head quarters of the fox hunt. 
 Necessity of change in all things, the due and probable result, 
 improvement. Ancient and modern morning hour for reaching 
 covert. The old English hunter. Foreign and thorough bred 
 horses always in use as hunters, in this country. General change 
 to the more speedy, in both horses and hounds, commenced up- 
 wards of three score years since. The old Southern hound. 
 Early objections to this revolution. The origin and breed of 
 most of our sporting dogs attempted to be traced in the < Sports- 
 man's Repository.' Colonel Thornton and Hugo Meynell. Old 
 foxhound match over the B. C. Newmarket. Colonel Thornton's 
 Merkin. Cross of the-greyhound and pointeron the old southern 
 hound. The modern hunter should be, at least, three parts 
 bred ; seven eighths preferable to full blood. Qualifications of 
 the complete English hunter. Reference to Messrs. Tattersall. 
 Importance of being carried pleasantly in the field. Some horses 
 enthusiastically attached to the sport. Anecdotes, p. 224 — 237. 
 
 SECTION XXXV. p. 237. 
 
 Riding to hounds. Few instructions on paper necessary. Sam 
 Chifney's seat. Queer position of the toes thrust through the 
 stirrups and pointing downwards. Sitting a horse in the jump. 
 
XVI ' CONTENTS. 
 
 To make the horse a steady, prompt, and safe fencer. Hold 
 hard! — when the jump probable to reach the other world. The 
 old wild goose chase and modern steeple hunt. More 
 mettle than wit, and q. s. of cruelty in these heroic feats. Did 
 Nimrod ever ride to a steeple? YVelch creeping, p. 237 — 249. 
 
 SECTION XXXVI. p. 249. 
 
 Slang of the Field. Cockney introductions. Examples of various 
 attempts at an overstrained refinement of language. Dr.Cursham 
 and his female dog. The Sporting Magazine the text book for 
 slang. History of that popular periodical, at first not received 
 by the Sporting world — with most difficulty by the field. Advent 
 and success of the celebrated Nimrod. Controversy on sum- 
 mering the hunter. Early examples of this controversy. The 
 summer stabling practice first introduced by continental mare- 
 chales and grooms. Quotation from Michaell Baret — from Beck- 
 ford — from a former book of the author. Reference to the Lords 
 Derby and Petre — Mr. Farquharson and Mr. Maberly. A famous 
 run of Mr. Farquharson's hounds. True spring and summer ma- 
 nagement of the hunter. The rationale as 10 hard meat. General 
 and most prevalent opinion on summering. Accidents at grass, 
 how avoided. Home, or near pasture, a great convenience. 
 Letter from the proprietor of a celebrated pack of fox hounds, 
 p. 241—251. 
 
 SECTION XXXVII. p. 251. 
 
 Training the hunter. As to sweating. Feeding to be regulated 
 by appetite and digestion. The muzzle, its supposed use in the 
 old school — shoes of advantage. Quotation from Nimrod. Dan- 
 ger of making too free with good flesh, and of feeding beyond 
 the digestive powers of the horse. Strong work and sweating 
 the day before the hunt, a rash and needless anticipation of 
 labour. An unsound hunter a dangerous shift. No parallel to 
 be drawn between the continent, or India, and this country, 
 with respect to summering the hunter. As to the grass proper 
 for hunters. Artificial grasses. Use of carrots in early spring. 
 General stable routine. The hunter not to be denied water, on 
 going out, nor to be too empty. Ill effects of the old discipline of 
 lengthened starvation. Treatment of the hunter after a hard 
 day's work, p. 251 — V56. 
 
 SECTION XXXVIII. p. 256. 
 
 From steeple hunting to riding horses to death in the field. A 
 hero to the nackers. Risk of neck-breaking by way of a lark. 
 Danger of broken ground. Material difference in the case be- 
 tween a horse failing in the field through his own and bus rider's 
 enthusiasm, and his being driven to death by the force of whip 
 and spur. The latter a strange spectacle to be coupled with 
 
CONTENTS. XV11 
 
 sportive ideas. Melton Mowbray the head quarters of fox 
 hunting. Wonderful spring of Lord Alvanley's hunter, Chester- 
 field. Apologetical address of the author to his sporting readers. 
 Baret quoted on the wild goose chase, p. 256—260. 
 
 SECTION XXXIX. p. 261. 
 
 Sport of the Turf, its high antiquity. Chiefly directed, in ancient 
 times, to warlike purposes. Both chariot and horse races. An- 
 cient crossing and jostling. Heats four miles, the course pur- 
 posely rendered irregular with obstructions interspersed, one of 
 which was a frightful scarecrow god. The magnificent racing 
 system of the Eastern Emperors, and their noble principle of 
 compassion towards animals. The author's visit to Shaftoe's 
 Squirrel. Racing in England traceahle to the eleventh century. 
 Prices of racers in the fourteenth. Origin of the present system 
 in the reign of James the First, or between that and of Charles 
 the Second. The thorough bred racer. Error of the late Dr. 
 Parry and others. Breeds of the Levant. The Arab and Barb 
 of the Desert, the original courser. Early prejudice against the 
 Arabians, a curious fact not being well known. Dismal of intire 
 foreign blood. Arabian plate at Newmarket. Inferiority of the 
 new blood. Uncertainty in the whole racing system. Foreign 
 stallions of late years, in utter neglect on the turf. A new 
 attempt with three Arabians, p. 261 — 267. 
 
 SECTION XL. p. 267. 
 
 Maximum of the racer's speed. Firetail and Pumpkin. Matchem 
 timed over the Beacon Course. Childers over the Round Course. 
 Immense increase of the business of the Turf. Examples. The 
 race horse the most useful of the species. Vernon's Amelia, her 
 match at carrying weight with the miller's horse. Bullock's 
 cantering hack. Great size of some of our racers. Query as to 
 our having of late receded some points, in respect to form and 
 goodness, below the former standard. Present racers too lofty 
 and too leggy. Observator, his annual remarks. Sir Charles 
 Bunhurys opinion. Dr. Syntax, and Old Damper. Stallions 
 covering whilst in training — Hobgoblin, Babram, Dorimant. 
 A revival of that custom recommended. Falsestarts. A remedy. 
 Race course police. Exemplary at Epsom and Ascot. His 
 R. H. the Duke of Sussex. Posts on race courses. Death of 
 * Little Wicked,' a favourite lad of Lord Ossory. Great colt 
 stakes, 1777, won by the jockey's head piece. Racing mania 
 upon the Continent. Fiance yet in the back ground. The 
 Doncaster St. Ledger. New stand at Epsom. Exertions of 
 Mr. Maberlv. Short races most prevalent. Racing of Cock- 
 tails and Hunters. Lord March's Rocket gelding, jockied of 
 oid by Dick Goodisou, ' Slow good ones,' good seconds and 
 
XV111 CONTENTS. 
 
 thirds — advice thereon. Quarter and half mile races at New- 
 market — yearling and two year old courses, in times long past, 
 p. 267—275. 
 
 SECTION XLI. p. 275. 
 
 Butchering and cutting up race horses alive ! — the dear delight of 
 all parties, a mere customary and delectable gratification, of no 
 or very questionable use. Difficulty of reform principally with 
 the jockies. Execrable murder of the flea-bitten grey gelding — 
 very amusing to a dinner company. Hull's Hussar cut up alive 
 at Epsom. Hull's directions to his jockey Bill Barnes. Old 
 Frampton. Address to our high sporting aristocracy. Sir 
 Charles Bunbury's plan successful. Appeal to the jockies, 
 Buckle, Goodisson, Robinson, Chifney. Old Sam. Chifney not 
 a hard hearted man, p. 275 — 279. 
 
 SECTION XLII. p. 279. 
 
 Pedigree. The Helmsley Turk. The implicit faith of a writer 
 in the Sporting Magazine. The author's acknowledgment of a 
 former error. Bay Bolton. Partner. Jigg. Bloody But- 
 tocks. Sampson. The Highflyer — portrait of the Darley 
 Arabian. Universal opinion of Sampson's defect in pedigree. 
 The old groom's report on Sampson's dam. Carter's Driver 
 not thorough bred. A lengthy rigmarole on the disputed pedi- 
 gree of Eclipse. His character. Always his own jockey. 
 Description. Named from the total eclipse in 1764. Prognosis 
 of Bernard Smith. Eclipse purchased by VVildman. The double 
 cover not disputed till VVildman became the proprietor of Marske. 
 The oath. Sale of Marske. No resemblauce in Eclipse or his 
 stock to the Marskes. Marske described. Spilletta, dam of 
 Eclipse. Tyndal, formerly in O'Kelly's stables. Family resem- 
 blance of Eclipse to Shakespeare and his stock. As to pedigree 
 and performance, between Shakespeare and Marske, the palm 
 probably to be conceded to the former. The question of no 
 consequence, and the speculation windy. A queer illustration. 
 Matthews, Adolphus, Nimrod and Co. p. 279—290. 
 
 SECTION XLII. p. 290. 
 
 Great advantage to Eclipse, from not starting until five years old. 
 An occasional recourse to that plan recommended. Importance 
 of weight to a racer. The old opinion. Dead weight. Specu- 
 lation on racing weights. Handy capping. "Crossing and jostling, 
 Pyrrhus and Mambrino. Abolished by the Jockey Club. Rule in 
 the case. Fairness and consideration of the present racing 
 system, with one exception. Comparison between the racers of 
 past and present times, brought to a point. Shark perhaps the 
 
CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 most productive racer. Shark Piggot. Newmarket never before 
 so well attended. ' Things run taper' there no longer. Epsom. 
 Ascot. Accident at the latter. Nominations for the chief courses 
 numerous beyond all precedent. Morality of the turf. Apparent 
 necessity for manoeuvre and stratagem. Needful bounds in the 
 case. Trying horses. Several killed in trials. A few words on 
 commencing a turf engagement. Profession of betting. The late 
 Mr. Cline on Horse Breeding. The author's warm recommenda- 
 tion of Mr. Darvill's book. Ancient training. Markham's 
 Cavalarice. Late prices of racers. Zinganee our reputed best 
 horse. St. Alban's races. The author's petition to the noble 
 Duke. No account of the famous racer Brilliant in the Turf 
 Register. Curious race over the course at two year old weights 
 between Herod and Ascham, aged horses. Late dead heat with 
 three horses. Turf reference books. Abbreviations, number 
 and indications of the courses at Newmarket. Charles the 
 Second's chair removed from the hill at Newmarket, p. 290 — 300. 
 
 SECTION XLIII. p. 301. 
 
 The animal question. Rights of beasts. Lord Erskine's bill beat 
 over the course by the light weight of ridicule. Its subsequent 
 effect out of doors. Various antiquated barbarisms and fooleries 
 discontinued. Martin, of Galway, his success in parliament. His 
 bill acknowledges the jus animalium as a branch of the social con- 
 tract. Unavoidably imperfect from the existence yet of a strong 
 prejudice. Nothing wanted but a legal prohibition of staking 
 animals to the torture under the idea of sport, i. e. baiting. The 
 Church of England Clergy, their superior exertions in this causf. 
 The Rev. A.Broome, founder of the present Society for Animal 
 Protection. Abstraction and line-drawing in parliament. The 
 late Mr. Canning's opinion. Justice, simple and indivisible, 
 alike due to man and beast. The unnatural delight of witnessing 
 the affrights and sufferings of animals. Pits and bull rings. 
 Disgraceful statute in favour of the latter. Parliamentary logic. 
 Attachment to ancient barbarisms, by no means confined to the 
 lowest class. No considerable party in England disposed to 
 interfere with rational and fair sports. Late bullbait at Smith- 
 wick. Horrible tortures inflicted on tame and gentle bulls. A 
 recommendation to the crack of our bull baiters. Petition to 
 parliament lately presented by Earl Grosvenor. Decision of 
 the judges. A legal profundity. Discrepancy of legal opinion. 
 Necessity of Societies for animal protection in large towns, 
 p. 301—310. 
 
 APPENDIX, p. 311. 
 
 Law of Wagers. Extract from the Transactions of the Animal 
 Society — Smithfield. Pithing cattle. Sock and leathern sole 
 horse shoe. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 66, line 7— to middle, add age. 
 
 68, line 14 — for predicted, read predicated. 
 
 114, add Section XIX. 
 
 188, line 5— for alteration, —alternation. 
 
 ^85, near bottom, Eclipse foaled 1764. 
 
THE HORSE. 
 
 SECTIOX I. 
 
 Of all quadrupeds subdued and domesticated by the 
 hand of man, the horse stands preeminent, as the 
 most intelligent and generous, and of the most vari- 
 ous and indispensable use. He is susceptible of 
 any lesson inculcating the duties required of him ; 
 he is sensible of kind and fair treatment, and will 
 make a grateful return ; he is sociable and playful. 
 The horse, the speediest of all domesticated animals, 
 perhaps of all animals, imparts that speed to us, 
 by bearing us upon his back in his full career, and 
 giving us a celerity and extent of locomotion to which 
 we could not possibly attain independent of his aid. 
 Harnessed to the carriage, we experience from him 
 similar services, in which he ministers, in the highest 
 degree, to our ease and comfort. He is our great and 
 indispensable ally in war. His share in the culture 
 of the earth, that first of all human concerns, the 
 provision of sustenance for man and beast, is of vital 
 importance ; and his services in all human transactions 
 branch into an innumerable variety. He both pro- 
 
•J THE HORSE. 
 
 motes our highest degree of luxury, and painfully 
 toils through the lowest and severest drudgery. In' 
 fine, after a life of ceaseless and laborious exertion, 
 his carcass is sold for the support of other animals, 
 and his hide is in constant request for various im- 
 portant branches of manufacture. Surely this noble 
 quadruped, in the first place, on the score of his 
 being endowed by nature with feelings similar to our 
 own, and in the next, from a regard to his manifold 
 and indispensable services, richly merits that justice, 
 consideration, and compassion from man, which it 
 is most lamentable and disgraceful he does not ex- 
 perience. 
 
 Indigenous Breed and Improvements of this Country. 
 
 Little is known of the indigenous breed of horses in 
 these islands, but that they were comparatively small 
 in size, and so to express it, of a wild and unaltered 
 form ; yet, on the Invasion by the Romans, Caesar 
 found the British horses regularly harnessed to the 
 war-chariots. It is, however, certain that we began to 
 import at a very early period ; and that our improve- 
 ment, not only of the horse, but of all other domestic 
 animals, now beyond possible competition, superior to 
 that of all other countries, has resulted, in the first 
 instance, from constant periodical importations. Thus 
 the best breeding stock of every kind has been selected 
 from all, even the most distant regions ; and the result 
 has been, that the selections here introduced and deni- 
 zened have invariably, in consequence of our skill, 
 industry, the feeding and incrassating nature of our 
 gramineous soil, and the mildness of our climate, far 
 
THE HORSE. 
 
 exceeded the originals introduced, in size, form, and 
 every valuable property. The domestication and care 
 of animals have immemorially, been a prime and fa- 
 vourite object of pursuit with the people of this 
 country ; and improvement had made, particularly in 
 size, considerable progress, as early as the reigns of 
 our Saxon and Norman Kings. Some export of 
 English bred, as well as a constant import of foreign 
 horses, had then taken place. The fine silken-haired 
 and delicate courser of the South East, and the jennet 
 of Spain were subsequently introduced; the war-horse 
 from Germany, the heavy draught-horse from Bel- 
 gium and the Low Countries : — such is the foundation 
 on which the supereminent and incomparable breed 
 of English horses has been reared. 
 
 In the reigns of Henry the Seventh and Eighth, and 
 on the cessation of the long continued distractions 
 resulting from the contest between the, two Roses, 
 government showed a particular anxiety to promote 
 and extend the breeding of horses; but by arbitrary 
 regulations and restrictions, not well calculated to 
 answer the ends proposed. The ancient prohibition 
 to export horses, particularly stallions, was continued ; 
 which, the writer has been informed, remains yet 
 upon our statute book; although, from its antiquity 
 and impolicy, it has long since remained a dead letter. 
 In the reigns of Elizabeth and James, a considerable 
 number of writers appeared on the subject of the 
 horse and of farriery, then styled fernery, derived, 
 in probability, from the Latin, ferrum iron, of which 
 the horse-shoe is made. These writers evince that, 
 however rude the art in their days, it had been 
 
4 THE HORSE. 
 
 practised with general attention and perseverance 
 in times long antecedent. Blundeville, the earliest 
 now known, and one of the ablest of them, describes 
 the generality of English horses in the reign of Eli- 
 zabeth, as either weak or sturdy jades, adapted only 
 to draught ; with however some, indeed very credit- 
 able exceptions. As an example, he states the fact 
 of a horse having travelled for a wager, four score 
 miles within the day. The ambition of improvement 
 had then become so universally diffused, that even 
 the carters were very nice in their choice of horses. 
 The great breeders of the country, according to Blun- 
 deville, had long been accustomed to import the 
 following races for the stud : " The Turk, the Barba- 
 rian, the Sardinian, the Neapolitan, the Jennet of 
 Spain, the Hungarian, the high Almaine (German), 
 the Friezeland, the Flanders, and the Irish Hobby." 
 Nevertheless, in those days, horses could not have 
 been very numerous in England, since the queen 
 experienced the utmost difficulty in mounting two 
 or three thousand cavalry. 
 
 Throughout these early periods, as in modern times, 
 riding on horseback, and trying the speed of their 
 horses, was peculiarly an English diversion. The 
 country sports of hunting and hawking are of a very 
 ancient date ; and our old chronicles furnish us with 
 accounts of the constant diversions in Smoothfteld 
 (Smithfield), then an extensive plain, where the citi- 
 zens of London matched and raced their horses, the 
 superior orders joining with the citizens in these 
 sporting competitions. The peculiar English system 
 of breeding the horse, essentially and usefully diffe- 
 
THE HORSE. 
 
 rent from that of any other country in Europe, had 
 an early commencement ; but, as might well be ex- 
 pected, was confined to the superior, chiefly to the 
 sporting classes. This system has been gradually 
 and progressively improved to the late times ; during 
 which we have produced specimens in every variety 
 of the animal, bordering on attainable perfection : 
 such however, it must be acknowledged, have been, 
 even in our latest and most vaunted periods, rarce 
 aves, sufficiently scarce ; and our numbers of scientific 
 and judicious breeders have at no period formed the 
 majority. The average, however, of English horses, 
 has possessed a fair proportion of the English princi- 
 ple. Hence, their constant demand for foreign studs. 
 
 This national principle of horse-breeding, consists 
 in matching the horse and mare, in respect to size, 
 substance, blood, and a certain conventional symmetry, 
 so as to obtain a form in the foal, in which may subsist 
 a union of strength and ability for labour, with the 
 powers of activity, and speedy progression. We pro- 
 ceed on the principle that, generally, and subject to 
 the natural and unavoidable dilemma of exception, 
 Mike produces like.' So said, and so found, that 
 renowned cattle breeder Bakewell, who modernized 
 the ancient adage, " most commonlie, such sire and 
 damme, such colt." 
 
 As we imported foreign horses, invariably improv- 
 ing upon those models, so we originally imported 
 the art of farriery and veterinary science from the 
 schools of Italy and France, improving upon those 
 likewise. In the early periods above quoted, the 
 farriers of note and the riding-masters in England, 
 
O THE HORSE. 
 
 were generally Italian or French. Those, indeed, 
 were sufficiently barbarous and unenlightened ; our 
 native artists inconceivably so, when the length of 
 time is considered through which their art had been 
 in universal practice in all its branches. The number 
 of old farrying and veterinary writers was great ; in- 
 deed, certain of them of eminent classical attainments, 
 though the names even, of few have reached our days. 
 Dr. Johnson has somewhere remarked on the vast 
 number of writers of that class, who published in the 
 reign of James the First. The subsequent course 
 of improvement seems to have been confined to the 
 saddle-horse, to the racer, hunter, and hack; at least, 
 with respect to symmetry and activity, with some ex- 
 ception in favour of the cart-horse. The improvement 
 of our coach, troop-horses, and chargers, was in idea, 
 and in its actual commencement about sixty years 
 since, when the generality of them were of a gross, 
 heavy, and inactive breed. And the present writer 
 well remembers Sir Robert Rich's heavy plug-tailed 
 dragoon horses, with his formidable black drummers ; 
 and also the stage-coach horses of similar descrip- 
 tion, a set of which travelled gallantly, with a jee- 
 who-it ! and a crack of the whip, full fifty miles 
 between six a. m., and eight p. m. But he suspects 
 the present Lord Mayor of London (Venables, 1828) 
 in one of his merry stories at the Mansion House, 
 must have made a chronological mistake in the ac- 
 count of his travel from Maidstone, at the above slow 
 rate, so lately as 1780, with the facetious additions 
 of taking leave of friends at the set out. Those 
 laughable incidents belong to a much earlier period ; 
 
THE HOUSE. 
 
 for, if the present writer, in the attempt to detect 
 an error, does not himself stumble into one, he, in 
 1773, travelled from Colchester to London, between 
 the hours of eight and four, on the box of the four 
 o'clock coach then lately set up, drawn by four 
 hunting-like horses, in the highest condition, and 
 ready to jump out of their harness. Now, it is not 
 very probable, that Maidstone, still nearer to the 
 metropolis, should be so far behind Colchester in 
 their travelling rate. 
 
 The attempt to grow bread corn enough to suffice 
 our vastly increased and increasing population, has 
 long since caused the discontinuance of various former 
 articles of culture, for which we consequently have 
 become an importing country. Among other imports, 
 that of heavy draught horses from Belgium and from 
 various parts of the continent, has increased greatly 
 of late years ; not as formerly, for the almost only 
 purpose of breeding stock, but for immediate labour. 
 Our military horses, with the exception of a few 
 chargers, are probably, most of them, bred in this 
 country, from continental stallions. A few coach 
 horses are imported for harness; scarcely ever any 
 number of hacks for use, worthy of mention. Ponies, 
 that is to say, those which are small enough to 
 challenge a real title to that name, are obtained in 
 the Scottish Highlands and the Isles; for the breed 
 of those dwarfs of the genus in Wales, with some 
 exceptions, has long since been reduced within very 
 narrow limits on a comparison with former times. 
 
8 THE HORSE. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 The equine or Horse genus in this country, is 
 divided and subdivided into a number of species 
 and varieties of quality and nomenclature. For ex- 
 ample, the racer or running horse, the cock- 
 tail RACER, the HUNTER, HACK, HACKNEY ROAD- 
 HORSE or chapman's horse, the cob, the lady's 
 horse or pad, the coach and chariot horse, 
 
 GIG-HORSE, CHARGER and TROOP HORSE, the SLOW 
 
 draught or cart and drayhorse. In sporting 
 language, the term horse indicates one uncut, or 
 a stallion. Geldino- has ever been a common and 
 familiar term. A horse below thirteen hands (four 
 inches to a hand) in height, is styled a poney; 
 above that height, and below fourteen hands, a gal- 
 loway. Fashion, however, rules the roast in all 
 things, and of late it has become the ton to nick- 
 name galloways, and almost sized horses, ponies, 
 quasi pets ; and I have lately heard Tattersall himself 
 announce from the pulpit, a poney for sale, which 
 bordered very nearly on fourteen hands. The word 
 or term has also been, of late years, curtailed, as 
 I humbly conceive, of its fair orthographical pro- 
 portion. It is now spelled pony, a literal abridg- 
 ment introduced, in all probability, according to my 
 observation, by that celebrated journal the Times, 
 by way of the laudable economy of a single letter 
 in an advertisement. The term entire horse, for horse 
 or stallion, may perhaps be about ten or seven years 
 of age. It has not hitherto had much currency, 
 being deemed a cockneyism by the generality of 
 
THE HORSE. 9 
 
 sportsmen and horsemen. The cob, a denomination 
 perhaps of twenty years standing, refers to a truss, 
 short-legged nag, able to carry weight. The pack- 
 horse has long since disappeared from among us, 
 perhaps entirely, by virtue of the great modern im- 
 provements in roads and carriages. The cocktail, 
 a new term in the slang of the inferior turf, indicates 
 a racer not thorough bred. The welter horse, 
 a term of long standing, but of unknown derivation, 
 points to either racer or hunter, master of the highest 
 weight. The designation thorough bred belongs 
 to the racer of pure Arabian or Barb blood; and 
 the term is likewise applicable to the horses of other 
 nations of the South East, as will be hereafter eluci- 
 dated. A nag, in which the show of blood predomi- 
 nates, is styled blood-like, or a blood-horse. The degrees 
 of blood in an English horse are thus expressed, half 
 bred, three parts, and seven eighths bred, which last 
 term probably, I supplied. The first, or half bred, 
 being the produce of a racer and a common mare, 
 or vice versa, (the last cross not so frequent, nor 
 deemed so successful) ; the second of the racer and 
 half bred, and the third of the racer and the three 
 part bred mare. This last may, and has raced capi- 
 tally, as in the case of the Yorkshire black horse, Old 
 Sampson, which about four score years since beat all 
 England. Several other similar examples of success- 
 ful seven eighths bred racers, have occurred at various 
 periods. Perhaps no instance has ever occurred, of 
 a three part bred horse saving his distance in running 
 two miles with thorough bred racers. 
 
 The horse and mare, in course of nature, are 
 
 b 2 
 
10 THE HORSE. 
 
 capable of procreation at a very early age, but not 
 with the prospect of their best produce. The rule 
 in this case necessarily depends on the convenience 
 of the breeder; the procreative faculty, with both 
 horse and mare, remains to a very late period of their 
 lives, more especially with the horse, some individuals 
 having been successful stock getters at upwards of 
 thirty years of age. Four years is generally the 
 earliest period, whether for horse or mare. Indeed, 
 unless from particular circumstances, the mare is 
 seldom put to the horse, until she has passed some 
 years of labour, or has become accidentally inca- 
 pable of it. It is probable that the excessive labour 
 which they endure in this country, styled by foreign- 
 ers ( the hell of horses/ has curtailed their length 
 of days ; and that under more favourable circum- 
 stances, both their age and their services might be 
 greatly prolonged. The writer, some years since, 
 saw at Dulwich two geldings, the one forty-eight, 
 the other fifty-four years of age, both of them capable 
 of performing some light daily labour, the property 
 of his friend, the late Edward Brown, Esq., who had 
 both their portraits. Racing and cart colls are put 
 to light labour at three, and even two years old ; 
 but saddle and quick draught horses are incapable, 
 that is to say with safety, of the usual labour, until 
 live years of age. From the excessive and cruel 
 system of labour adopted, against all feeling and con- 
 science, in this country, horses are torn to pieces 
 before their tenth year ; and if they miss the benefit 
 of slaughter, they seldom survive their twentieth. 
 The conventional form of the horse, as to the 
 eat essentials, may be held referable to every va- 
 
THE HORSE. 11 
 
 riety ; for example, the head should be lean, argutum 
 caput, neither long nor short, and set on with some- 
 what of a curve; the thropple loose and open; the 
 neck not reversed (cock-throppled), but rather arched ; 
 the loins wide and substantial, more especially should 
 the back be long; the tail not drooping, but nearly 
 on a level with the spine ; the hinder quarters well 
 spread, as a support to the loins, and as a security 
 against the approach to each other of the pasterns 
 in progression, whence results cutting them with the 
 hoofs ; the hinder legs should descend straight, late- 
 rally from the hocks, as a preventive to the defect 
 styled sickle-houghed or hammed ; at the same time, 
 the curve from the hock should be to the degree, that 
 the feet may be placed sufficiently forward to prop 
 the loins, and that the horse may not be said to leave 
 his legs behind him; the muscles of the thigh and 
 fore arm should be solid and full, thouoh some 
 horses are heavy and overdone by nature in those 
 parts. The horse, of whatever description, should 
 not be leggy, and of the extremes, short legs are 
 surely preferable. The canon or leg-bone, below the 
 knee, should not be long, but of good substance, 
 and the pasterns and feet of a size to accord with 
 the size of the horse ; the hoof dark, feet and frog 1 
 tough, heel wide and open ; the fore feet should stand 
 perfectly level, the toe pointing forward in a right 
 line, else the horse will knock or * cut in the speed,' 
 however wide his chest; in plain terms, he will either 
 strike and wound his pasterns, or his legs imme- 
 diately below the knees, or both ; the feet standing 
 even, the horse being equal to his work, will seldom, 
 
12 THE HORSE. 
 
 perhaps never, knock or cut, however near the hoof 
 may approach. A full, clear, azure eye. 
 
 Such are the requisites of form, whether for the 
 racer or cart horse. For the hack, hunter, or 
 racer, there are certain other requisites of form 
 and quality ; the chief of which to be quoted are the 
 deep, backward-declining, and as it is called, the 
 counter or coulter shoulder, well elevated forehand, 
 deep girthing place, with sufficient racing blood to 
 give lightness, action, and fineness of hair and skin. 
 This description applies with perfect aptitude to the 
 hunter, which should have moreover great strength 
 of loin and fillet, and should not be high upon the 
 leg. Nor is any addition necessary for the running- 
 horse, but greater general length, which is the usual 
 result of full or thorough blood. As to our coach 
 horses, such is the modern rage for speed, that our 
 mails and stages may well be said to consist, in a consi- 
 derable degree, of racers and hunters ; and our private 
 coaches of hunting-like horses on a large scale. 
 
 In regard to the natural and peculiar form of the 
 slow draught horse, he carries his substance in a 
 round, full, and horizontal mode ; his chest is wide 
 and full; his shoulder rather round and bluff than 
 deep, and its summit, the apex or top of the fore- 
 hand, not high and acute, but wide. Such form 
 seems best adapted to the collar, and to enable the 
 animal to draw, propel, or move forward, heavy 
 weights ; we nevertheless, daily see numbers of first- 
 rate draught horses with deep flat shoulders. It 
 used to be held, that a low shoulder facilitated 
 draught ; and such was the form of the old Suffolk 
 
THE HORSE. 13 
 
 sorrel cart horses, the truest and most forceful pullers 
 ever yet known ; they were the only breed, collec- 
 tively, that would draw dead pulls, that is to say, 
 would continue repeated pulls, going down upon their 
 knees, at an immovable object; for example, a tree. 
 This, draught horses in general, even the most power- 
 ful and the best, as the writer has witnessed, cannot 
 be brought to do, with whatever severity ; at the 
 second or third pull, gibbing, as it is called, and 
 turning their heads, as if to point with their eyes, 
 towards their failing loins. Such was the rage in 
 former days, among the Suffolk farmers' men, for 
 wagering on this sport of dead pulls, that many valu- 
 able teams of horses were annually strained and 
 ruined thereby. This, in all probability, was the 
 chief cause, that so extremely active and valuable 
 a breed was relinquished. Sixty years since consi- 
 derable progress was making in Suffolk, to cross 
 their breed with large Yorkshire horses, still adher- 
 ing to the chestnut colour; and between the last 
 twenty and thirty years, only several solitary indi- 
 viduals of the old breed remained. The new Suffolks 
 have proved a long, heavy, leggy, dull looking breed, 
 yet useful; more resembling in form and size pro- 
 bably the Cleveland bays than any other. The pre- 
 sent Norfolk breed of cart horses bears resemblance 
 in size and activitv to the old Suffolk ; but the former 
 are not celebrated for drawing dead pulls. It used 
 to be matter of question with the knowing ones 
 whether drawing with those extraordinary and vain 
 repetitions, were a natural qualification, consequent 
 on the peculiar form of the Suffolk horse, or whether 
 it were the mere result of training to that habit ? 
 
14 THE HORSE. 
 
 To speak of the colours of these animals to the 
 uninitiated, who are ambitious of describing things 
 by their proper technical stable names, here followeth 
 the horseman's and sportsman's phraseology in the 
 case, in which by the by, mirabile dictu, we have 
 yet no novelty or addition. The colours of horses are 
 thus expressed — black, white; grey, dappled 
 
 GREY, IRON GREY, ELEA-BITTEN GREY; red, nut- 
 meg, and blue roan ; strawberry ; bald, face 
 whited; pyebald (spotted); dun; chestnut, light 
 and dark ; brown, light and dark ; bay, light bright, 
 or yellow. Sorrel is an obsolete Suffolk term for 
 deep chestnut. 
 
 The age of the horse is discoverable on a general 
 view, by the freshness or deadness of his hair, and 
 its intermixture with grey, and by the hollowness 
 and sinking in the orbits of his eyes : with precision, 
 bv the marks in his mouth, which continue to rising, 
 namely, coming eight years of age; beyond which 
 period nothing relative can be determined, but on 
 conjecture. The length of his teeth, their edges 
 standing more outward, by which aged horses are 
 apt to bite and wound their lips in mastication ; or 
 if short, their foulness and dingy colour, are signs 
 of old age in apparent degrees. Nature has allowed 
 the horse forty teeth, twenty-four grinders, or double 
 teeth, twelve fore teeth, and four tushes, which last 
 standing in the corners of the mouth, are peculiar 
 to the horse, being seldom found with the mare ; or 
 if found, scarcely to be distinguished by the finger. 
 The front teeth or gatherers are flat and smooth ; 
 the back jaw teeth or guilders, twelve above, and 
 twelve below, are strong, double, and with sharp 
 
THE HORSE. 15 
 
 edges, until smoothed by old age and use. The 
 tushes are detached from the back teeth; the first, 
 or foaVs teeth, are tangible in a few months, twelve 
 in number, above and below ; they are remarkably 
 white and small, not unlike the human fore teeth ; 
 and when mixed in the colt's mouth with those which 
 succeed, size renders them plainly distinguishable. 
 In some, the foal's teeth remain several months after 
 the appearance of the adult or horse's teeth. Gene- 
 rally the four middlemost foal's teeth, two above and 
 two below, are cast at between two and three years 
 of age, and their successors being complete, the colt 
 or filly is deemed three years of age. At three years 
 and a half, four additional foal teeth are cast on each 
 side the nippers, gatherers, or middle teeth. The 
 two middle teeth, above and below, full grown, indi- 
 cate the age of four years ; the tushes appearing- 
 n early at the same time, occasionally rather earlier 
 or later, they are then small, curved, and their summits 
 encircled by a sharp edge, which becomes blunted 
 in age ; the inside of the tusk is somewhat grooved, 
 hollow, and rather flat. The horsedealins; fraud of 
 extracting the foal's teeth, in order to cause a pre- 
 mature appearance of the adult, and to pass the horse 
 for a four year old, may be detected by the absence 
 of the tushes, which should appear at that period. 
 
 On the approach to, and at the age of five years, 
 when the horse has nearly attained the prime of life, 
 his corner teeth begin to appear ; at first, level with 
 the gums and filled with flesh in their centre; the 
 tushes also, increased in size, though not yet large, 
 are somewhat rough and sharp. The corner teeth 
 
16 THE HORSE. 
 
 are remarkable, as more fleshy within than the mid- 
 dle, or front teeth, which reach their full growth in 
 two or three weeks ; whereas the corner teeth grow 
 more leisurely, and are different from the fore ones, 
 in that they resemble a shell, thence, by horsemen, 
 they are styled at that period, shelly ; the shell, or 
 mark teeth. In the process of growth, the shell, with 
 these teeth, gradually disappears, leaving a vacuum. 
 At six years old, this vacuum or hollowness begins 
 to fill up, and the first fleshy substance becomes a 
 brownish or dark spot, the mark, resembling the 
 eye of a bean, continuing in that state, until the 
 seventh year, but gradually filling up, and the 
 mark becoming lighter in colour. The mark being- 
 filled up, the horse's mouth is said to be full. He is 
 styled aged. At eight years oM, the mark, in general, 
 is entirely obliterate. Some few, particularly certain 
 foreign horses, forming an exception, and carrying 
 the mark in their mouths until their tenth year. The 
 gross and fraudful cruelty of imposing upon a colt 
 the appearance of age, by extracting the foal's teeth, 
 as above shown, ought, on detection, to ruin the cha- 
 racter of the miscreant dealer ; also that of forging 
 the semblance of youth in the aged, which is per- 
 formed by hollowing the teeth with a graver, and 
 burning a counterfeit mark with a small iron. Loner 
 teeth are also filed down to hide age ; by which the 
 wretched animal becomes unable to chew his food. 
 Alas ! no additional period of labour is required to 
 fill to the brim, their cup of horror and misery. 
 
THE HORSE. 17 
 
 SECTION III.— Breeding. 
 
 The ceremony of introduction of the horse to the 
 mare is well known, in all its particular tactics, by 
 our stable, particularly our country people. In the 
 stud it is usual, previously, to try young or uncertain 
 mares with an ordinary stallion, styled a teaser, that 
 the superior may not be fatigued, or have his vigour 
 exhausted. Mares known to be quiet and thoroughly 
 ready, are offered to the horses with their legs at 
 liberty, and only held by the head; otherwise they 
 are hoppled, or their legs tackled. Such is perhaps 
 universally held a sufficient precaution; but it has 
 not always proved so ; and fatal accidents have occa- 
 sionally occurred, from headstrong and determined 
 mares plunging violently, and getting their hinder 
 legs at liberty, or throwing themselves down. Stal- 
 lions, at different periods, have been killed outright, 
 in this way, from kicks on the testes, or having their 
 legs broken. To couple accidents together, though 
 arising from different causes, a racing stallion was 
 lost, some years since, by being put, with a full 
 stomach, to a mare. The violence of the action 
 caused a rupture of the intestines. Many years past, 
 and immediately after a fatal accident which came to 
 his knowledge, the present writer recommended the 
 security of leathern straps, attached to posts fixed in 
 the ground, in which straps the legs and fetlocks of 
 the mare might be confined all fours ; a railing to be 
 placed on each side, as with the leaping-bar. To 
 those who slight a precaution of this kind, the author 
 begs leave to propose a question : — how would they 
 
18 THE HORSE. 
 
 relish and digest the loss of a horse, worth a couple 
 of thousands, by a sudden stroke, some fine sunshiny 
 morning ? The stallion not being overburdened with 
 work, the mare is customarily covered twice, and is 
 again presented to the horse at her period of nine 
 days, when, if she be stinted, she will refuse him. It 
 has occasionally happened that, a mare not taking by 
 the first horse, is tried with another, whence the un- 
 certainty in some racing pedigrees ; the case of that 
 of the highfamed Eclipse, the dam of which was said 
 to have been covered both by Shakspeare and Marsk, 
 as I was informed by Col. O'Kelly's old groom, who 
 had the care of Eclipse. Barren mares are generally 
 horsing throughout the season, and never refuse the 
 horse ; as we are assured on high authority, " the 
 barren womb is never satisfied." Should a mare in 
 this predicament be thorough shaped, not old, and of 
 capital pedigree, that to obtain stock from her might 
 be highly desirable, there might be some probability 
 of remedy, in the course of turning her abroad during 
 the succeeding full twelve months. The motive is 
 obvious. It is the concern of the mare's proprietor 
 that, she be not put to a stallion exhausted by cover- 
 ing too many mares in a day. 
 
 With the exception of racing, and stallions and 
 mares of a superior class, both stallion and brood- 
 mare may be put to their accustomed labour ; that of 
 the mare particularly being moderate, and further 
 reduced as her burden becomes apparent and heavy. 
 The stallion, however, should never cover during 
 labour, but in the morning after rest. Accidents are 
 too frequent from the neglect of this humane and 
 
THE HORSE. 19 
 
 profitable precaution, in respect to the mare ; more 
 especially in the case of twins, from the weight of 
 which the mare will often appear dull and sleepy, 
 with a temporary loss of appetite. A cart mare of 
 mine, thoughtlessly retained too late in work, cast 
 remarkably fine and large twin colt foals. In the 
 case of twins, one of them (the strongest) may be 
 easily brought up by hand, on cow's milk • in which 
 mode, the old racers, Cade, Milksop, and others 
 since, were nurtured, having lost their dams. Admi- 
 nistering drugs to the mare which has stolen a leap, 
 in order to procure abortion, is an act of cruelty, and 
 often permanently injurious to her constitution; the 
 attempt to effect it by manual operation, detestable. 
 
 The term of gestation with the mare is variable ; 
 from eleven months and odd days, to three hundred 
 and sixty-three days, which latter number, I suppose, 
 may be deemed the utmost. She is supposed to carry 
 her first foal longer than the succeeding, and to go 
 longer with a colt than with a filly. Sh§ brings 
 forth in a standing position ; seldom in the day time, 
 but by night, or early in the morning. The mare is 
 perhaps liable to as little labour or error in parturition 
 as any female whatever. In case of an exception, 
 timely recourse should be had to some one skilful in 
 the practice of animal obstetrics. The approach of par- 
 turition is indicated a few days previous, by the swell- 
 ing of the udder, the appearance of milk, the swollen 
 state of the matrix, and the thrusting out of the tail. 
 At this period, the mare should be watched night and 
 day, lest by her choosing an improper place in which 
 to bring forth, her produce may be lost ; a risk which 
 
20 THE HORSE. 
 
 the author in former days, imprudently, more than 
 once, incurred. In cold, wet, and bad weather, it is 
 far more safe, and consistent with the preservation of 
 health, both of the dam and foal, for her to be taken 
 within doors, to bring forth in a roomy outhouse. 
 
 To common, or chance-medley breeders, whose 
 mares take the risk of heaths and wilds, and thence 
 have been immemorially liable to casualties from 
 ditch, drain, bog, or other dangerous places, wherein 
 the fruit of twelve months' expectation of their pro- 
 prietors may be foundered in an instant, a few words 
 of caution will not be superfluous. In the first place, 
 the mare's reckoning should be most punctually 
 attended to; and at the eleventh month, beyond 
 which there is no certainty, she should be sedulously 
 watched, or taken to a place of safety. Having 
 foaled successfully, the next care is to provide her 
 with the best and most succulent pasturage, without 
 which the growth of the foal will be nipped in the 
 bud, and rendered subsequently defective, from the 
 inferior quantity and poor quality of the mare's milk. 
 This care at the commencement is indispensable to 
 the profit of even breeders of the inferior class, who 
 rear stock, either for use or sale, at the least possible 
 expense. Indeed, breeding horses, or any of our 
 domestic animals, to a profitable purpose, is an under- 
 taking dependent on a variety of observances and 
 precautions ; among which it is not of the least con- 
 sequence, to keep in a regular memorandum-book 
 the exact dates when the female, of whatever species, 
 received the male; an important item, which has 
 been too often trusted to memory and hearsay. 
 
THE HORSE. 21 
 
 Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland, the 
 Northern and Midland Counties, have been imme- 
 morially our chief breeding districts ; the former for 
 saddle and coach cattle, the latter for heavy draught 
 and troop horses. Racers are bred in both North 
 and South ; and, generally, horse-breeding in certain 
 degrees enters into the rural system of all counties. 
 The breed of foresters, a small, but useful species of 
 the galloway and poney size, is greatly decreased, or 
 nearly extinct. The culture of waste lands, and the 
 immensely increased demand for coach and sized nags, 
 has been the cause. The New Forest, half a century 
 since, used to turn out, annually, a great number of 
 the former description, well bred and extremely use- 
 ful ; and upon Tiptree Heath, in Essex, some good 
 tough hacks were bred, many of them out of Norway 
 mares. 
 
 SECTION IV.— The Stud. 
 
 To establish this upon a considerable scale, and in 
 the first style of adaptation and convenience of every 
 kind, the country chosen should be dry, hilly, and 
 irregular, the soil calcareous, with sweet herbage, 
 and good water in abundance. A sufficient shelter 
 of timber is advantageous. The breeding and rearing 
 of racers, hunters, and hacks, are here^contemplated. 
 There are, perhaps, many parts in South Wales, in 
 which these purposes would be well answered. A 
 number of well and high fenced paddocks and inci- 
 sures, commensurate with the extent of the stud, 
 will, in course, be understood ; as also of sheds in 
 those inclosures, for sheltering the stock in winter 
 
22 THE HORSE. 
 
 or unfavourable weather. From the nature of a soil 
 and situation similar to the above, a correspondent 
 effect may be rationally expected, on the feet, limbs, 
 and tendinous system of the horses bred ; whilst a 
 clear and elastic air will be equally productive of 
 beneficial effects to their wind and animal spirits. 
 Ample and separated yard room and stabling, with 
 outhouses, and every convenience for the storing of 
 provender, will, in conformity, not be neglected ; to 
 add, for form sake, a convenient residence for the 
 stud groom and his boys and assistants. 
 
 To digress a few words in this place, on the im- 
 mense studs of the ancients, in the original breeding 
 countries of Asia and Africa, from the waste and 
 unappropriated state of their lands — Herodotus writes 
 of royal breeding studs, each to the amount of six- 
 teen thousand mares and four hundred stallions. The 
 vast multitudes of these animals which, in a wild 
 state, roam over the almost boundless continent of 
 South America, and the southernmost borders of the 
 North, originating in a few stallions and mares ex- 
 ported thither by the Spaniards, two or three centuries 
 since, have rendered them of little or no worth, but 
 for their hides : and Captain Ashe, in his amusing 
 and instructive travels, quotes the price of horses 
 about the year 1810, in Louisiana, in any number, 
 at a guinea a head, though he describes them as a 
 breed not to be excelled in the world. It seems that, 
 some time previously, and before the Spaniards had 
 parted with that country to the United States, a 
 dollar was the price of a horse, and half a dollar 
 that of an ox or cow ! Horses are in plenty in the 
 
THE HORSE. 23 
 
 United States of North America, and the breed more 
 similar to the English, in form and activity, thouoh 
 perhaps generally smaller, and many of their hacks 
 are amblers, or running; trotters. 
 
 Returning to the English stud, and describing it 
 as intended to be complete at all points, the necessity 
 might be presumed of an adjoining farm, sufficient in 
 extent to produce the requisite quantities of corn, 
 straw, hay, artificial grasses, and roots. At any rate, 
 the stud should be joined by land enough, on which 
 might be cultivated the needful quantities of lucerne 
 for soiling ; and, should the soil be sufficiently deep, 
 of carrots ; an indispensable article in this concern, 
 for autumnal and early spring use. Our chief breed- 
 ing establishments of first sized heavy dray and cart 
 horses, chiefly for the metropolitan market, are found 
 in rich and deep grassy soils ; since the same full bite 
 is required for these, to rear them up to their utmost 
 size and bulk, as is indispensable for the same pur- 
 pose, in the large varieties of horned cattle and 
 sheep. 
 
 The phraseology of the stud, as regards the 
 animals, runs thus — stallion, sire, brood-mare, 
 
 DAM, FOAL, COLT, FILLY, FULL BROTHER, BRO- 
 THER in blood. This last term indicates an identity 
 of blood on both sides, but not of individual sire and 
 dam. The young stock retain the names of colt 
 or filly, until nearly approaching their fifth year, 
 when they assume the appellation of horse, gelding, 
 or mare. The novel dandy term, entire horse, has 
 been noted ; we have lately observed in print the 
 term female brought into stabular use. 
 
24 THE HORSE. 
 
 The chief preliminary considerations to breeding 
 are — the species required, choice of stallion and mare, 
 and the season of putting them together. De Grey, 
 an old English writer, insisted on the preference due 
 to autumn, for reason scarcely worth recapitulation 
 at this period, unless from necessity with a favourite 
 mare. The spring is always chosen, and it matters 
 not how early, with those breeders who can depend 
 on early pasturage. The radical error in our general 
 breeding system is, that the form and size of the 
 stallion alone is particularly attended to, whilst the 
 form and aptitude of the mare is little considered. 
 Hence probably, the cause of our notorious and con- 
 stant scarcity of thorough shaped horses. In order 
 to produce such, it would seem that there is a neces- 
 sity for a just symmetry and proportion in both 
 horse and mare ; at least, as far as regards the most 
 important points, which have been already discussed. 
 At any rate, with regard to those, that which is 
 deficient in one should be made up by the other. 
 In breeding hacks, that is to say, road horses, re- 
 course is generally had to racing stallions, to such as 
 have a show of blood, or trotters, as in Norfolk. 
 These generally cover at one to five guineas. The 
 opposite modes, with regard to expense in breed- 
 ing horses, have been noted. In the racing studs, 
 and perhaps in all, where high form and size, for 
 sale, are the objects, the brood mares and foals are 
 allowed corn. In the common breeding system, the 
 purpose being to obtain stock at the least possible 
 cost, the mares and foals shift through spring and 
 summer, wherever thev can find a bite of grass ; and 
 
THE HORSE. 25 
 
 during winter, in the straw-yard, upon that provender, 
 with the addition perhaps of a portion of ordinary hay. 
 Carrots would be a vast help to breeders of this des- 
 cription, and the only person, who, it may be sup- 
 posed, would profit by such economy, are farmers not 
 solicitous about figure in their teams. 
 
 The best market for brood mares, whether in regard 
 to price or quality, will be found in the London Re- 
 positories, during .the months of September and Oc- 
 tober. All descriptions, one perhaps excepted, may 
 then and there be met with, and many of good age, 
 prematurely worked down, in that real hell of horses, 
 our flying stage w r ork. Such mares, turned off for 
 the winter, well kept with hay and carrots, and well 
 sheltered in dry straw-yards and sheds abroad, their 
 constitutions being sound, will be in the best possible 
 state for breeding in the spring. The exception 
 above refers to draught horses of the first size and 
 class, mares of which are seldom seen in London, but 
 must be sought in the Midland Counties and Lin- 
 colnshire. 
 
 To commence with the particular incidents of the 
 breeding system,- — should the mare have foaled suc- 
 cessfully abroad, in a well sheltered pasture, her milk 
 appearing copious and fluent, and the weather favour- 
 able, she may be suffered to remain, requiring nothing 
 further than daily inspection and her allowance of 
 corn, if such should be bestowed. On the other 
 hand, should her milk be obstructed and fail, either 
 from cold caught or other cause, she should be im- 
 mediately taken up to the house, and enticed to lie 
 down upon a large and deep littered bed of fresh 
 
 c 
 
26 THE HORSE. 
 
 straw, and every method taken to comfort her, and 
 to encourage the secretion of milk. To promote this 
 end, as much warm mild ale should be allowed, as 
 she will drink ; or if she refuse it, she may be drench- 
 ed with a couple of quarts, to be repeated as may ap- 
 pear necessary ; her food being the finest and most 
 fragrant hay, sweet grains, with mashes of corn and 
 pollard. In cases of chill and great weakness, the 
 old well known article, cordial ball, may be given in 
 warm ale. Should, however, the case be inflamma- 
 tory, from previous high condition and fullness of 
 blood, cordial ball and all stimulants should be strictlv 
 avoided, and the regimen confined to warm water and 
 gruel in as copious quantities as can be administered. 
 Should further measures of similar tendency be in- 
 dicated, a mild solution of Glauber's or Epsom Salts, 
 (10 or 12 oz. in a pail of warm water,) may be given, 
 which she may be induced to drink by being kept 
 short of water. A moderate quantity of blood may 
 be drawn, should the symptoms plainly demand it, 
 not otherwise. Daily walking exercise abroad, the 
 mare being clothed if necessary, should succeed, until 
 she be sufficiently recovered to be returned to her 
 pasture. During the inability of the mare to give 
 suck, the foal must be sustained on cow's milk. This 
 alien milk will generally disorder and gripe the foal, 
 for which, the best remedy is two or three tea spoon- 
 fuls of rhubarb in powder, with an equal quantity of 
 magnesia, in warm gruel. This medicine should be 
 given to the foals of labouring mares, which are often 
 griped by sucking pent milk. The disorder arising 
 from wet and cold, a table spoonful each, of- the best 
 
THE HORSE. 27 
 
 brandy and syrup of white poppies, may be given 
 several times. Mares that come early, and in bad 
 weather, should invariably be brought to the house to 
 foal. 
 
 Foals run abroad with their dams until autumn ; if 
 weaklv, their weaning should be deferred as late as 
 possible. It has been before observed that, in the 
 racing studs, and those where first-rate stock is the 
 object, the foals are corn-fed, from their earliest in- 
 clination to it. It should have been observed that 
 geldings are not to be admitted among the brood 
 mares, as by leaping them, or harassing them about, 
 abortion may be occasioned. Foals should be handled 
 at the earliest period, and as soon as possible accus- 
 tomed to be led with the halter. Castration is 
 usuallv performed at two years old ; but with the thin 
 and low crested, should be deferred until the latest 
 convenient period. Spading of mares has been long- 
 since out of practice. The present writer, many years 
 ago, successfully revived the ancient practice of 
 Docking the sucking foal at a month old, an opera- 
 tion which may then be performed with a sharp knife, 
 is attended with trifling pain, and no risk; whereas, 
 both the pain and the danger of the operation on 
 adults, are considerable. The colts and fillies, after 
 being weaned, and the mares becoming dry, may 
 again associate through the winter, and until the ap- 
 proaching parturition of the mares demand another 
 separation : the next is that necessary one of the colts 
 from the fillies. 
 
28 THE HORSE. 
 
 SECTION V.— Or the Stallion. 
 
 In the common breeding system, it has already been 
 said that he, as well as the mare, may be put to 
 his accustomed labour; and in former days, there 
 were some instances, that of old Babram a re- 
 markable one, of racing stallions, whilst in training, 
 covering mares, and yet running with their usual 
 success. But generally, both stallions and brood 
 mares, in all capital studs, are restricted to their pro- 
 per business of breeding, and the mare receives the 
 horse annually, as long as she retains the power of 
 conception. Previously to the establishment of the 
 racing; system in this country, which has been the 
 foundation of so many and great improvements in 
 our national breed of horses, it was the custom to 
 turn a stallion loose in the pasture, among a certain 
 number of mares, generally twenty, whence a number 
 of accidents must have occurred, and the powers of 
 the stallion have been by no means economized. We 
 moderns have been too much inclined to run into the 
 other extreme, by suffering stallions to cover so many 
 mares in a day, that from the exhausted nature of the 
 horse, many mares miss, and those which succeed 
 can scarcely be expected to bring other than a weak 
 and puny, or ill-formed progeny. Here we haw 
 another obvious reason for the great number of ordi- 
 nary and ill-shaped horses, which are annually bred 
 in a country renowned beyond all others, for its breed 
 of those indispensable animals. The golden rule is 
 this — a horse should never be put to serve a greater 
 number of mares in a day, than he can serve- with vi- 
 
THE HORSE. 29 
 
 gour. We address this, however, to the proprietor of 
 the mare, with an ancient adage at the tail of it, si 
 popiilus vidt decipi, decipiatur, which, being inter- 
 preted, means, if people choose to be humbugged, let 
 them. In the common way, no horse should be suf- 
 fered to cover, when faint and exhausted by his day's 
 labour. 
 
 The stallion of the regular stud is kept throughout 
 the year, in the highest condition ; and should be al- 
 lowed as much of the heaviest and best oats, as he 
 can eat with an appetite, and as his digestive powers 
 are able to subdue and convert into nourishment. — 
 Experience has discovered a necessity for this ; at the 
 same time, it should be remembered, that the horse is 
 an animal peculiarly liable to intestinal accumulation ; 
 and a stallion being thus full fed throughout the year, 
 his intestines will necessarily be overloaded, and his 
 blood incrassated and heated above the standard of 
 real health. Hence it appears reasonable, though 
 probably seldom practised, that he might be greatly 
 benefited and his powers renovated, by two or three 
 mild purges, previous to the commencement of the 
 covering season. Even in the midst of that season, 
 should the horse become heated and faint, his bowels 
 confined, with loss of appetite, dullness, and want of 
 vigour, no time will be lost by allowing him a few 
 days, in which a mild purge may be exhibited. The 
 purging salts may sometimes be sufficient in this case. 
 A due attention to cleanliness should not be overlook- 
 ed. A stallion frequently gets a wound or excoriation, 
 or the part becomes foul, when he is quiet and will 
 permit it, ablution will be of great benefit and comfort, 
 
30 THE HORSE. 
 
 and the excoriations should be touched with tincture 
 of myrrh, or a saturnine lotion. A famous racing 
 stallion of former days died in consequence of a mor- 
 tification in his sheath, occasioned entirely by un- 
 cleanness and neglect. The feet also of some have 
 been so totally neglected, that they have become un- 
 able to walk ; the case of the far-famed Eclipse, which 
 from that inability, made his last journey in a car- 
 riage purposely constructed. The toes of these horses 
 should be kept short, the feet regularly pared from 
 excrescences, and often suppled with water; nor 
 should walking exercise and airings abroad be neg- 
 lected. Immediately after the covering season, the 
 stallion should be soiled with fine fresh-cut natural 
 grass, lucerne or melibot. 
 
 There are certain external and visible defects in the 
 horse and mare, which may be, and often are propa- 
 gated. The chief of these are splents, spavins, round 
 and gourdy legs, subject to grease and running 
 thrushes ; crooked hams, thick, ill-shaped and ill-set 
 heads, imperfect eves. Good or evil qualities like- 
 wise, are propagated, and it is not advisable to breed 
 from a restiff horse or mare. Saltram, by Eclipse, a 
 horse which ran at Newmarket when blind, commu- 
 nicated that defect to his progeny ; among others, to 
 Sir Charles Bunbury's Whiskey, which being blind 
 himself, got scarcely any foals that retained their 
 sight. Asthmatic or broken-winded mares, with few 
 exceptions, are barren ; but age need be no bar to the 
 sound and healthy mare, since good stock has been 
 produced by the aged of both sexes ; although the 
 period between five and ten years must be deemed 
 
 / 
 
THE HORSE. 31 
 
 the most favourable. In the year 1821, the singular 
 fact occurred in Wales, of a mare producing four colt 
 foals at a birth, all black. 
 
 SECTION VI.— Colt Breaking. 
 
 Reducing the colt to obedience, teaching him his 
 duties, and rendering him steady in his paces, these 
 indispensable operations are signified by the old and 
 well known term breaking. This, with racers, is oc- 
 casionally performed at a year old; but generally, 
 colts are taken in hand, at rising, that is to say, com- 
 ing three years old. Their joints have at that period 
 become somewhat knit, and their powers consolidated, 
 enabling them to bear the weight of the rider and the 
 necessary exertions. The strange barbarity of Devon- 
 shire horse-breaking, twenty years ago, is justly re- 
 probated in the " General Treatise on Cattle," the 
 author having been an eyewitness, and made his re- 
 port to the late Sir Lawrence Palk, the proprietor of 
 the victim, who promised his influence for the correc- 
 tion of such a vice, which, it appeared, was of ancient 
 standing, and then general in those parts. It seemed 
 that horses were there customarily and frequently 
 suffered to run wild until five years old, when being, 
 in course, obstinate and intractable, it was the custom 
 to beat them with clubs on their shin bones, even 
 while in the stable and quiet, by way of a memento 
 of gentleness and docility, when they should get 
 abroad. Such was the treatment the author witnessed 
 towards a fine five year old mare, the poor animal 
 enduring her suffering with a patience and stoutness 
 of heart, really admirable ; and when the witness 
 
32 THE HORSE. 
 
 expressed his surprise and abhorrence, probably in no 
 very gentle or measured terms, he was answered, that 
 such was the custom of the country ! 
 
 The colt-tackle for breaking, with the large 
 and mild bit, need no description. The whole of this 
 furniture must be left to the direction of the breaker, 
 and no one can be an fait at the business, but a re- 
 gular, steady, and experienced man, whose first and 
 most important qualification is unwearied patience ; 
 the next, undaunted courage, joined to that indescri- 
 bable quality which some men naturally possess, of 
 beino- attractive to animals, and at once loved and 
 feared by them. Here we have the true domitor 
 equorum, or tamer of horses. The best horse in na- 
 ture may have his value infinitely depreciated by 
 imperfect breaking ; for example, his temper insuffi- 
 ciently subdued and regu ated, his mouth spoiled, and 
 his paces confused and run one into the other. Such 
 is too often the case with the nags of inferior and un- 
 informed breeders; hence another cause for the num- 
 ber of raw, ill-taught, and inferior nags. In most of 
 our counties are to be found capable colt breakers ; 
 more especially in the vicinity of our great breeding 
 studs. As has been already observed, accustoming 
 foals to be handled from the teat, stabled, haltered, 
 lead, and treated familiarly and kindly, greatly facili- 
 tate the first processes of breaking. The colt taken 
 up and rendered familiar with the stable a while, 
 may, in the next instance, be led about in a halter 
 and made steady in hand. The next process is to bit 
 and caparison him with his full tackle; the saddle 
 having a cross, or something elevated upon it, in or- 
 der to accustom him to a rider. He is shortly after 
 
THE HORSE. 33 
 
 lunged around a circle, held bv the breaker, who 
 stands, whip in hand, in the centre. Backing follows 
 in a few days. When colts are first taken to the 
 stable, it is by no means safe to leave them tied up 
 by night, so many accidents have happened from their 
 getting halter-cast. The late Sir Charles Bunbury 
 lost in this way one of the finest three years olds he 
 ever bred ; as I recollect, full brother to Smolensko, and 
 for which he had refused nearly two thousand guineas. 
 The colt showing great stubbornness and aversion, 
 whether to be tackled or mounted, or kicking and 
 plunging and refusing to go forward, the only remedy 
 is patience judiciously mixed with severity; the latter 
 by no means to be overdone, from the probable appre- 
 hension of either too much cowing his spirit, or ren- 
 dering him incurably desperate and restiff. Nothing 
 could be more injudicious as well as dangerous, than 
 the ancient practice of " taming colts," as it was 
 called, by riding them full speed over deeply ploughed 
 lands. Their young and ductile sinews may thence 
 receive irreparable injury, their spirit be too much 
 depressed or rendered desperate. Should fatigue be 
 required to subdue them, the pace should be moderate 
 over level ground, and the exercise daily continued to 
 a sufficient, but not an immoderate extent. The nag 
 being subdued and docile, the two next objects are to 
 instruct him in his paces and to accustom him to the 
 road. The commencement is, in course, with the 
 walk and slow trot, and giving the nag a good mouth, 
 neither obdurate, nor too tender, but such as will 
 endure a pull when necessary ; in fine, making him a 
 good " snaffle bridle horse." The excessive tender- 
 
 c2 
 
34 THE HORSE. 
 
 ness and delicacy of mouth, given to horses educated 
 for military purposes, do not so well befit those in- 
 tended for any other. A speedier trot, canter, and 
 gallop follow all natural paces ; but each of which, 
 the horse must be accustomed to perform steadily, 
 on the intimation of his rider, and without shuffling 
 the one into the other. It will soon appear whether 
 the colt be naturally inclined to the trot and to ex- 
 cel in it ; but should that be apparent, the colt should 
 never be pushed forward to any excess, from the risk 
 of injury to his joints. A graceful canter should be 
 encouraged, commencing with the proper or off leg- 
 foremost, and the nag accustomed to be pulled up from 
 the canter to the trot, without unsightly and un- 
 pleasant blundering. The same of the gallop, which, 
 like the trot, should not be pushed to speed, with 
 colts. The lessons should not be too long or fatiguing, 
 but the young animal kept in as cheerful and easy a 
 state as possible. The utmost care is necessary in his 
 first shoeing, that he be not treated roughly, and that 
 he be as little alarmed as possible. 
 
 There subsists a perfect analogy of temperament and 
 disposition between these most important animals, and 
 their lords and masters and their ladies and mistresses. 
 Some few are naturally of so kind a disposition, and so 
 docile, that they require nothing more than mild treat- 
 ment, plain andpatient lessons; others, though of ahigh 
 and resentful temper, may yet be reduced to perfect 
 obedience, by time and unwearied exertion under the 
 guidance of common sense : but there are a few others, 
 those far too many, which the devil himself, in the 
 guise of a horse breaker, would be utterly unable to 
 
THE HORSE. 35 
 
 tame; those, the heritage of which is restifness, a 
 vice which, though temporarily subdued by excess of 
 severity, will never fail throughout life to reappear on 
 a proper occasion ; and no one more proper than the 
 subtle brute being conscious of a fearful rider. Great 
 is the pity, that it cannot be afforded to knock these 
 on the head at once. Many broken limbs and lost 
 lives might thence have been saved. The case of 
 shying should be particularly attended to by the 
 breaker. It arises from three causes : actual fear, 
 skittishness, and roguery. The more racing blood a 
 horse has, the less he is subject to this infirmity or 
 vice. The only remedy in the case is, hold hard and 
 be quiet. As to the whip and spur, and the silly check- 
 ing a really fearful horse with a sharp curb, as though 
 the intent were to break his jaw bone, it is truly a 
 noodling, unthinking, as well as cruel practice. It is, 
 in fact, an excellent recipe to advance the nag in the 
 noble accomplishments of shying and starting, since, 
 in association with the object, he naturally expects 
 the whip and spur. 
 
 With affected shyers, some severity may be neces- 
 sary. These chaps generally fix upon some particular 
 shying but: for example, I recollect having, at different 
 periods, three hacks, all very powerful ; the one made 
 choice of a windmill for the object or but, the other 
 a tilted waggon, and the last a pig led in a string. I 
 was once placed in a very dangerous predicament by 
 this last, on a road filled with carriages. It so hap- 
 pened, however, that I rode the two former when 
 amiss from a violent cold, and they then paid no more 
 attention to either windmills or tilted waggons, than 
 
36 THE HORSE. 
 
 to any other objects, convincing me that their shying, 
 when in health and spirits, was pure affectation. It 
 is a thing seldom, perhaps never, thought of or at- 
 tended to, which however detracts nothing from its 
 consequence, to accustom colts, during their break- 
 ing, to all the chief objects of terror, which occasion 
 the vice of shvino-. After a colt shall have been a 
 considerable time in hand, and his education nearlv 
 finished, should he be a careless and blundering goer, 
 not sufficiently bending his knees, he should be fre- 
 quently, but with great care, (beware broken knees,) 
 exercised daily in a slow trot, over rough and uneven 
 roads. 
 
 To connect vices with their anomalies together, I 
 once had a fine hunting mare, an incorrigible biter; 
 as a proof of which, before she came into my posses- 
 sion, but I was unapprised of it, she had killed a 
 stable boy ; yet her biting was entirely confined to 
 the stable, nor did she ever show either that or anv 
 other kind of vice abroad, riding perfectly quiet. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 The usual time for castration has already been 
 pointed out ; to which may be added that, such ope- 
 ration on the horse is in no country so universal as 
 in Britain and Ireland. Indeed, the alleged cruelty 
 of the practice is an old theme of reproach upon us. 
 The operation, it must be acknowledged, is painful 
 and barbarous ; but it may well be questioned, 
 whether its pains are not counterbalanced to the vic- 
 tim, by the future avoidance of those occasioned an- 
 
THE HORSE. 37 
 
 nually, by retention and unsatisfied passion. It would 
 beside be most dangerous, indeed impracticable to 
 keep all stallions in a country where such immense 
 numbers of horses are in use, and so many must stand 
 together ; though it seems the general opinion that a 
 stallion is capable of greater labour than a gelding. 
 Nicking, or severing the joints of a horse's tail, in 
 order that a callus may be formed, and keeping the 
 tail drawn up by a pulley for days together, the ani- 
 mal in the mean time kept in constant torture, all this 
 for compelling him, against nature, to carry his tail 
 cocked upwards or thrust out — is an abomination, an 
 old fashioned cruelty, practised for no useful purpose 
 of common sense, and has rationally and fortunately 
 for our national character, been many years on the 
 decline, especially since bred horses or those with 
 much blood, have been used upon the road, and the 
 broom, or racing tail, has become fashionable. Crop- 
 ped horses likewise are, comparatively with former 
 times, now seldom seen. It is another needless cruelty 
 which merits disuse, leaving the internal ear un- 
 guarded and exposed. 
 
 Trimming and shoeing remain to complete the 
 nag for his services. As to the former, the long hairs 
 around the eyes are pulled, and those upon the nose 
 and lips, cut with scissars. The hair in the ears, and 
 beneath the chin and jowl, according to ancient custom, 
 are yet, by too many proprietors, thoughtlessly permit- 
 ted to be singed with alighted candle, to the great terror 
 of most horses, and the necessity of barbarous usage. 
 To these parts the scissars only should invariably be 
 used, the hair of the ears being clipped exactly even 
 
38 THE HORSE. 
 
 with their margins, and left otherwise untouched, as a 
 defence against cold and the intrusion of external ob- 
 jects. The mane is pulled with the fingers, which 
 horses seem to bear without pain, a proper quantity of 
 it being left to hang lightly and smoothly on the off 
 (right) side of the neck ; at the upper extremity of 
 which, it is shorn close, to admit the headstall of the 
 bridle, leaving, detached from the mane, the foretop, 
 which is cut to reach a little down the forehead, be- 
 neath the front of the bridle. The tail of the saddle 
 horse is cut of a middling length, long and full tails 
 being seldom seen in England, excepting perhaps on 
 some few ladies' pads and on military horses. 
 
 The heels are trimmed close, with comb and scissars, 
 seldom any tuft of hair being left as formerly : but hair 
 is generally left on the heels and legs of cart horses. 
 Ponies and galloways are sometimes hogged, which 
 is to say, their manes are cut so as to stand erect like 
 the bristles of a hog. 
 
 Breaking and training the draught horse is a 
 matter of far less complexity and difficulty, than are 
 experienced with those destined to the saddle. A 
 cart colt may, and probably most are, put to work 
 early; for example, at tw T o years old, granting the 
 work be very moderate and the treatment gentle. It is 
 necessary that this species, as well as the other, have 
 a good mouth given them ; and when first put to work, 
 care should be taken that the collar and harness be 
 not rough and hard, to chafe and gall the skin of the 
 animal yet unaccustomed to such incumbrance. In 
 fact, the draught horse, whether for quick or slow 
 draught, being fast bound to obedience by his harness, 
 
THE HORSE. 39 
 
 learns his duty and receives his education chiefly 
 from his partners. I have elsewhere, and often, en- 
 deavoured to inculcate the utility of accustoming the 
 colt to take his turn in any part of the draught, either 
 before or in the shafts ; and, at all events, to teach 
 him to back at command, and the signal of holding 
 up the whip in his front. This last very important 
 point seems to be too generally neglected, if we are to 
 judge from the trouble and abuse daily and every 
 where witnessed in the case. 
 
 To the short plug tails of former days, by w r hich our 
 cart horses were left without their natural defence 
 against the flies, a far better and more rational 
 fashion has succeeded. Draught horses are now 
 allowed a somewhat long switch, which we also see 
 upon many of the fashionable coach horses of the 
 metropolis. The coach horse is trained in a carriage 
 termed a break, too well known to need description, 
 as also is the mode of his training. Horses are broke 
 to this work at any age, and with respect to those 
 purchased for the public road work, the only training 
 they receive, with few exceptions, is being put at 
 once into harness to run their stage. We see, more 
 often than formerly, horses of different colours in 
 gentlemen's carriages. A good match in size and 
 action is certainly of more consequence than an ex- 
 act match in colour. 
 
 To return to the saddle horse, his furniture has 
 scarcely undergone any essential change within the 
 last half century, amid various alterations of minor 
 consequence and attempts at improvement. At about 
 that period the old single and inconvenient flap of the 
 saddle was laid aside, and the two flaps introduced, 
 
40 THE HORSE. 
 
 as we now see them. The old fashioned crupper 
 and saddle cloth also shared the same fate, nor is the 
 martingale so often seen as formerly. It may be 
 however proper to remark, that a nag which does not 
 carry a saddle well, from being ill-formed and low 
 forward, is not very safe to ride without a crupper, 
 particularly with a heavy weight over a hilly road, 
 and the rider will make his election between safety 
 
 J 
 
 and fashion. The girths are buckled one over the 
 other, appearing single. In London, within these 
 few years, we have seen a very awkward, unsightly 
 appendage to the saddle, in the form of a huge jack- 
 boot, a la fran^aise, its awkward appearance, we must 
 suppose, being atoned for by ease and cleanliness. 
 About the year 1780, an ornamental white sash or 
 girth was introduced, probably by Sir John Lade, at 
 that period of high ton in this line : fastened within 
 the pommel of the saddle, and between the forearms 
 to the girths, it encompassed the nag's shoulders, set- 
 ting off their slant or backward declension. 
 
 Of bridles, the ancient snaffle and common double 
 reined curb yet hold their sway. As to variety of bits, 
 in other and more appropriate terms, instruments of 
 torture, invention has never been at rest and never more 
 uselessly employed, since the days of old Blundeville, 
 who exhibits in his book such numerous engravings 
 of them. Previously to the use on the horse of these 
 rare curiosities, the inventors of them ought to be 
 compelled to wear them experimentally themselves, 
 for a season. It is curious, that in old times, the 
 term snaffle, or single rein and bit, now our mildest, 
 was applied to the severest bridle. Indeed our snaffles 
 mav be rendered severe enough by the bit being made 
 
THE HOESE. 41 
 
 small and sharp, but generally they are mild, and 
 ever ought to be so, and pleasant to the horse's mouth, 
 and when a horse pulls fair at this kind of bridle and 
 is easily governed by it, he is still, in the old style, 
 called a good snaffle bridle horse. Racers are always, 
 hunters generally, ridden in a snaffle bridle, a check 
 cord and rein being appended to it, in the case of a 
 hard pulling horse, that cannot be otherwise held. 
 Generally, the utility of sharp bits is extremely prob- 
 lematical ; since, if effective at first, they cannot fail, 
 from use, to render a horse's mouth callous and ob- 
 durate ; and if otherwise, they keep him in a constant 
 state of fretfulness and pain. It may be added, that 
 no bit, however hard and sharp, will hold a determined 
 vicious runaway. Many horses, also, are heavy in 
 hand from ill-formed shoulders or neck ; for instance, 
 the cock-throppled or reversed neck ; from tender feet 
 or crippled joints, making use of their "fifth leg;" 
 all when unwell. On the whole, mild bits, comfort- 
 able to the horse, and it is a pleasure to find him 
 playing with his bit, are more profitable and more 
 conducive to good management. The double reined 
 bridle, with curb and snaffle, may well come under 
 this description, the curb not being inordinately se- 
 vere. It has been long the fashionable bridle for the 
 road, and the curb may be enforced or slackened, 
 according to the direction of the hand. The single 
 curb may be classed with severe and unfavourable 
 bits. The running martingale is the only remedy, 
 with a hack which has acquired the habit of throwing 
 up his head. 
 
 The general riding or jockey system of England is 
 
42 THE HORSE. 
 
 little in accordance with the military or riding school 
 practice. Nevertheless, before a young horse or a 
 racer, which lunges or carries himself too heavv for- 
 ward, be taken to the road, he is most successfully 
 treated at the riding school, where they will set him 
 more upon his haunches, give him a better mouth, 
 and teach him better reining. This improvement, 
 however, must not be carried to the height of military 
 custom, which, by giving a horse lofty action, detracts 
 from his speed ; and by making his mouth too sus- 
 ceptible, and his neck unsteady and vacillating, ren- 
 ders him unfit for our common active system of equi- 
 tation. 
 
 SECTION VIII.— Shoeing. 
 
 In this country, where such vast numbers of horses 
 are kept, and where their labour is so severe and in- 
 cessant, its severity naturally falling on the feet, which 
 are destined to bear a fundamental share of the bur- 
 den, no wonder horse-shoeing has ever been deemed 
 an art of great national importance, that it has ex- 
 cited the invention, the wit and empyricism of such 
 countless numbers of writers, and that it has never 
 failed to be a popular subject. Such also has been 
 the case on the Continent, and we originally derived 
 the rudiments of this science and art from the writers 
 of Italy and France, and the practice from artists of 
 those countries, who found it worth their while to 
 seek employment in England, where, during a long 
 period, they were in high fashion as marechales or 
 ferrers. In the mean time the art was, in general, 
 at a very low ebb throughout this country, the horses 
 
THE HORSE. 43 
 
 being shod in so bungling a manner, and with such 
 heavy masses of iron, that it is among the wonders 
 that human life and manners constantly present, how 
 the embarrassed and crippled beasts could possibly 
 perform their laborious duties, under such impedi- 
 ments and incumbrances. 
 
 This was the case, and still is, in a great measure, 
 even with the mother countries of European farriery, 
 the superior practice being confined, in a considerable 
 degree, to the superior order of proprietors. Such it 
 continued to be in this country, until within the last 
 seventy years or upwards, long previously to which, 
 the continental practice and the employment of 
 foreigners, so common among the great at an early 
 period, had ceased to be fashionable. At this last 
 era, Osmer, a surgeon, and a truly practical horse- 
 man, and Lord Pembroke, of the dragoons, introduced 
 an improved, grounded on the old continental prac- 
 tice ; and Bartlet, the druggist, whose compilation 
 was long and universally circulated, became its herald. 
 Clarke, the King's farrier at Edinburgh, followed, 
 publishing a useful treatise; and Snape, in the same 
 situation at London, though ignorant and illiterate, 
 was an improved shoer, and his example had some 
 influence. 
 
 A few years subsequently, the plan was conceived 
 of a national Veterinary College, the idea probably 
 originating with the late Lord Grosvenor. The an- 
 cient custom was revived of selecting a professor from 
 the Continent, and the choice fell upon Charles Vial 
 de Saintbel, of the French school. He enjoyed his pre- 
 ferment but during a short time, submitting suddenly to 
 
44 THE IK) RSI.. 
 
 our common fate. Saintbel, whom I knew personally, 
 
 was a respectable man, and of repute for professional 
 ability, in his own country; but knowing little of 
 English horsemanship, or of the modes of shoeing 
 best adapted thereto, he committed errors which he 
 did not survive to correct. J lis successors were still 
 less practical men, but they had the volumes of an- 
 cient and long experience before them, and have since 
 had a long series of years for practical improvement: 
 and it must finally be conceded, even by those who 
 make the loudest complaints touching the errors and 
 mismanagement at the Veterinary College, that it has, 
 at least, answered the great purpose of its institution, 
 as a theatre wherein veterinary science may be con- 
 centrated, and the art practised for the general im- 
 provement and benefit of the country. 
 
 Among an infinity of writers, each and every one 
 of whom lias vouched for the infallibility of his form 
 of shoe, and his method, but unfortunately for their 
 reputation, or views, and the public benefit, no such 
 infallibility has been proved, leave arisen at differ- 
 ent periods, visionaries who have made a doubt of 
 the necessity of any application of iron to the foot of 
 the horse; alleging that nature herself having so 
 amply defended the animal's foot, the injuries and 
 ruin so universally incident to it, were rather the con- 
 sequence of shoeing than of the horse's labour. A 
 theory of this kind neither merits investigation nor 
 reply, in England at any rate. 
 
 Many real improvements in the art, and in vcteri- 
 narv surgery, supposed to be of late discovery, may 
 be found in the old continental writers. Ceesar 
 
THE HORSE. 45 
 
 Fiaschi, an Italian, who wrote about three centuries 
 since, had obviously very correct ideas of the general 
 principles of horse-shoeing ; rationally endeavouring 
 to construct a system which might interfere as little 
 as possible with the intentions of nature. He recom- 
 mended, possibly invented, the welted shoe of hard 
 and well tempered iron, to be so placed upon the foot 
 that the horse may have a perfectly even tread ; and 
 to prevent slipping, the welts to be indented like a 
 saw, or short and sharp button-headed nails to be 
 used ; to the same end, he directed the external sur- 
 face of the shoe to be hammered somewhat concave. 
 He was likewise the inventor of the calkin, rampone 
 alia regonesa, directing it not to be made high and 
 sharp, but rather flat, and handsomely turned up- 
 ward; at the same time, decrying strenuously all other 
 kinds of calkins and turning up of the shoes, even in 
 case of frost, as of infinitely greater danger than use. 
 In fine, a horse's shoe and the nails should be forced 
 of good solid iron, tough and unbending, of a thick- 
 ness conformably to sustain the weight of the animal, 
 but not beyond, so as to render it a source of impedi- 
 ment and blunder, in place of a protection and com- 
 fort. The length of the shoe should be nearly de- 
 termined by the length of the foot, and the width of 
 the web should not exceed that proportion which may 
 afford due protection to the sole, and also to the heel 
 when needed. The terrible buttress should never 
 come near a weak foot, for which the paring knife is 
 the proper instrument. The toe may generally be 
 made most free with, and should never be suffered to 
 exceed in length, which will sometimes happen in the 
 
46 THE HORSE. 
 
 case of a luxuriant growth of horn, whilst the horse 
 is in work and his shoes still good. In course, the 
 excrescence must be pared around. The generality 
 of our nags, however, have but little occasion for par- 
 ing their soles or frogs, excepting from loose and scaly 
 excrescences. The crust of the deep or ass-shaped 
 hoofs of Barbs and some other foreign horses, and of 
 some bred upon the calcareous and hilly soils of a part 
 of this country, in North Wales, for example, must be 
 occasionally taken down, in order if possible to make 
 their wiry heels spread, and encourage the growth of 
 their frogs, if peradventure nature may have allowed 
 them any frogs beyond nominal ones. I formerly 
 heard much of the obduracy and lastingness of this 
 kind of hoof, from the well known Mr. Bakewell and 
 others, but had never the good fortune to experience 
 it; the few of them which I have possessed, being 
 extremely liable to inflammation of the feet, as I 
 supposed affecting the internal structure, thence quite 
 unfit for much road work. 
 
 My choice, whenever I could light upon it, w r as 
 the dark, shining hoof, which would cut solid and 
 tough ; an open heel, the binders equally tough, and 
 the frog dry, but of good and growing substance. 
 Briefly, a hoof of whole colour, and that by no means 
 of a light colour ; dry but not brittle, of uneven surface 
 or wrinkled, and of size well adapted to the size of 
 the horse. The coronet or coronary ring, surmount- 
 ing the hoof, being large and swelling is a sign of a 
 defective foot. 
 
 Doubtless, shoeing the horse is a necessary evil, 
 and all hoofs are injured more or less by it:- but the 
 
THE HORSE. 47 
 
 late Mr. White, a very popular and useful veterina- 
 rian, came to a hasty conclusion on this topic, when 
 he asserted, that " the feet of all horses which have 
 not been taken from a state of nature, or improperly 
 shod, are nearly of the same shape." The real fact is, 
 dame nature seems to have made nearly the same 
 blunders in that respect as her pupil art. As to a 
 particular description — " The foot of the horse is sur- 
 rounded and defended in front, sides, and at bottom, 
 by the horny sole, an lingular substance, thicker 
 than the human, in proportion as the animal is larger. 
 The heels partake of the same kind of defence, but of 
 a thinner texture. The foot, being open at the back 
 and not surrounded by the firm sole as in front, is ob- 
 viously in need of support ; and the intervening frog- 
 is destined by nature to that office; on which account, 
 and having so large a portion of the general mass to 
 sustain, particularly while the animal is in a state of 
 inaction, it is composed of a very tough and elastic 
 substance. The frog moreover serves as a cushion, 
 rest, or salient point for the tendon, or flexor muscle 
 of the back sinews. The bars or binders are those 
 parts situated between the heel and frog, and which, 
 by a mutual resistance from within, help to dilate 
 and oppose the contraction of the heels. The horny 
 defends the fleshy sole above it, and i;he internal 
 parts of the foot, from the accidental contact of hard 
 bodies; but from its concave form, appears not to 
 have been intended by nature to bear weight, except- 
 ing round the extremities adjoining the wall. The 
 wall, or crust of the foot, is the thick edge surround- 
 ing it, from heel to heel, it is the bottom of that por- 
 
48 THE HORSE. 
 
 tion of the sole, which envelopes the front and sides of 
 the foot, set up, as it were, vertically, and thence able 
 to contain nails driven in a vertical direction. This 
 wall then, or rim, is plainly the place on which to 
 fix a support and guard for the foot; for on the 
 wall, and the frog, in a sound and healthy state, 
 the animal naturally bears his weight ; and the frog 
 in a sound and healthy state, from its tough and 
 elastic nature, needs no artificial defence." (Philo- 
 sophical and Practical Treatise on Horses.) 
 
 Subsequently, in the same work, will be found an 
 account of the general failure of the celebrated shoe- 
 ing system of La Fosse with lunettes or half moon 
 shoes, thinnest towards the heel, but which left the 
 heels entirely without defence, on the supposition that 
 they would require none, but that their natural growth, 
 thus encouraged and uninjured by the farrier's art, 
 would enable them to endure the wear and tear of 
 labour, the weight of the animal also having the addi- 
 tional natural support of the frogs, which it was 
 averred would by this plan increase in size and sub- 
 stance. This theory, however, which was conceived 
 chieflv from a view of the horse in his natural state, 
 proved on experiment to have a very slender relation 
 to him in a state of labour, particularly in that of 
 the saddle horse. Few of the horses bred in dry 
 countries, it may be presumed, have, even in their 
 natural state, a sufficiency of frog to reach the 
 oTOund, and of those bred on the opposite soils, the 
 frocks, if sufficient, are too tender to endure the attri- 
 tion and concussion of travel. The heels then must 
 be depended on for external support, and the frogs, 
 
THE HORSE. 49 
 
 however small, will still perform their office of fulcra 
 or supports to the tendon. The shoe-heels, never 
 extending beyond the heel itself, generally narrower 
 than at the toe, must be made wider for weak heels, 
 and for low heels thicker, but never to the excess 
 of giving the horse an uneven tread, and throwing 
 him upon his toes. The custom of common smiths to 
 be constantly cutting away the bars which separate 
 heel and frog, with the view, in their judgment, of 
 " opening the heels," and which must obviously have 
 the contrary effect, though so long and often decried, 
 has not even yet been abandoned. Shoeing and 
 constant labour will sufficiently repel any luxuriance 
 . in most hoofs. The hinder hoofs are ever thicker 
 and stronger than their pioneers the fore ones. 
 
 The general or true principles of shoeing being ever 
 kept in view and adhered to, so far as that shall be 
 possible, legitimate exceptions must come equally into 
 consideration. Such is nature's decree in all things. 
 But these last (the exceptions) should never continue 
 beyond the necessity of the case. Many horses have 
 naturally imperfect, or bad feet : many are lame from 
 labour, and many from the farrier. In this art, as in all 
 others, there is great variety of skill, some operatives 
 having an eminent superiority ; while others, void of 
 all intelligence or the desire of acquiring any, shoe 
 all hoofs, however diversified by nature or accident, 
 on nearly the same common standard ; necessarily the 
 best, since that to which they have been always ac- 
 customed. This plan may be passable for a time, with 
 strong feet, and until it has ruined them. It is true, 
 we occasionally see horses' hoofs of a nature so luxu- 
 
 D 
 
50 THE HORSE. 
 
 riant in growth and so indestructible as to defy, to 
 the end, the utmost efforts of the farrier. But with 
 feet in general, it is far otherwise. Finally, it must 
 not be forgotten, especially with horses destined to 
 speedy action, that infinitely greater numbers are in- 
 jured by ligamentary affections, strains of the joints, 
 and hurts in the bones of the foot, than by bad shoe- 
 ing and improper management of the feet. " 'Tis 
 the pace that kills the horse." 
 
 The internal structure of the foot is a most operose 
 and complex process of nature, and since the foot is 
 the foundation of all labour, no wonder that its inter- 
 nal structure is so often deranged, and so seldom re- 
 mediable by art. The insensible hoof is secreted or 
 separated and formed from the living or sensible foot, 
 namely, from its coronet or coronary ring above, and 
 from its internal elastic processes or membranes, 
 designated by Professor Coleman, as the laminated 
 (scaled or covered) substance. A large quantity of 
 blood is supplied to the foot by two capacious arteries, 
 which descend on each side the pastern, branching 
 to the coronary ring, cartilages, and frog, and supply- 
 ing the foot by innumerable channels. The supply 
 to. the frog; is considerable and curious. The frog 
 and sensible sole form one entire secreting surface of 
 skin, possessing great sensibility as well as vascularity, 
 though inferior in those respects to the exquisite sen- 
 sibility of the laminated substance, which is more 
 profusely supplied in its organization with blood ves- 
 sels and nerves, than any other part of the body. 
 Those two elastic bodies, the lateral cartilages at- 
 tached to the upper part of the coffin bone, and re- 
 
THE HORSE. 51 
 
 ceding backward like expanded wings, terminate at 
 the extremity of the heel, assisting to expand the 
 heels and quarters. The nut, or navicular bone, is 
 situate at the back of the coffin bone, and attached to 
 it and to the small pastern bone, affording a synovial 
 or slippery surface on which the flexor tendon, or 
 great back sinew, moves. The nut and coffin bones 
 form the coffin joint. The small pastern articulates, 
 that is to say, is joined with the coffin bone and the 
 nut bone below, and with the great pastern above. 
 The great flexor, back, or bending tendon is inserted 
 into the bottom of the coffin bone, and the extensor 
 tendon on its front and upper part. By the by, these 
 qualities of bending and extending, necessarily imply 
 and prove tendinous mobility and elasticity, in despite 
 of the early decrees of the College, since gradually 
 become obsolete and unfashionable. Finally, the in- 
 sensible foot consists of the external covering of horn, 
 the wall, horny sole, and frog ; the sensible or inter- 
 nal, of the laminated substance, at the upper part of 
 which there is a cartilaginous ring, coronary ligament 
 or frog band, which, instead of terminating at the 
 heels, is continued to the frog, imparting to it a con- 
 genial sensibility and motion. Thus, when the frog 
 is engaged in its natural function, that of being 
 pressed upon actively by the superincumbent weight, 
 it expands and contracts, whether or not it may be 
 capacious enough to reach the ground, communicat- 
 ing simultaneously, motion to the cartilages, coronary 
 ring, and to the heels and quarters of the hoof. As a 
 summary, the internal or sensible foot is composed 
 of the navicular or nut bone, the coffin bone, the late- 
 
52 THE HORSE. 
 
 ral cartilages, the frog and sole, and the laminated 
 substance, at the upper part of which is placed the 
 coronary ligament. 
 
 SECTION IX. — The defects natural or acquired 
 of the feet, and as they affect the legs, and of 
 the legs. 
 
 The hoof too wide, flat and soft, the coronet moist and 
 swelling, the sole convex or swelling, thence termed 
 pumiced, the frog large, of too soft a consistence, and 
 liable to defluxions, or running thrushes. These are 
 obviously natural, and may be, in a considerable de- 
 gree, hereditary defects, as are also their opposites ; 
 and in a general view, each may originate in the op- 
 posite nature of the soils upon which the animals are 
 bred, notwithstanding the doubt of an able writer, 
 who seems in this case not to have allowed for the 
 exceptions to general rules. 
 
 The opposite are deep, hard, and brittle hoofs, with 
 contracted or narrow heels, and deficient frogs. There 
 are indeed strong feet of this kind, which will bear a 
 repetition of taking down or cutting away the crust, 
 in order to lower and widen the heels ; but in general, 
 especially with southern horses and their descendants, 
 the hoof is brittle, affording an insufficient security 
 to the nails. Many of these deep and hard hoofs have 
 an excess of concavity in the sole, and are thence 
 never sound for any length of time ; starting perhaps 
 apparently sound, and becoming lame in travelling a 
 few miles. The proximate cause, in the opinion of 
 both French and English writers, is to be deduced 
 from the circumstance, that the too concave horny 
 
THE HORSE. 53 
 
 presses the sensible sole upon the coffin bone, whence 
 that sole, endowed as it is with a high degree of sen- 
 sibility, is squeezed and jammed between two hard 
 bodies ; the occasion necessarily of great pain to the 
 horse, and a growing inflammation in the foot, which 
 soon renders him useless. Artificial causes have 
 been stated as productive of this effect, but of the 
 numbers of hoofs which I have examined, the defect 
 seemed to have been natural. Too small feet for the 
 size of the horse is a defect, although such feet may 
 be sound and good. But the most general defect in 
 the feet of our English road horses, originating, no 
 doubt, in the universal infusion of southern blood, is 
 the thin and weak hoof and tender crust ; the horn 
 not supplying a sufficient growth for repeated shoeing, 
 and the sole not having substance enough to defend 
 and support the internal and sensible parts of the foot. 
 A small, hard and dry coronet (not however the usual 
 defect of these last kinds, but of the deep ass-like 
 hoofs,) may be a cause of lameness and contraction, 
 by acting as too tight a bandage. 
 
 The feet of saddle horses, be they ever so sound 
 and good in nature, detract greatly from the value of 
 the nag, unless they stand even upon the ground, the 
 toe pointing in a right line ; since if it deviate inward 
 or outward, the horse will either knock or cut in the 
 speed (old terms), that is to say, will strike and wound 
 the opposite pasterns, either with his toe or his heel ; 
 and if he bend his knees much, and is a high goer, 
 will cut the inside of the knee joint. Nature and the 
 nature of the case have been very favourable to the 
 hinder hoofs, with which we have seldom much trou- 
 
54 THE HORSE. 
 
 ble; but there is, now and then, a most perilous defect 
 in them between the shoe and sole, namely, when the 
 horse is so formed in his hinder quarters, that he 
 overreaches, and wounds his fore heels with the toes 
 of his hind feet. This, in the slang of the ancient 
 stable, is styled going " hammer and pinchers to- 
 gether." The running thrush, a defluxion from 
 the cleft of the frog, is a constitutional and sometimes 
 an hereditary malady; and when it seems to arise from 
 neglect or improper treatment of the feet, those are 
 merely the exciting causes, and would not probably 
 have induced such a disease in a naturally sound foot. 
 Corns, arising, as in the human feet, from pressure, 
 are generally confined to the fore feet, which endure 
 most labour. Their site is in the heel, just above the 
 bars and often in the sole near the crust, from the shoe 
 being ill placed, or afterwards bending down upon the 
 sole, or from the intrusion of gravel or small stones. 
 They are sometimes found in the heels or feet of unshod 
 colts, probably from an irregularity of tread, and un- 
 due pressure on a particular part. Sandc racks are 
 clefts or slits in the fore hoofs generally, either from 
 before the coronet downwards, or laterally in the di- 
 rection of the fibres, which last is most easily remedied. 
 Should the sandcrack be neglected and the horse 
 continued in work, the probable consequence would 
 be, an entire disunion of the parts, the cleft of the 
 hoof remaining, which constitutes the irremediable 
 defect and weakness of a false quarter. Dryness 
 of the hoof, natural or incidental, or both, the usual 
 cause. The quittor, quittor bone, or horny quittor, 
 the Java rt of the French school, is a hard round lump 
 
THE HORSE. GO 
 
 or excrescence upon the coronet, chiefly of the fore 
 feet, between hair and hoof, most frequently on the 
 inside quarter of the foot. If we except the founder, 
 the inveterate quittor is the most desperate, hopeless, 
 and painful of the numerous maladies which affect 
 the feet of the horse. Its common cause is the as- 
 cent of some foreign body or morbid material from 
 the tread or sole upwards ; such as a nail, a quantity 
 of gravel, or the extravasated matter of a bruise or 
 corn, which could find no vent below, but forcing 
 its way upward, between the quarter and the coffin 
 bone, work a passage to the coronet, by destroying 
 the foliated substance and corrupting all the adjacent 
 parts. It is obvious no palliatives can succeed in this 
 case, and the radical operation should be entrusted to 
 none but truly scientific and practical artists. Yet 
 after the best cure, it is probable a false quarter must 
 remain, which always renders a saddle horse unsafe, 
 more especially in constant or hard work. A super- 
 ficial quittor, originating above, by which the cartilage 
 is untouched, or a mere wound or ulcer in the coronet, 
 taken timely is easily remedied. Grog and foun- 
 der are surely not imaginary diseases, but equivocal 
 in respect to terminology. If a horse go stiff and 
 blundering, without any marked and visible cause, 
 he is said to be groggy ; if he cannot go at all, foun- 
 dered. Grogginess, termed by the Italians, sobati- 
 tura, with us surbating, arises from the hoofs being 
 battered by the hard road, from inflammation, swell- 
 ing of the legs, and contraction of the sinews. Some 
 horses are peculiarly liable to this contraction, instead 
 of the more usual laxity and debility in those parts . 
 
56 THE HORSE. 
 
 The loss of hoof sometimes succeeds the founder, 
 originating either in the disease or the operations 
 of the farrier. The tread of some groggy horses 
 appears to be entirely upon the heels. The canker 
 in the foot usually arises from grease and ulcerated 
 thrushes. 
 
 The remedy now in this country, of nerving, for 
 otherwise incurable grogginess and founder, assured- 
 ly must not be passed over unnoticed. From several 
 unsuccessful instances a few years since, I treated 
 this practice (in the Sporting Magazine) as a mere 
 useless and ingenious specimen of farrying torture, of 
 the monstrous varieties of which, I had long been 
 heart-sick. But on a reference since to the books of 
 Mr. White and Mr. Goodwin, I have learned that 
 the operation is by no means so painful as that of 
 firing, generally a useless practice ; and that, on the 
 average, nerving has been successful, useful, and ac- 
 tually relevant of the animal from a constant state of 
 pain. Of the mode of operation, it would ill become 
 me to say any thing; that is in the department of our 
 scientific and practical veterinary surgeons alone. I 
 have however one remark to make on Mr. Goodwin's 
 recommendation of the practice. He first of all gives 
 due and just acknowledgment to Mr. Sewell of the 
 College for proposing it, but subsequently styles it 
 Mr. SewelFs discovert/. Now, I have always under- 
 stood nerving to be a discovery of the French school, 
 many years since. We may indeed have been 
 indebted to Mr. Sewell's exertions for the successful 
 introduction of the practice. 
 
THE HORSE. 57 
 
 SECTION X. — Oslets, Splents, Spavins, 
 
 Curb, Ringbone, Thorough Pin. 
 These bony excrescences, differently situated, either 
 upon the fore or hinder legs, all originate in the 
 same cause, extravasation of the lymph or synovia, 
 forming a lump or swelling, which gradually becomes 
 ossified. Oslets are near the knee joints within side 
 the leg, a species of splent. Splents are found, both 
 by sight and touch, upon the fore legs, sometimes 
 immediately below the knee joint, in which case they 
 may impede the action of the joint, and occasion 
 lameness : otherwise, and when they do not affect 
 the tendon, they have no ill consequence, unless in 
 their early stage, when, the horse being worked, they 
 may be liable to inflammation. The bone spavin af- 
 fects the hinder leg, and is found in the inside of the 
 hock ; it is not always visible, but must be searched 
 for by the finger. It always occasions lameness, 
 periodical or constant. Bog spavins are situated in 
 the hollow of the hock, and consist of that bulb or 
 swelling which in the other parts of the legs is termed 
 a windgall, but usually larger. When this malady 
 is not very apparent, and the horse does not seem af- 
 fected by it, the same, that is, no attention is paid to 
 it, as in the common case of windgalls "; but I once 
 had a fine five year old gelding, master of sixteen 
 stone in the field, with bog spavins so large as to 
 impede action in so considerable a degree that the 
 animal, although right in other respects, was utterly 
 useless. The curb is an osseous tumour on the back 
 part of the hock, immediately below the bending or 
 
 d2 
 
58 THE HORSE. 
 
 elbow. No horse can be sound having a curb. Dr. 
 Bracken assigns reasons why sickle or crooked ham- 
 med horses should -be more liable to this defect than 
 the straight legged ; but it has so happened that, I do 
 not recollect ever seeing; a sickle hammed horse with 
 a curb. The ringbone, when confirmed is, so far as 
 I have experienced, incurable, and the horse unsound. 
 Its position on the lower part of the pastern, between 
 it and the coronet, nearly encircling the front like a 
 ring. When this callosity is distinct, affecting only 
 the pastern, without touching the coronet, it is not of 
 so bad consequence, though indeed bad enough, as 
 when it reaches the coronet. It is said, ringbones 
 have .been known upon un worked colts, which, how- 
 ever, I have never witnessed. The thorough pin ap- 
 pears in the hollows on the sides of the hock, and is 
 a communication from the bog spavin. 
 
 Grease, Mallenders and Sallenders, Scratches, Crown 
 Scab, Ratstails, Warts and Mules. 
 
 The well known malady, grease in the'legs and heels 
 of the horse, is an extravasation from the vessels, 
 and thence oozing through the skin, of serum or sim- 
 ple humour, which being elimated becomes corrupt 
 and fetid. It arises either from the want of exercise 
 abroad, or of the recumbent posture, to promote the 
 circulation of the fluids in dependent parts. Round 
 and fleshy legged horses are most subject to this 
 malady, which, however, does not afflict even those 
 when abroad in pasture. The terms above denote 
 affections of the same nature, and appertaining to 
 grease. 
 
THE HORSE. 59 
 
 Windgalls — Ligamentary, or Strains in the Back 
 Sinews — Breaking Down — Strains in the Shoulder 
 — in the Loins and Couplings — in the Stifle Bone 
 — Hip, or Whirl Bone — the Hocks — Jardons, or 
 Capped Hocks — String Halt — Rheumatism. 
 
 ■ 
 
 Windgalls upon the legs and pasterns of the horse 
 appear, to the sight and touch, small bags or capsules. 
 These are filled with synovia, or oil strained from the 
 joints, which, it seems probable, forms itself into cap- 
 sules. Professor Coleman supposes these capsules to 
 be original and formed by nature. Mr. White denies 
 the existence of any such, and pronounces the mate- 
 rial to be unconfined. How then could those distinct 
 circumscribed tumours which we see and feel, exist 
 in such form? They are occasioned by hard work 
 upon the road, under which very few horses escape 
 them, inducing soreness in the joints, and ultimately, 
 lameness. Delicate, bloodlike horses are most sub- 
 ject to them. Strains in the back sinews are so com- 
 mon a case, as to need very little description. They 
 are in course, most frequent in the fore legs. There 
 is generally a pufnness and swelling along the tendon 
 or back sinew, as it is styled ; and in extreme cases, a 
 rlaccidity denoting the excess of extension which the 
 ligaments have sustained. Breaking down is the 
 final result of this injury, when the fetlock joint, on 
 which the horse rests, bears upon the ground. This 
 accident, the consequence of great stress upon the 
 parts in rapid motion, happens chiefly to race horses 
 and hunters. It results either from a rupture of cer- 
 
60 THE HORSE. 
 
 tain ligaments of the leg or the pastern, or from their 
 sudden inordinate extension ; this latter cause must 
 necessarily have been the operating one, when the 
 horse, as sometimes happens, recovers in a few days' 
 rest, and the ligaments have recovered enough of their 
 former tone. The extreme case is the actual rupture 
 and division of the flexor tendon. Ligamentary strains 
 in the shoulder are very difficult to be distinguished 
 from lameness in the legs and feet. Perhaps, as I 
 have said elsewhere, if a horse in his walk throws 
 out his fore arms freely and with no appearance of 
 stiffness, his shoulders are sound. Strains in the 
 loins arise from heavy weights, sudden accidents, or 
 with draught horses, from compulsion to pull beyond 
 their powers. This malady in its worst state is in- 
 curable, and though the miserable victim may show 
 no defect, he is incapable of labour, and upon exertion, 
 liable to bend down almost instantly as if to sit upon 
 his hinder parts. Such used to be termed megrim 
 horses, from the supposition that the complaint had its 
 seat in the head. There has always subsisted with 
 farriers and grooms, a great difficulty to distinguish 
 and ascertain a shoulder lameness. In the stifle bone 
 upon the thigh bone, which stifle is similar to the small 
 cramp bone in a leg of mutton, this strain, particu- 
 larly in young horses, is sometimes nothing more than 
 a sudden and temporary spasm or cramp of the mus- 
 cles, occasioned by too abrupt and sudden turning- 
 round of the animal, the complaint being liable to oc- 
 cur on a similar occasion ; the consequence a partial 
 dislocation of the patella or pan. The radical injury 
 is from a rupture of the internal lateral ligament of 
 
THE HORSE. 61 
 
 the patella and consequent dislocation of the patella 
 outward, A tumour then occurs, which sometimes 
 suppurates, a favourable symptom. Hard work and 
 inordinate stress on the parts, the usual cause. Lame- 
 ness of the hip joint, round or whirl bone, usually pro- 
 ceeds from blows on the part, slipping, or falling on 
 the side, and may be distinguished by a swinging of 
 the limb, or its appearing longer than natural, and by 
 the horse, in action, having one hip higher than the 
 other. Long neglect renders this malady incurable, 
 or rather, it is never curable but in the first instance. 
 Hipped horses are worked and have even raced. Of 
 the houghs or hocks : The small bones of the hock 
 may be distorted and displaced by a wrench or strain, 
 the tumour appearing in the centre and fore part of 
 the hock. Extreme stiffness and inaptitude to mo- 
 tion succeeds. Sickle or crooked hammed horses, 
 particularly when young and first put to work, are 
 most liable to strains in the parts. There is seldom 
 any other visible symptom than heat in the hocks. 
 If horses in this case are worked gently and carefully 
 whilst young, their joints become consolidated and 
 sound when aged. Jardons or capped hocks: In- 
 durations visible on the points of the hocks, which, 
 when confirmed, will last as long as the hocks them- 
 selves, more especially when upon a kicker, the usual 
 creator of these blemishes, who, in course, will renew 
 them if removed. If the result of accident or blows, 
 and attended to in time, they are removable like other 
 similar affections. The string halt or sudden catch- 
 ing up one or both hinder legs, admits of no remedy, 
 but comfortable palliatives. String-halted horses have 
 
6'2 THE HORSE. 
 
 been generally supposed tough and good in nature ; 
 a reality to the extent of my own experience. Rheu- 
 matism in horses is extremely difficult of distinction 
 from other causes of lameness or stiffness. It might 
 not be difficult, granting we could ascertain no other 
 cause. The affection in the horse results precisely 
 from the same cause as in the human patient, a partial 
 or general cold-stroke which may hit the shoulders, 
 loins, hips, or the limbs, particularly the hock joints. 
 It may arise from various accidental exposures, to 
 standing in a current of cold air when heated, or from 
 long standing in cold water during unfavourable 
 seasons. In a recent case, the horse will limp, or 
 go with a dropping or catching action at the set 
 off, recovering as he waxes warm ; but under the 
 influence of the chronic affection, he will, through the 
 piece, have at least a strong semblance of lameness. 
 This last stage is incurable, and very common with 
 posters and stagecoach horses. With rheumatism 
 in the knees or shoulders, horses are extremely 
 unsafe, being liable to drop down instantaneously, 
 as if knocked down. 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 To refer to the general appearance and condition of 
 the horse, an object of consequence to a purchaser out 
 of the hands of strangers ; when the animal shall ap- 
 pear unthrifty and lean, his eyes dull and spiritless, 
 his hide tight and unyielding to the feel, the coat 
 rusty and dead, and the hair staring, he is labouring 
 under the malady styled hidebound or surfeit. 
 This morbid state of the body neglected, may be 
 
THE HORSE. 63 
 
 followed by eruptions, swelled legs, and probably 
 terminate in farcy. But the symptoms being limited 
 to the first stage as above, the horse not old, with a 
 probability that the malady has originated merely in 
 neglect or starvation, it need not hinder the purchase 
 of a well formed and apparently eligible animal. 
 Warbles, or small tumours on the back and but- 
 tocks, are generally indications of high keep, and want 
 of exercise and purging. A constant succession of 
 them, with inflammation and weeping of the eyes, are 
 often the precursors of that species styled by the 
 farriers, humour blindness. The dreadful and incura? 
 ble glanders is denoted, with some exceptions, by 
 leanness, and deadness of the coat, by a dejected and 
 spiritless countenance and action, and essentially, by 
 a fetid discharge from the nostrils. Should this dis- 
 charge have been temporarily impeded by an astrin- 
 gent injection from the dealer, one of their knowing 
 tricks, the nostrils will yet appear raw, and the scent 
 from them and the breath, fetid or unhealthy. The 
 hair of the coat also, will most probably come off with 
 a slight pull. The teeth of a new purchase (see 
 teeth in an early page) will, in course, be one of the 
 first objects of inspection. Young horses are some- 
 times troubled by a tumid inflammation of the first 
 bar of the mouth, adjoining the upper fore teeth, pre- 
 ventive of their chewing. This affection, of temporary 
 duration, and giving way to the proper remedies, is 
 styled the lampas, from the Latin lampascus. It 
 should have been remarked that, the teeth being 
 filed down to hide the appearance of age, often has 
 the miserable effect of preventing the poor victim 
 from chewing his food. Gigs, bladders or flaps 
 
64 THE HORSE. 
 
 in the mouth, are old terms, for soft bladders or pus- 
 tules with black heads, growing withinside the lips, 
 level with the great jaw teeth. These are chiefly 
 found in cart and the coarser breeds of horses, and 
 have been known to equal the size of a walnut, being 
 then exceedingly painful, and an impediment to mas- 
 tication. Barbs or paps, are small excrescences 
 beneath the tongue. The cankered, or ulcerated 
 mouth, may ensue on the neglect of the above 
 excrescences. Hurts in the mouth, tongue, and jaw 
 bone, from the senseless and inhuman torture of 
 heavy and lacerating bits, are sufficiently conspicuous, 
 and demand instant and patient attention. Wolves' 
 teeth, are two small superfluous ones, growing in 
 the upper jaw next the grinders, and are very painful 
 to the animal during mastication. The old method 
 of their removal with a mallet and gouge, was a very 
 dangerous one, and it may be hoped a more safe 
 practice has been discovered. 
 
 Round, gourdy legs, grease, moist frogs, and run- 
 ning thrushes discover themselves. 
 
 Chronic lameness in the bones, or derangement of 
 the internal structure of the foot, ever so difficult to 
 ascertain or identify, so far as I have experienced, is 
 a lost cas\ Lameness of the coffin bone is an old 
 subject of complaint, but until of late we have not 
 heard of navicular lameness; that is to say, of the 
 navicular bone ; but I should suppose that an affec- 
 tion of the one would be communicated to the other. 
 Mr. Turner, of Croydon, and of Regent-street, is said 
 to have discovered the navicular lameness, and its 
 remedy, of the details of which I have no information. 
 I have formerly spoken with decision against the 
 
THE HORSE. 65 
 
 application of the patten shoe to the sound foot in 
 lame cases, but I find Mr. Goodwin speaks in its 
 favour. Beyond all doubt, Mr. Goodwin's authority 
 demands precedence, but I have frequently known 
 this shoe used by country farriers, in cases of strain in 
 the back sinews, when surely it must be erroneous 
 practice, since, under such debility of the leg and 
 tendon, from defect of fibrous and ligamentary elas- 
 ticity, no additional weight should be thrown upon it. 
 The opposite effect of rigidity and contraction would 
 indeed change the state of the case ; but generally, I 
 should suspect more mischief than benefit from the 
 patten shoe, unless as applied to the lame foot in 
 sinew strains, as a support to the tendon, the suscep- 
 tibility of which I have heretofore proved, and which, 
 in a chronic case, is softened and affected in its 
 substance, proportionally with its ligaments. An 
 ancient writer observes of the patten shoe, that " it 
 is a necessary shoe for a horse that is hurt in the hip 
 or stifle, to be put on upon the contrary foot, to the 
 intent, that the fore leg may hang, and not touch the 
 ground." This I cannot understand, but commend 
 it to those who can. Ou^ht it not to be the hinder 
 leg which should hang, in order to elongate the fibres 
 supposed to be contracted ? 
 
 The horrible, damnable, and equally useless opera- 
 tion, of tearing out, or drawing the sole ! is now, 
 it may be hoped, universally and utterly exploded in 
 Britain. There has always existed a propensity to 
 torturing operations, in the mere guise of experiment, 
 and at whatever risk, in the French veterinary schools, 
 a strange anomaly in so enlightened a people. 
 
66 
 
 THE HORSE. 
 
 I have already said (p. 42) a few words on shoe- 
 ing the horse, and that which I have yet to say must 
 be stated in general terms, for I am not a professional 
 man, but having been set on horseback in infancy, 
 and having conceived so intense an affection for the 
 horse, that during the season of youth, and of the 
 middle more especially, I might almost have been 
 said to have lived on horseback, it could not well 
 happen that I should have gained no experience in 
 that most important relation to him, his shoeing. A 
 proprietor's object is to have his horse fitted accord- 
 ing to the nature, substance, and form of his horse's 
 feet, and with good solid iron, for both shoes and 
 nails, and not with that cheap substitute of cast iron, 
 in such general use for the purpose. His first duty 
 then, towards himself and his horse, is to find a skil- 
 ful farrier, and not to deny him some extra price for 
 his superior shoes, far the cheaper at an advance, and 
 the more safe. Mr. Goodwin finds much fault with our 
 general system of shoeing, the errors in which are in 
 great measure attributable to the owners of horses, 
 for certainly of late years there have been a consider- 
 able number of capable smiths in the metropolis and 
 dispersed throughout the country : but in provincial 
 districts, where that may not be the case, the landed 
 gentlemen or the yeomanry would do a patriotic act, 
 useful both to the community and themselves indivi- 
 dually, by the substitution of capable for incapable 
 hands, in which they might succeed by an application 
 to the proper quarters in the metropolis. The pre- 
 sent common English shoe, externally inclining to 
 the convex, and internally, or next the crust, concave, 
 
THE HORSE. - 67 
 
 upon which horses travel so rapidly and well, resist- 
 ing that internal concavity in proportion to the tough- 
 ness and natural goodness of their feet, is certainly 
 nevertheless a form of shoe not entitled to recommen- 
 dation. Even many of the London smiths, it seems, 
 yet fit the shoe on red hot, and cut away the bars 
 of the hoof. Osmer's seated shoe, which I have 
 known, almost as long as I have known any, though 
 ever so little used, appears to me to be the best, as 
 most congenial with the nature of the hoof, and the 
 best preservative of the wall or crust on which the 
 shoe must depend. The seat of this shoe consists of 
 a flat surface, adapted to the surface of the crust ; 
 and if in the change tow T ard the heels, there may, 
 according to Mr. Goodwin, result some inconveni- 
 ence, which, however, I never experienced, that gentle- 
 man no doubt could easily provide a remedy, and 
 improve the Osmerian shoe. Its ground surface may 
 be hammered somewhat concave. With respect to 
 Mr. Goodwin's hobby-horsical obliquity in his shoe, 
 after the French model, probably for want of experi- 
 ence of its effects in practice, I cannot agree with 
 him. I never saw a horse's foot in its natural state 
 with the toe raised ; on the contrary, the toe seems 
 intended by nature, whilst the animal is in action, to 
 have a fast hold upon the ground ; and, it appears to 
 me, that the obliquity, or turning upward of the toe 
 of the shoe, places the horse in an unnatural, and on 
 many occasions, an unsafe position. 
 
 After all, nothing can be more plain and level with 
 common sense, which we trust has, in these latter 
 days, something in common with farriery, than the 
 
68 THE HORSE. 
 
 forging a good, useful, and comfortable shoe for a 
 horse with sound feet, and fittino- and nailing the 
 same in a safe and proper manner. The difficulty- 
 lies with naturally defective or worn-out hoofs, which 
 the devil himself, or Vulcan, in propria persona, would 
 be unable to manage with any tolerable degree of 
 success. With respect to this man's shoe, and that 
 man's shoe, or which of them you will, out of the one 
 thousand and one, who have every one of them, each 
 in opposition and superiority to the other, during the 
 last half century, improved the horse shoe, patenteed, 
 or otherwise ; some within a degree and half of per- 
 fection, and others, two degrees beyond it. That 
 which may with any certainty be predicted of them 
 is, omne quod exit in hum, with the addition of the bug, 
 to those who prefer it. But new coined horse shoes 
 are fancy articles, thence cannot fail of due periodical 
 attention. 
 
 SECTION XII.— A few Lines on the most 
 
 PROMINENT FANCIFUL THEO RIES. 
 
 To begin with the favourite of my early day, of which 
 I have Ions; since related how I got cured, the Sieur 
 La Fosse's short half-moon shoe, to compel the foot, 
 however unwilling, to obey the law of nature, and 
 bear upon the frog, as the rest, support, fulcrum, and 
 salient point to the tendon. This projector's brain 
 was so engrossed by his prevailing theory, a never 
 failing occurrence, that, experienced however he must 
 have been in southern horses, he slighted nature's own 
 hint in the want of sufficient frog for the purpose, in so 
 many thousands, and totally overlooked the effect of 
 
THE HORSE. 69 
 
 compulsion in his shoeing system, which in all defec- 
 tive frogs must necessarily overstrain, instead of sup- 
 port, the tendon. With frogs, bars and heels, of 
 sufficient toughness and luxuriance of produce, the 
 half-moon shoe is yet superior to all others. Saintbel, 
 unable duly to appreciate and divest his mind of 
 La Fosse's theory, unskilled in English horseman- 
 ship, and uninformed how completely and practically 
 we had exploded the system, revived it here with the 
 original success. Professor Coleman, somewhat en- 
 lightened by these failures, but not discouraged, and 
 having a glimmering of the effigies of old daddy 
 La Fosse, on the tip of his glandula pineaHs, came to 
 the fortunate conclusion that nature, as well as him- 
 self, had decided the frog must receive pressure. In 
 consequence he patenteed an artificial iron frog to 
 give it pressure. Nature, however, rejected the co- 
 partnership ; the patent frog, after paying its way for 
 a considerable season, at length became bankrupt, 
 and rests in the eternal sleep of death, in the vault, of 
 all the Capulets of farriery. To overlook fancies of 
 minor consequence, at the indication of needful bre- 
 vitv — enter the now fashionable theory of ex pan- 
 sion, swelling in all the pride, pomp, and circum- 
 stance of glorious horse shoeing ! This theory, it 
 seems, would fain command the hoof to expand, 
 although fast bound, as it were by fate, in an im- 
 passable limit of iron, secured by iron nails. The 
 impossibility of such expansion, however, is acknow- 
 ledged, and the learned of the faculty are yet of the 
 sect of the seekers; unless, fortunately, the jointed 
 shoe should convert them into finders. But it would 
 
70 THE HORSE. 
 
 seem that, unless there subsisted a ductility in the 
 iron, the expansion of the hoof would draw the nails. 
 
 I have never had the presumption to class myself 
 with the learned professional, and, in offering my 
 opinion on the point at issue, I merely state the 
 dicta of the little common sense I may possess, and 
 of a long series of practical experience and observa- 
 tion. Expansion, or no expansion, stern necessity 
 decides that the hoofs of English horses, bevond all 
 others, m ust be fast bound with iron shoes. But I 
 deny, on the ground of established fact, the necessity 
 of this theoretical species of expansion. The hinder 
 feet, it is acknowledged, evince no need of it, and the 
 same must be conceded to well shod and sound fore 
 feet, which universally outlast the fore legs of our 
 horses exposed to severe labour. I yesterday exa- 
 mined the legs and feet of a Welsh mare, upwards of 
 fifteen hands high, and mistress of full eighteen stone, 
 nearly which weight she has usually carried. Her 
 pastern joints were hot and swollen, and the sinews 
 of the tendon had obviously lost much of their 
 natural tone, but her heels, bars, frogs, and soles 
 were solid as oak, and had, hitherto, evidently defied 
 the utmost that iron, the farrier, and the hard road 
 could accomplish towards an impediment to their 
 reproduction and their natural soundness. Had I 
 the means, equal to the inclination, I would establish 
 a breeding stud in Wales. 
 
 But our stage and post horses, under that most 
 cruel and inhuman labour to which they are exposed, 
 afford the most general, striking, and decisive exam- 
 ples of the fact I have propounded. Granting them 
 
THE HORSE. 71 
 
 both sound at starting, their legs universally fail 
 before their feet. There is no risk in the assertion, 
 since facts, to its full extent, have ever been multi- 
 tudinous, that a naturally sound and tough hoof, 
 rationally shod, is a good fundamental estate for life 
 to a labouring horse, and he goes comfortably and 
 well upon it, presenting a hoof more neat and hand- 
 some than in its natural state ; devoid, indeed, of the 
 possibility of external expansion, but enjoying the 
 benefit of the internal, or that action and reaction 
 which result from the natural structure of the hoof. 
 There is no doubt of a lateral and longitudinal external 
 expansion and extension of the hoof of the colt, or of 
 the unshod grazing horse ; and the same fact applies 
 to the feet of poor shoeless children, whose feet, how- 
 ever, never pine after the said expansion when, sub- 
 sequently and fortunately, they become bounded and 
 confined by a good and tight fitting shoe. I conceive 
 that neither Childers nor Eclipse were deprived of a 
 single atom, either of their speed or powers of conti- 
 nuance, in consequence of their hoofs being bound by 
 iron shoes. To speak seriously, ridicule can be ap- 
 plicable or available only against our genuine system 
 mongers, with whom inventions, novelty, and notoriety 
 are all in all. With respect to those worthy, sedulous, 
 and indefatigable scientific artists of the profession, 
 who, adhering to sound, fundamental, and established 
 principles, using their exertions and ingenuity in 
 anomalous and difficult cases, wherein these princi- 
 ples must be departed from, and doing all in their 
 power for the safety and comfort of the noble slave 
 intrusted to their care, and imparting the' results of 
 
72 THE HORSE. 
 
 their science and experience to their subordinates, 
 the illiterate operatives, too much cannot be said to 
 their honour and in their commendation, as men 
 labouring: in a branch of service of the utmost im- 
 portance to the community and to the interests of 
 humanity. 
 
 SECTION XIII.— The Bar Shoe. 
 
 " I use a bar, or planch e, wider than any part of the 
 shoe, of an equal thickness in all its parts, and per- 
 fectly flat on both sides, which affords a much larger 
 and more even surface to tread on, and gives, like- 
 wise, more points of bearing on the frog. In every 
 other respect a bar shoe corresponds, both in form 
 and principle, with the plain shoe." — Goodwin. With 
 precisely such a shoe, excepting that the ground side 
 was hammered somewhat concave, I rode, during 
 several years, a well known trotting hack of mine, 
 the hoofs of which, though dark in colour and appa- 
 rently well formed, were extremely tender, and had 
 been severely injured by hard service and bad shoe- 
 ing. When this mare first came into my possession 
 I could not find a farrier in my neighbourhood equal 
 to the task of shoeing her so that she could go at 
 her ease and sound ; and I could not endure the 
 thought of riding her, travelling in constant pain. 
 I then sent her some miles, during a year or more, to 
 a farrier of prime note, who had the first patronage. 
 He loaded her weak feet with iron and his peculiar 
 shoe, which made the matter worse. 
 
 I next sent to old Snape, the King's farrier, who 
 called on me, and, over a bottle, seemed disposed to 
 
THE HORSE. 73 
 
 tell me all, and, perhaps, more than he knew, not 
 forgetting his lineal descent from Snape, farrier to 
 Charles the First. Examining the mare, and de- 
 ceived by the good form and colour of her hoofs, he 
 readily engaged to make her perfectly sound, on 
 being allowed a premium of five guineas, exclusive 
 of his usual charge for shoes. I catched at such an 
 offer. However, though he failed to make her per- 
 fectly sound, he greatly improved her feet, encourag- 
 ing the growth of the horn and frogs by the use of 
 a very judiciously forged bar-shoe, with which I rode 
 her, both on the road and in the field, with the utmost 
 safety and ease to her feet. I used the bar-shoe 
 advantageously with other tender footed hacks, and 
 fully concur with Mr. Goodwin, that such horses 
 should ever be allowed that defence for their feet. 
 The reluctance to use this shoe can claim no relation- 
 ship with reason or sound practice. Its use ought 
 to be oreneral when needful. It even rivals La Fosse's 
 half-moon shoes, as a support to the tendon. 
 
 Grass Shoes, or tips. — These should be narrow 
 webbed, only sufficiently wide to defend the crust, 
 and of the usual length. They are absolutely neces- 
 sary for the security of the hoof upon hard grounds ; 
 and although, in the moist seasons, horses are usually 
 turned off without shoes, yet, with some feet, it is 
 preferable to tip them. A monthly attendance is 
 necessary to remove or renew the shoes,. and pare the 
 hoofs from excrescences, that they may not grow out 
 of form, or to encourage the growth of horn. 
 
 The hunting and racing shoe, or plate. — Both 
 these should be made of the best Swedish iron, and 
 
 e 
 
74 THE HORSE. 
 
 the hunting; shoe should be as light as is consistent 
 with substance enough to bear the horse's weight ; 
 the web in general somewhat narrower than for the 
 road, but perhaps, of equal width for a stony country. 
 The length as usual. I prefer the seated shoe for 
 the field as less liable to be cast; and, with weak 
 heels, the soil being dry and hard (certainly not in a 
 a deep country), I would have it round or barred. I 
 have not seen, at least I do not recollect, the practice 
 of turning up, or ruffing the outside heel to prevent 
 slipping, to which Mr. Goodwin objects. Certainly 
 hunting shoes should be concave on the ground sur- 
 face. I cannot laud the prudence of him who rode 
 Lord Maynard's mare in the field (Goodwin, p. 219), 
 when she performed so completely the evolution of 
 overreaching, whence he must have known she went 
 " hammer and pinchers together," surely a most im- 
 proper and dangerous form for a hunter. Mr. Good- 
 win says, " if the inward edge of the hind shoes are 
 bevelled and rounded, this accident cannot take place." 
 Probably not ; but still the fore heels may be sorely 
 and repeatedly wounded, to the great danger of the 
 horse coming down. 
 
 The racing plate need differ in nothing; from the 
 common shoe than in its lightness, which yet should 
 not be in excess, and it resembles the seated shoe in 
 respect of its flat surface next the crust. I have 
 been always of Mr. Goodwin's opinion of the inu- 
 tility, at least, of the practice of lining the plate, or 
 shoe with old hat or leather; and regret with him 
 that racehorses cannot be taken to the forge to be 
 plated. Surely the shoeing smith might be provided 
 
THE HORSE. 75 
 
 with a place proper for such purpose, unless Mr. 
 Cherry's ingenious portable forge may prove a suffi- 
 cient substitute, which is probable. 
 
 Of the mechanical operation of the ancient screw 
 shoe, a priori, I should entertain a mean opinion, as 
 a force put upon nature, thence not likely to succeed : 
 and though in Snape's time I heard of the practice, 
 no instances of its success ever surprized me. Na- 
 ture, having fitted the horse with narrow heels, will 
 not allow of a refit ; and, granting the contraction to 
 have arisen from labour or bad shoeing, I should 
 suppose the attempt at artificial expansion would 
 rather be productive of additional inflammation and 
 mischief. Nor have I hitherto been fortunate enough 
 to witness the success of stable remedies in the case, 
 which, if apparent, I suppose would be temporary. 
 My remedy is, the cool earth and sufficient length of 
 time at grass. 
 
 On the moveable toe, I am entirely obliged to 
 Mr. Goodwin, having never experienced its use, and 
 I refer my farrying readers to Mr. Goodwin's book. 
 We used indeed to steel the toes of hard wearing; 
 horses. The use of the moveable toe is to prevent 
 the too often shoeing of hard worked horses, which 
 wear much at the toe, and which need only the 
 renewal of that part. It is a great point gained 
 when, by this mean, a shoe may remain upon the 
 horse's foot its due time of three weeks or a month 
 (the outgrowing of the horn, or the pressing of the 
 shoe upon the sole, not requiring a removal), more 
 especially with weak and thin hoofs, that are torn 
 to pieces and ruined by frequent shoeing, which 
 
76 THE HORSE. 
 
 destroys the horn too fast for its scanty and tardy 
 production. 
 
 On frosting shoes I must again refer proprietors 
 ;md operative farriers to Mr. Goodwin's book. He 
 has treated this topic obviously on practical views. 
 I had, formerly, much trouble with my cart horses 
 in Ions; frosts. His recommendation of a bar-shoe in 
 frost, with a recess or calkin on the centre of the 
 bar, is a novelty to me, but it seems to present a 
 greater security to the tread. The toes and heels 
 should be steeled, and the ruff should not be so hio-h 
 as usual, and may be made removeable. Frost nails 
 soon become smooth and useless, whence the French 
 nail head is recommended as more substantial and 
 durable. 
 
 I am tempted to digress awhile here, with the ex- 
 pectation, no doubt, of being prodigiously applauded 
 for my pains. In dry summers the racehorses have 
 to gallop over an extremely slippery surface, whence 
 many dangerous and some fatal accidents have hap- 
 pened. Many years ago I rode a large, striding, 
 and awkward horse, which I had out of the Marquis 
 of Rockingham's stud, over Epsom, when the soil 
 was in a tolerable condition for skating; I did not 
 feel myself much at ease, but pulled up with no other 
 inconvenience than the horse sliding a few yards. 
 It then occurred to me that frost nails in the plates 
 might be tried in such a season ; and the thing lately 
 occurring to my recollection, I mentioned it to Mr. 
 Turner, who said he knew of no other objection than 
 the risk of the horse wounding his legs, which, I 
 conceive, could not well happen, as the stroke cannot 
 
THE HORSE. 77 
 
 come from the bottom but the edges of the hoof. In 
 the dry season to which I refer, there was a sweep- 
 stakes over Epsom, ridden by officers of the Guards ; 
 a majority of those gentlemen, I hope, are now living 
 to read my little book. They went to the expense of 
 daily water carts for the course, from Tattenham's 
 Corner in, but with very little effect. 
 
 Now for a very notable contrast. The last season 
 (1828) was so wet that several race courses, for a 
 considerable length, were almost gentium terms, knee- 
 deep in mud and water, not only to the ample va- 
 riegation of ornament in the jackets, and caps, and 
 leathers of the jockeys, but to the equally ample 
 saturation of their eyes, noses, and mouths ; in an 
 especial manner to those in a sweepstakes, who, from 
 duty or necessity, were compelled to follow ! I ap- 
 peal to those jockeys who had to stand, or rather sit 
 all this, for the sweet recollection. Now, why should 
 not I dash at a new discovery as well as so many of 
 my contemporaries ? I recommend to some ingeni- 
 ous optician to contrive globular racing spectacles, to 
 be fastened upon the rider's head, as a defence to the 
 eyes for occasions like the above ; since it is obvious 
 that the hand of the jockey would be less painfully 
 and more profitably employed in wiping his artificial, 
 than his natural ogdes. What a curious and novel 
 sight would be a sweepstakes of half a score, the 
 jockeys all spectacled ! 
 
78 THE HORSE. 
 
 SECTION XIV. — Striking and wounding the 
 
 Legs. 
 
 On this point I do not entirely agree with Mr. Good- 
 win, on whose authority, in most other respects, I 
 rely. He observes (p. 274), " It is evident that 
 horses which go very near must be more likely to 
 strike the shoe against the other leg." In another 
 place he seems to think that the mischief is done by 
 the toe alone. Now, in the whole course of my ex- 
 perience, I have remarked, that the defect does not 
 originate in the horse " going near," but in the 
 crooked position of the pasterns, whence the toes, 
 instead of pointing straight, turn either outward or 
 inward ; in the first position the horse cutting with 
 his heel, in the other with his toe. With this defect 
 I have known horses cut themselves, though they 
 went uncommonly wide before. Osmer recommended 
 stocks, in which daily to confine the feet of colts 
 having this defect, with the view of bringino; their 
 
 O ' so 
 
 toes, by degrees, to the right line ; but I have never 
 heard of the experiment, and I deposit it in my 
 knowledge-box, cheek by jowl with the forcible ex- 
 pansion of narrow heels. Of the two, however, I 
 prefer the stocks, on the ground of our success in 
 the nursery and the army, in both which we succeed 
 in convincing toes of the expediency of their being 
 turned out. 
 
 The above writer (Goodwin) continues, " I have 
 always observed that a plain shoe, with the inside 
 edge bevelled, or feather-edged, when set on even 
 and smoothly rounded with the crust, to be the most 
 
THE HORSE. 79 
 
 efficacious, and sometimes to succeed when all other 
 experiments have failed." This practice is certainly 
 more rational than any of the numerous farrier's 
 expedients, but I have long ago and often tried it 
 without any but temporary success, the horse begin- 
 ning to knock again) after travelling half a score 
 miles. Mr. Moorcroft made more experiments in 
 order to discover a remedy in this case than any 
 one else, without the smallest success, which, indeed, 
 I am convinced is hopeless. Our only resource 
 then is a leathern defence or boot, whether for the 
 knee or pastern. With respect to myself, I certainly 
 never would choose a hack or hunter that did not go 
 perfectly clear of his legs ; but, if necessitated to 
 ride such a one, with equal certainty, I never would 
 cross him without his boot; and I strongly recom- 
 mend the practice to all other horsemen, from motives 
 of security to themselves and of feeling for the un- 
 fortunate animal they bestride. Wounded legs, at 
 least, in my estimation, are more unsightly and un- 
 horsemanlike than booted ones. This, in course, ap- 
 plies equally to draught horses. It is of consequence 
 that these boots be made with judgment and pro- 
 perly adapted, or they will not answer the end of 
 defence and comfortable travelling to the horse. 
 
 On poultice and water boots I must refer the 
 reader to my preceptor (by virtue of his book, for I 
 have not the honour to know him personally), Mr. 
 Goodwin, who seems to have given long and attentive 
 consideration to those contrivances. For myself, I 
 must observe, that I have never experienced or known 
 
80 THE HORSE. 
 
 much real and permanent utility from these stable mea- 
 sures, and I should apprehend from them, if long con- 
 tinued, mischiefs of an opposite nature. In one case 
 the hoof might be injuriously relaxed and softened; 
 and when a horse, accustomed to standing upon warm 
 litter, has his feet and legs suddenly immersed in 
 cold water or cold clay, so to continue for hours 
 together, the consequence may be chill and rheuma- 
 tism to those parts: thus these supposed remedies 
 may be the precursors of new diseases. I do not, 
 however, presume to dogmatize upon the subject, 
 leaving the rationale of it to be adjusted by proprie- 
 tors and their professional advisers. 
 
 But I shall hold forth with all my former derision 
 in contempt of that wretched, scalt — miserable prac- 
 tice, at a certain period recommended on authority, 
 compelling the horse to stand in the stable, shifting 
 and easing his benumbed and aching limbs upon the 
 cold stones, with the view of hardening his hoofs, 
 God wot ! A rare device truly, to deaden and palsy 
 both hoofs and joints. The lower livery stables of 
 the metropolis, which I never enter but with unplea- 
 sant feelings, exhibit a very apt example, where the 
 animals, standing upon a flimsy covering of dung 
 and straw, the apology for litter, make a truly pitiable 
 appearance. As to stopping hoofs, the old writers 
 recommend both horse and cow dung, beyond a 
 doubt, improper or hurtful articles ; but their use of 
 warm water, in the case of dried and hardened hoofs, 
 when occasional, not long continued, well deserves 
 to be followed ; and, where such care can be be- 
 
THE HORSE. 81 
 
 stowed, no remedy, I believe, would prove so effica- 
 cious as immersing and soaking such hoofs patiently 
 in a pail of tepid water, every stable time, so long 
 as it should appear needful. All dung and clay 
 stoppings should be banished from the stable. Fresh 
 linseed crushed, scalding water being poured upon 
 it, is perhaps, the stopping best calculated to moisten 
 and cool the feet, and encourage the growth of horn; 
 as are also the old articles, tar and hog's lard melted 
 together, which are beneficial, being now and then 
 rubbed into the coronet and crust ; a pledged of tow 
 also dipped in which, may be thrust into the cleft of 
 the frog. The marshmallow ointment has always 
 been in stable use for the coronet and hoofs. 
 
 I have already vouched for the actual improve- 
 ment and skill which has taken place in our farrying 
 system generally ; but there is yet too much of the 
 old leaven remaining, not only in the provinces but 
 in the metropolis. Haste and profit are the order of 
 the day, as well in this concern as in all others. — 
 Hoofs are loaded with cheap and soft iron, the nails 
 turned out in immense quantities, manufactured from 
 the same. Feet are compelled to fit the shoe, instead 
 of the shoe being forged to fit the foot ; and many will 
 yet defend the old practice of clapping the shoe on 
 red hot; not recollecting, as I do, the fore hoofs of 
 Hue-and-cry, the trotting stallion, being by that means 
 totally destroyed, at a farrier's (of high repute too) 
 in Moorfields. The seated shoe is too generally neg- 
 lected, which preserves the crust : whereas, with the 
 common shoe, the edge of which only bears on the 
 crust, that important part of the hoof is torn and 
 
 e2 
 
82 THE HORSE. 
 
 damaged; too much strain lies upon the nails and 
 clinches, and the horse's tread is not so level and 
 firm upon the ground. In the worst forms of shoes, 
 with wide webs, the ground surface is quite convex, 
 instead of the opposite, a form injurious to the hoof, 
 extremely unsafe, and detracting much from the 
 powers of the draught horse, particularly upon pave- 
 ment. The heels, when contracted, are yet ' opened' 
 with a dealing view, to make some show of an open 
 heel, caveat emptor. A remedy in these cases, can 
 only come from proprietors, who must, to that end, 
 look both to their own interest and to that of their 
 smith, never denying him an extra price for extra 
 good shoeing. Such was my invariable maxim, 
 when I kept horses. 
 
 SECTION XV. 
 
 I have already remarked on the early attention and 
 proficiency in the farriery art of the Italian and 
 French schools, whence we of this country have de- 
 rived the principles, and generally the practice, of 
 nearly all we know in its relation. As an example, I 
 present the reader with a quotation from a very scarce 
 black letter book, that of Blundeville, whose last 
 edition was published in 1580, dedicated to Dudley, 
 the famous Earl of Leicester. Blundeville, although 
 not so learned, rhetorical, and metaphysical, as cer- 
 tain of his contemporaries and successors of the next 
 reign, was a writer of good sound common sense and 
 humanity, who made the best use of such lights as 
 his times afforded ; attend to his general principles 
 of shoeing : 
 
THE HORSE. 83 
 
 <( IN WHAT POINTS THE ART OF SHOEING DOTH 
 
 " CONSIST. 
 
 " The art of shoeing consisteth in these points, 
 that is to say, in paring the hooue well, in making the 
 shoe of good stuffe, in wel fashioning the webbe 
 thereof, and well piercing the same; in fitting the 
 shoe unto the horses foote, in making nailes of good 
 stuffe, and well fashioning of the same ; and finallie, 
 in well driving of the said nailes, and clenching of the 
 same. But sith neither paring nor shoeing is no ab- 
 solute thing of itself, but hath respect unto the foote 
 or hooue, (for the shoe is to be fitted to the foote, and 
 not the foote to the shoe), and that there be divers 
 kinds of hooues, both good and bad, requiring great 
 diversitie as well of paring, as shoeing : it is meet, 
 therefore, that we talke first of the diversitie, and 
 then shew you how they ought to be pared and 
 shod." 
 
 He remarks, after Csesar Fiaschi, the Italian, on 
 the narrow heels of Barbs and Spanish jennets, 
 that their feet generally become tender and hoof- 
 bound, and that they are unfit for travel. In his 
 directions for shoeing all kinds of hoofs, he speaks 
 particularly on the quality, mode of driving and 
 clenching the nails. E. G. " And as touching the 
 nails, then make them also of the same iron (Spanish) 
 before said, the heads whereof would be square, and 
 not fully so broad beneath as is above, but answer- 
 able to the piercing-holes, as the head of the nails 
 may enter in and fill the same, appearing above the 
 shoe, no more than the breadth of the back of a 
 
84 THE HORSE. 
 
 knife, so shall they stand sure without shogging, en- 
 dure longer, and to that end, the stamp that first 
 maketh the holes, and the preschell that pierceth 
 them, and also the necks of the nails would be of one 
 square fashion and bigness ; that is to say, great 
 above and small beneath, which our common smiths 
 do little regard; for when they pierce a shoe, they 
 make the holes as wide on the inside as on the out- 
 side, and then nails with so great a shouldering, by 
 driving them over hard upon the nail tool, as the 
 heads, or rather necks, of the said nails cannot enter 
 into the holes ; for to say the truth, a good nail 
 would have no shoulder in driving at all, but be made 
 with a plain and square neck, so as it may justly fit 
 and fill the piercing hole of the shoe. For otherwise, 
 the head of the nail standing high, and the neck 
 thereof being weak, either it breaketh off, or else 
 bendeth upon every light occasion, so as the shoe 
 thereby standeth loose from the hoof, and is quickly 
 lost. Moreover, the shanks of the nails would be 
 somewhat flat, and the points sharp, without hollow- 
 ness or flaw, and stiffer tow r ards the head above than 
 beneath ; and when you drive, drive at the first with 
 strokes and with a light hammer, until the nail be 
 somewhat entered ; and, in shoeing fine delicate 
 horses, it shall not be amiss to grease the points of 
 the nails with a little soft grease, that the nails may 
 enter the more easily, and drive the two talon nails 
 first. Then look whether the shoe standeth right or 
 not, which you shall perceive in beholding the frush ; 
 for if the sponges on both sides be equally distant 
 from the frush, then it standeth right ; if not, then 
 
THE HORSE. 85 
 
 amend it, and set the shoe right, and standing right ? 
 
 drive in another nail. That done, let the horse set 
 
 down his foot again, and look round about it, to see 
 
 whether it fitteth the horse's foot in all places ; and 
 
 whether the horse treadeth even and just on it or not. 
 
 And if you see that the shoe doth not furnish every 
 
 part equally, but perhaps appeareth more of one 
 
 side than of another, then make the horse's other foot 
 
 to be lifted up, to the intent he may stand the more 
 
 steadily upon that foot ; and so standing, strike the 
 
 hoof with your hammer on that side that the shoe is 
 
 scant, and that shall make the shoe to come that 
 
 way. The shoe then standing straight and just, 
 
 drive in the rest of all the nails to the number of 
 
 eight, so that the points of the nails seem to stand in 
 
 the outside of the hoof, even and just one by another, 
 
 as it were in a circular line, and not out of order. 
 
 That done, cut them off and clinch them, so as the 
 
 clinches may be hidden in the hoof, which by cutting 
 
 the hoof with the point of a knife, a little beneath the 
 
 appearing of the nail, you may easily do ; that done, 
 
 with a rape (rasp) pare the hoof round, so as the 
 
 edge of the shoe may be seen round about." — 
 
 Shoeing the perfect hoof. 
 
 To help the imperfect hoof. — " To pare it well, 
 let the ferrer take as much off the toe with his butter 
 (butteris) as he can possibly, keeping it always under ; 
 but let him not touch the quarter nor the heels at all, 
 unless it be to make the seat of the shoe plain, and 
 let that be done so superficially as may be." The 
 knife, however, rather than the butteris, is the proper 
 tool wherewith to pare down the toe. 
 
86 THE HORSE. 
 
 Paring and Shoeing for Interfering. — "Those 
 horses that interfere, are most commonly higher on 
 the outside than on the inside ; and therefore the 
 outside would be the more taken off with the butter, 
 to the intent that the inside may be somewhat higher 
 (if it will be) than the outside ; and then make him 
 a shoe fit for his foot, which would be thicker on the 
 inside than on the outside ; and let that shoe never 
 have any calkin ; for that would make the horse to 
 tread awry, and the sooner to interfere ; and let it be 
 pierced in such sort, as you can see in the figure, 
 hereafter expressed. But to be sure, first cause the 
 horse to be ridden before you, and mark well where 
 he toucheth most, and there remedy the shoe, by 
 making it the straighter in that place." 
 
 " The planch or pancelet (bar) shoe, maketh a good 
 foot and evil leg ; because it maketh the foot to grow 
 beyond the measure of the leg. Notwithstanding, 
 for a weak heel, it is marvellous good, and will last 
 longer than any shoe, and has been borrowed from 
 the moite (mule) that has weak heels and frushes, 
 and is good to keep them from stones and gravel." 
 
 In enumerating the varieties and fancy shoes of 
 his day, Blundeville quotes that form having the 
 toes turned upward, apparently the French oblique 
 shoe which Mr. Goodwin has taken under his especial 
 protection. Our ancient writer, strongly commends 
 the welted shoe, originally German, on the ground of 
 his having used such, in a journey of above five hun- 
 dred miles ' right out/ over a mountainous and stony 
 country, without the necessity of a remove, or driving 
 a nail. He agrees with Fiaschi, on the inutility and 
 
THE HORSE. 87 
 
 danger of calkins, as then commonly used ; observing 
 that, of two evils, it is better to choose the least, 
 which is to have two calkins instead of one, that the 
 horse's tread may be even. The ramponealla in- 
 vented by Fiaschi, was not like the calkin then and 
 at present in common use, but rather a button. His 
 opinion was, that though the common calkins were 
 intended to keep the horse from slipping, they yet 
 did more harm than good, by preventing him from 
 having an even tread upon the ground, whence he 
 often wrenched his pastern joints, or strained his 
 sinews. It seems their Barbs, Turks, and jennets, 
 which were raced in Italy, had very slippery courses 
 to run over, and this author recommended for them 
 a welted shoe, the surface hammered somewhat con- 
 cave, and the welt indented like a saw, for their se- 
 curity ; having a good opinion also of the round 
 Turkish shoe or planche, generally used in Italy for 
 racing. Blundeville prefers this shoe with button 
 nails, their heads resembling the present French nails, 
 so placed, that the horse may have a perfectly even 
 tread. For a tender and weak heeled horse engaged 
 over a hard stony course, I should prefer planched or 
 bar-plates. I have known such horses drop in- 
 stantly, as if shot, from treading upon a sharp flint. 
 
 Blundeville gives thirty-two short chapters or sec- 
 tions on the hoofs and shoeing ; with twenty-four 
 figures of shoes of the following description: 
 
 For the perfect hoof — the flat or pomised foot, 
 for weak heels ; for the false quarter, with shoulder- 
 ing, &c. — Lunets, or half-moon shoes — the planche, 
 
88 THE HORSE. 
 
 for weak heels — shoes for interfering — hinder shoes 
 for the same — slender shoes for perfect hoofs — shoe 
 with a vice — joint shoe to widen and straiten at 
 pleasure — shoe with a welt or border — shoe with 
 rings, to make a horse lift up his feet : which foolery- 
 he strongly condemns. It may be remarked, that in 
 those days they made the shoes too wide and heavy, 
 and had not discovered the error and mischief of 
 ' opening the heels :' these two errors were handed 
 down to our days, among the common smiths ; and 
 within my recollection, certain, otherwise skilful 
 shoers, were great advocates for opening the heels. — 
 The nail, of which a figure is given by Blundeville, 
 is rlatheaded, and upon the principle of the present 
 countersunk nail. He also presents his readers with 
 the figures of fifty different bits and a head strain ; 
 frankly acknowledging, however, the useless inge- 
 nuity of the greater part of them ; and that three 
 only, which he specifies, were fully adequate to 
 every useful purpose. 
 
 If I have before remarked, and I repeat, there is 
 no branch of the care and management of the horse, 
 equal in consequence with that which bears relation 
 to his feet and legs, whence the paramount import- 
 ance of a general sound and good system of farriery. 
 Hitherto, the mulish obstinacy, hard headedness, and 
 indocility of blacksmiths, has been constantly quoted 
 as the insuperable bar to such a consummation ; but 
 the voluntary declaration of Mr. Goodwin, the first 
 of gentleman-blacksmiths in these realms, goes a 
 great way towards setting our old apprehensions at 
 
THE HORSE. 89 
 
 rest, and even inspiring us with far more sanguine 
 hopes of an approaching reform of farriery, than of 
 parliament ! hear him : 
 
 " I consider it necessary to make some observa- 
 tions on this class of useful men (shoeing smiths) 
 to appreciate their individual merits ; and to show 
 that blame is too frequently imputed to them un- 
 justly. Much has been, and is said, about their ob- 
 stinacy and prejudices, as being an insurmountable 
 difficulty to any improvement in their art. I confess, 
 that all my experience and knowledge of them is at 
 variance with such an opinion. I have ever found 
 them ready to adopt any plan which I have sug- 
 gested ; and it therefore may not be uninteresting 
 to endeavour to show how such a prevailing notion 
 has arisen." p. 292. 
 
 For the explanation, I refer to the book ; and as a 
 concluding remark, I have no doubt that those 
 country gentlemen, who may be desirous of intro- 
 ducing skilful operatives, for the introduction of 
 improved farrying practice into their neighbourhood, 
 would find their end answered by an application 
 to Mr. Goodwin. 
 
 Mr. Goodwin (p. 104.) gives an account of the 
 chief farrying tools in present use. The butteris, 
 though still used in most parts, has been very ration- 
 ally discarded by the College, and the drawing-knife 
 substituted ; which knife has been much improved 
 by Mr. Long, the well known instrument maker, of 
 Holborn, whom I can strongly and safely recommend 
 to persons in the country interested in this branch. 
 It is used of three or four different sizes. The hand, 
 
90 THE HORSE. 
 
 or turning hammer, with three working faces, and 
 a strong bill point, improved, so as to be far superior 
 to the common country smiths' hammers. The other 
 tools are of inferior consequence. 
 
 Hereafter follows a list of the ' farrier's instru- 
 ments,' employed in the days of the old writer so 
 often quoted ; of all which Markham has given cuts. 
 The hammer, which driveth the nail. The pincers, 
 which break, clench, and draw. The butteris, 
 which pareth and openeth the foot. The rasp or 
 rape, which maketh smooth the hoof. The cut- 
 tingknife, which pareth the hoof. The fleam, 
 which letteth blood. The farrier's lancet, which 
 openeth small veins, where the stroke may not be 
 used. The incision knife, to open imposthumes, 
 and to cut away proudflesh. The cronet, to take 
 up veins. The cauterizing iron, to open and 
 separate flesh. The round button cauterizing 
 iron, to bore holes. The mullets, to cleanse 
 wounds. The barnacles, to pinch a horse by the 
 nose or ears, (for which the twitch has been sub- 
 stituted). The needle, to stitch wounds. 
 
 SECTION XVI.— The Stable. 
 
 In the history of the horse, I have treated of this 
 branch of the subject at large, annexing the eleva- 
 tion and ground plan of a stable of the first class, 
 and upon the great scale ; which, as far as the room 
 and the means are sufficient, should be a rule in all 
 points of importance, with establishments of inferior 
 degree. It is sufficiently obvious that, in the country, 
 the horse can be best provided with stable accommo- 
 
THE HORSE. 91 
 
 dations ; and indeed, these may be attained on a very 
 moderate scale, in the greater part of the most import- 
 ant particulars. In the ordinary stables of crowded 
 towns, it is far otherwise ; and the proprietors or oc- 
 cupiers of such, and their horses, must put up with 
 such accommodations as they can find or provide. 
 Doubtless there are public and livery stables in the 
 Metropolis, roomy, airy, and comfortable to the horse, 
 and upon an improved plan with regard to essentials, 
 and with ample and comfortable length and width of 
 stall room. As to the lower kind of London stables, 
 I have already spoken of their comfortless state and 
 misery, calculated rather to increase than alleviate the 
 pains and weariness of animals, distressed and tor- 
 tured by incessant labour. Good grooming, so in- 
 dispensable, cannot be expected in such places ; and 
 yet I have known persons of property unacquainted 
 with, or inattentive to these considerations, intrust 
 their horses to such. " Horses, in the above con- 
 fined situations, are ever liable to grease, scratches, 
 thrushes, fevers, blindness, colds, rheumatisms, con- 
 tractions of the sinews, hardness and surbating of 
 the hoofs, broken wind, and a thousand ails, for 
 which the veterinary nomenclature has not yet pro- 
 vided distinctions." 
 
 The chief, or perhaps only improvement, of which 
 ordinary stables are susceptible, seems to refer to the 
 flooring, or pavement, the draining, the- attention to 
 cleanliness and ventilation. The ancients generally 
 floored their stables with stone ; but in England, 
 oaken planks laid crosswise were formerly in use. 
 Stone and clinker pavements succeeded, and too often 
 
92 • THE HORSE. 
 
 these pavements were equally rough and uneven as 
 the old street pavements of the City of London, on 
 which the miserable animals were made to stand, or 
 lie down if they could, on a bed of torture, not of 
 rest. Dutch clinkers laid perfectly even and level, 
 make the best stable pavement, and a grating and 
 drain in the centre of the stall contribute to keep- 
 ing it dry, without the necessity of the usual consi- 
 derable descent from the manger, which places the 
 horse in a forced, unnatural position, his chief bear- 
 ing being upon his hinder quarters, occasioning his 
 hinder legs to swell, examples of which I have often 
 seen : and Mr. Goodwin observes, in reference to the 
 fore legs, I presume, that the horse being compelled 
 to stand with his toes up and heels down, the un- 
 usual strain on the muscles of the back part of the 
 leg, and the ligaments of the joints, particularly 
 those connected with the foot, must be productive of 
 serious mischief. These drains or cesspools must, of 
 course, have an outlet from the stable; and could 
 they be made to discharge themselves upon the 
 dungheap or pit without side, it would be a great 
 saving of manure. It would be useless to propose 
 improvements out of the reach of keepers of the 
 class of stables here referred to ; beyond that more 
 attention might be afforded to airing them, and a 
 more frequent removal of the dung, too often left 
 in the stall as a substitute for clean straw. 
 
 Very considerable stables, unobjectionable in other 
 respects, have no drains whatever, the dependence 
 being upon a constant daily (it should be every stable 
 time) removal of the dung and foul litter which have 
 
THE HORSE. 93 
 
 absorbed the urine. But during the night, the 
 horse may have to repose in a puddle of urine and 
 wetted litter ; and should two or three retromingents 
 stand in following stalls, a considerable pool of the 
 liquid may be the consequence. Cast iron has been 
 tried for stable flooring, instead of clinkers; and Mr. 
 Goodwin has made the following experiment with 
 success, it having been in use five years, fully an- 
 swering his expectations. Instead of paving the 
 stall, the greater part to be a grating of cast iron, in 
 four divisions, to open and rest in the centre, on 
 a ridge of stone. Under the grating are to be two 
 drains, either of stones or cast iron, on an inclined 
 plane, which will readily throw off the urine as it 
 falls, into an outer drain; thus, let the urine fall 
 wherever it may, it runs through this grating and 
 out of the stable instantly. The bars of the grating 
 to be close enough together, to prevent the calkins of 
 the horse's shoes from beino; locked into them. The 
 stall to be one inch and half lower before than be- 
 hind. 
 
 In the Section of the Stud, I have described the 
 external conveniences and requisites of the complete 
 stable establishment. To speak of internal improve- 
 ments, there are some which might be adopted with 
 great advantage to the horse, as highly promotive of 
 his health and condition. Among the first and best 
 of these is, permitting him to stand loose in his 
 stall ; and nothing can be more satisfactory evidence 
 of its utility than the constant recourse, among 
 sportsmen, to the loose stable for stiff, crippled, or 
 lame horses. It is the only substitute for a run 
 
94 THE HORSE. 
 
 abroad. It may be urged, that horses regularly 
 aired and exercised, are kept in the highest condi- 
 tion, and with an ability equal to their utmost pos- 
 sible performance, and yet always under confine- 
 ment in the stable ; and their grooms will probably 
 ever be provided with solid arguments against the 
 contrary practice, which must bring to them some 
 accession of trouble, from the soiled coats of their 
 horses. Saving and excepting that, I am not aware 
 of any solid argument against the practice ; and it is 
 submitted to the lovers of the horse, and to all those 
 who aim at getting the utmost possible service from 
 him, whether a little extra trouble in grooming will 
 afford an argument of the weightiest consequence. 
 My hacks stood loose in the stable during a number 
 of years ; and I believe, after being habituated to 
 that liberty, must have felt extremely awkward on a 
 change, and being again made fixtures night and 
 day to the manger. It then occurred to me, that 
 where the convenience was wanting, of loose stables 
 or boxes, it might prove an appropriate substitute, to 
 convert stalls into boxes, in which the horses mio-ht 
 stand loose by the use of a bar or two, doors, or 
 gates. This plan I published in my first Treatise, 
 (as under), and I believe the earliest experiment of 
 it was made about thirty years since by a gentleman 
 in Westmoreland ; since which it has been in consi- 
 derable use, and at present, perhaps, the best speci- 
 men of it may be seen at the new London Repository 
 in Gray's Inn Road, where are upwards of a dozen 
 of these inclosed stalls. The gate is about six feet in 
 height; and in the adjoining partition, is a hand- 
 
THE HORSE. 95 
 
 some iron orating. These loose stalls would be e*- 
 tremely beneficial to the coach horses of private 
 families, which have little work or exercise, and 
 stand much in the stable. — Philos. and Pract. Trea- 
 tise on Horses, 3d edit. vol. 1. p. 459. 
 
 " If custom would permit us to reflect, we should 
 be convinced that a horse confined by the head, to 
 the small space which he covers, and remaining 
 habitually fixed in such situation, must necessarily 
 subject him to that variety of disorders resulting 
 from defect of motion, to which we so perpetually 
 see him liable. The sleepy staggers is doubtless 
 often brought on from this cause, joined to high 
 feeding. Thus the loose standing is not only bene- 
 ficial to hard worked horses, but to those which are 
 high fed and do little, their airings and exercise also 
 being neglected. Those with greased and swelled 
 legs, that perpetually stand when tied up, will be 
 induced to lie down and roll, one of the best remedies 
 in their case, if turned loose into a well littered and 
 roomy stall. A manger is an incumbrance in a loose 
 stall, and, perhaps, in every other. It must be ac- 
 knowledged that, standing loose, a horse uses more 
 litter than when haltered ; but there is a far more 
 fatal objection, it gives the groom more trouble, an 
 object of superior consideration, in his view, than 
 the benefit occurring to the health of the horse from 
 the exercise of turning, stretching, and rolling." — 
 History of the Horse. 
 
 Racks and mangers, which are constantly fouled 
 by the breath of the horse, and the latter frequently 
 by his dung, when he stands loose, should be regularly 
 
96 THE HORSE. 
 
 scraped and well washed, with the stall boards, and, 
 indeed, the whole stable kept in a state of nicety and 
 freedom from all kinds of impurities, dust, or cobwebs. 
 Occasional whitewashing is a wholesome and good 
 practice; and, after sickness among the horses, or to 
 drive away vermin, fumigation. In a loose stall, or 
 box, for the reason above assigned, there should be no 
 manger. The modern drawer may be substituted, or 
 the horse may have his corn in a pail or tub, fixed 
 that he may not overturn it. A rack seems indis- 
 pensable, and the circular, or straight and level one 
 now in use, is to be preferred, but should, perhaps, 
 be placed lower than usual, since the horse naturally 
 feeds with his head near the ground. Nothing could 
 be more improper and inconvenient to the horse than 
 the old rack, extending across the stall and project- 
 ing at the summit, whence the animal, in order to 
 reach his provender, was compelled to elevate and 
 place his head in a break neck posture, and was 
 liable to catch dust, hay seeds, and, as they term 
 them in Hants, hulls in his eyes, an accident that 
 happened to a colt of mine, by which he was tortured 
 during five or six weeks. Low horses experience a 
 a difficulty in reaching their provender from these 
 high racks ; and, in cart stables, where they are still 
 used, it might be better if both rack and manger 
 were placed somewhat lower, and the material of 
 them in present use, iron, is certainly preferable to 
 wood. 
 
 The hay chamber should be abolished in all 
 regular stables, applied to a different and better use, 
 and honoured with a new name. According to the 
 
THE HORSE. 97 
 
 good old and present custom, as well as of hay, it is 
 the receptacle of all kinds of filth and impurity — the 
 dung and urine of cats and mice, the excrements and 
 exuvicd of spiders, and the accumulated and sacred 
 dust of perhaps half a century. Add to these trifles 
 the perpetually ascending clouds of steam from the 
 stabling below, contaminating, drying, and exhaust- 
 ing the hay of its fragrance, and of every pure and 
 beneficial quality. Let the chamber then, if a cham- 
 ber there must be, be henceforth styled the store 
 chamber, and applied to the purpose of containing 
 such articles as may, with most convenience, be there 
 stored and put out of the way, or be converted partly 
 into bedrooms for the boys. Hay should remain in 
 the stack, in order to have it in its utmost fragrance 
 and moisture of quality, be cut often and taken fresh 
 to the horses, there being a clean and cool hay room 
 in the stable to contain small quantities ; and, if at 
 any time it should be necessary to cut a considerable 
 quantity, the best mode of preservation is to bind it 
 in trusses as if for sale. Large wooden receptacles 
 lined internally and externally with tin, and placed 
 in a stall or room adjoining the stable, would prove 
 the most secure and wholesome keeping for the horse 
 corn, which should, previously to its being there 
 stowed, be thoroughly skreened and sifted. The gang- 
 way and walls of the stable should be perfectly clear 
 of all incumbrance of chests, pails, brooms, shelves, 
 saddles, bridles, or lumber of any kind, for which 
 extra rooms are the proper place. 
 
 The heated and impure atmosphere of sporting, 
 particularly running stables, has always been a sub- 
 
 F 
 
98 THE HORSE. 
 
 ject of complaint with veterinary writers, and, indeed, 
 when I first knew the stables, the practice of making 
 them stoves was carried to excess, the crevices of the 
 doors and windows being often stuffed with foul 
 litter, in order to prevent the evaporation and escape, 
 if possible, of any of the precious steam. The first 
 improvement which I noticed in this respect was, as 
 I remember, in the late Earl Grosvenor's stables, and 
 we have since not had much to complain of ; and it 
 should be remembered also, that the horse, constitu- 
 tionally requires warmth, that cold and damps in his 
 standing are extremely prejudicial to him, and that 
 those which are in constant exercise, exciting perspi- 
 ration, cannot be safely trusted without clothing. 
 These premises, however, by no means exclude the 
 necessity of allowing only a moderate warmth of 
 stable temperature, joined to which there is an abso- 
 lute necessity of the periodical admission of fresh 
 and pure air. This rule, too often neglected, should 
 always have place in the absence of the horses : and 
 opposite windows, north and south the preferable 
 aspects, are the best media, from the thorough draught 
 they allow. Great care nevertheless should be used 
 to prevent partial currents of chilly and foggy air, 
 which are extremely dangerous to the heads, throats, 
 and lunos of horses. The windows or outlets next 
 the horses should be as high as possible above their 
 heads. A thorough draught may be sometimes al- 
 lowable in the racing stables during the faint and 
 debilitating heats of the dog days ; but in that case, 
 a sound discretion is needful, as I have known horses 
 at that season, on an atmospheric change, suddenly 
 
THE HORSE. 99 
 
 stricken by a chilling blast, rendered amiss and in- 
 capable of going on with their work. This would 
 not do prettily within a short time of an engage- 
 ment. The aeration of the stable being effected by 
 opposite windows, with closed doors, prevents the 
 intrusion of improper objects ; none such, however, 
 should be allowed in the vicinity. 
 
 In my book last quoted (History of the Horse), I 
 recommended the rotunda form for stabling, as 
 affording the invaluable convenience of a circular 
 ride for exercise. " The circular buildings to contain 
 stables, boxes, carriage houses, harness and saddle- 
 rooms, granary, lodging for grooms, smith's forge, 
 surgery, bath, and every other requisite convenience 
 for the horse or his attendants ; the internal circle to 
 contain a spacious ride, well covered above, for the 
 sake of exercise in bad weather : the uncovered area, 
 shut in from intrusion, would form a most conve- 
 nient space for all the various necessary occasions, 
 including that of a good wash pond. The roofs of 
 the building to be guttered, and so disposed as to 
 secure the rain water ; which, if wanted, might be 
 preserved in receptacles, communicating ultimately 
 with the pond in the centre." Here I am sure of the 
 suffrages of all grooms, who do not want to be re- 
 minded of the unspeakable comfort and convenience 
 both to man and horse, of an exercise ground at 
 home during cold rains and bad weather; more espe- 
 cially in a deep and dirty country. The substance 
 of the walls for regular stabling, according to the 
 best recommendation, is from one and half to two 
 bricks thick : the latter deemed preferable, both for 
 
100 THE HORSE. 
 
 the sake of preservation from the winter's cold, and 
 as a defence against the summer's heat. The dung 
 removed from the stable, should ever be wheeled to 
 a considerable distance. 
 
 As of hay, the less of corn kept in hot stables the 
 better ; and the method recommended in an old 
 History of Oxfordshire is entitled to consideration. 
 Corn might be kept in the store chamber above in a 
 chest, from the bottom of which, a hopper or pipe 
 might descend to the stable, out of which, having a 
 stopper or fastening, the feeding measures might be 
 conveniently filled. Horses in superior stables stand 
 double haltered, one on each side of the head stall, 
 each passing through a ring at the extremity of the 
 manger, and secured by a clog of wood at the end 
 of the halter, For the groom's security, whilst dress- 
 ing the horse, there is a convenience in front above 
 the manger, for confining his head by the noseband ; 
 and on each post at the outer end of the stall, a 
 strap may be fixed, to which the headstall of the 
 bridle is buckled when it may be necessary to set 
 the horse upon his bit, his tail being towards the 
 manger. 
 
 SECTION XVII.— General stable Customs 
 
 and Duties. 
 
 The greediness whilst at their food, and the desire 
 of mastery, is well known to all those engaged in the 
 care of animals; thence, horses should never be fed 
 together without some guard in favour of the weak 
 or timid, or in low condition, or strangers, to the 
 intent that they may not be interrupted and driven 
 
THE HORSE. 101 
 
 from their food by their more powerful fellows, which 
 ever seem to take a selfish and malicious delight in 
 their mastery over such ; this consideration parti- 
 cularly applies to aged horses with worn out or young 
 ones, with imperfect mouths, with which mastication 
 is a business requiring more time, than with vigorous 
 horses, having full and good mouths ; the former are 
 not only harassed, being deprived of the comfort of 
 their meals, but their spirits are cowed and broken, 
 and their strength and ability for labour gradually 
 wasted : the care of a carter or home keeper looking 
 on, is but a poor security, as few fellows of that des- 
 cription are inclined to overfatigue their heads with 
 such humane and peculiar considerations; and in 
 reference even to the superior and meritorious few, 
 the task of any effectual defence of the weak is alto- 
 gether above their ability. 
 
 I recollect a horrible relative circumstance which 
 occurred during my residence, many years since, in 
 Hants. A gentleman farmer, who kept a fine stylish 
 team of horses, accidentally introduced one into his 
 stables of inferior size and description ; this so offended 
 the pride of his head carter, that he determined to 
 rid himself of the degrading incumbrance, which the 
 miscreant actually effected by putting the poor inferior 
 animal to the severest labour, and urging him on with 
 the severest torture of the whip ; in addition to which, 
 he constantly placed the poor affrighted victim at 
 feeding time, next to the master horse of the team, by 
 which he was bitten about the head and neck in a 
 most barbarous manner, his feeding prevented, and 
 his ability for the extra labour so cruelly imposed on 
 
102 THE HORSE. 
 
 him, daily decreased ; the miserable beast became 
 consumptive, glandered, and the hounds, his best 
 friends, ultimately ended his sorrows ; but the rascal 
 obtained his ends, and with impunity, although the 
 circumstance was known to the whole parish. The 
 only effective remedy in common cart stables where 
 expense is to be avoided, is the quarter stall, or 
 boarded partition reaching as far as the shoulders of 
 the horses, completely separating their heads. Every 
 considerate and experienced person will, I conceive, 
 agree with me, that no two labouring animals ought 
 to be fed together, or with their heads in reach of each 
 other, where it can be otherwise ordered. 
 
 The splendid coat and superior condition of the 
 English high kept horse, lie under no small obligation 
 to that ample carpet of clean straw on which he* 
 stands through the day, and to the full and comfort- 
 able bed of the same, on which he reposes and takes 
 his rest during the night. I have already spoken of 
 the happy failure of that mean and profitless attempt 
 made some years since, to introduce the custom of 
 compelling our horses to stand upon the bare stones. 
 I might have added, this penury is no novelty, since 
 it may be traced to remote antiquity, and its revival 
 was attempted in the reign of James I. by Morgan? 
 a writer of that day, and others ; and successfully 
 ridiculed and opposed by their contemporary Michael 
 Baret, whose eulogy I have written elsewhere. How- 
 ever, est modus in rebus, there is a due medium in all 
 things, thence the stable can claim no exemption. In 
 littering down a stallion particularly, very deep, such 
 an accident has occasionally occurred, as his taking 
 
THE HORSE, 103 
 
 up a straw into his sheath ; in this case, perhaps not 
 immediately observed, and the horse being unquiet 
 and fretful, the necessary remedial measures will be 
 difficult, and a degree of inflammation may ensue, 
 leading to dangerous consequences. 
 
 The nomenclature of the stable, I believe, has 
 not received any addition in our days; servants in 
 this capacity are styled grooms, stable boys, hostlers, 
 and horse keepers ; the two latter terms referring to 
 those employed where horses are let out on hire, to 
 inns, and to cart stables ; a teakettle groom is a func- 
 tionary well known to that numerous class, who keep 
 a horse upon the economical plan, without much soli- 
 citude as to its figure and condition ; this boy or man 
 also takes his share in domestic services, or perhaps is 
 employed by several masters to take care of their 
 horses. In grooms of this description, of course, 
 much nicety of stable attention is not to be expected, 
 which requires not only a specific knowledge of the 
 duty itself, but also a certain dexterity of hand to put 
 it in practice. Persons intrusting their horses to the 
 management of such grooms or horse keepers, after a 
 due attention to the grand point of feeding, will find 
 it another very important point, to have a constant 
 eye upon the legs and feet of their animals, that they 
 be left perfectly clean, dry, cool, and as smooth as the 
 nature of their skin and hair will admit ; and this 
 more particularly on the approach of winter. In this 
 part of their duty it is, where ordinary stable men are 
 most deficient, and should a horse be round and 
 fleshy legged, thence naturally disposed to grease and 
 scratches, a few days neglect may render him an ex- 
 
104 THE HORSE. 
 
 eellent winter patient to the farrier. To acquire a 
 decent knowledge of stable discipline and the adroit 
 and skilful use of the currycomb, the brush, the 
 w r hisp, and the scissars, a year or two, at least, is 
 necessary in a regular stable ; of such, the turf and 
 hunting stables stand at the head, and good grooming 
 is to be found in the upper class of livery stables in 
 the metropolis. 
 
 On the grand point noted above, the master's atten- 
 tion to the article of feeding, I can speak feelingly, 
 though from a remote period. I had a groom, 
 who, in a stable to himself, looked after two hacks, 
 when a neighbour, somewhat at the latest, gave me 
 information that my man had, during many months, 
 carried on a considerable trade with a Smithfield 
 jobber, the articles being my hay and corn. I took 
 this fellow before a magistrate, but contrived to de- 
 cline a prosecution, thinking it full enough to be 
 fleeced by these rascals in the first instance, without 
 being fleeced a second time by the law. Again, on 
 the legs and feet, I remember an old Newmarket man 
 saying to a young stable lad in London, " Take care 
 of your horse's legs and feet, his other parts will take 
 care of themselves." In the running stables, and 
 indeed in considerable hunts, a boy or lad is required 
 to every horse, all being under the inspection of the 
 head or training groom; but in the common way, a 
 groom will look after a couple of hunters or hacks. 
 There is little regularity generally in cart stables, but 
 the care of four horses is labour sufficient for one 
 diligent and able man. Of the discipline of military 
 stables, and of the riding school, I know nothing 
 
THE HORSE. 105 
 
 from experience. I have never played at soldiers 
 since my boyhood. 
 
 Clothing is unnecessary during the summer sea- 
 son to all descriptions, excepting the race horse ; yet 
 the custom has generally prevailed with respect to 
 the saddle and coach horse, excepting perhaps in the 
 extreme heats of the dog days ; it is, however, abso- 
 lutely necessary in all cold or chilly seasons, with horses 
 that are expected to exhibit condition. The usual 
 suit is a kersey sheet and quarter piece, or only a 
 sheet, girded with a broad roller ; this roller, our tea- 
 kettle grooms, in former days, were in the habit of 
 girting so tight, that the horse stood in constant pain, 
 with the sage purpose, in their phrase, of " getting up 
 his carcase ;" the evil of carrying such a one, grant- 
 ing it an evil, can only be safely remedied by dry 
 meat and regular exercise. Thanks to the common 
 sense of modern times, this, and scores of other most 
 ridiculous, barbarous, and useless knowing tricks, by 
 which, even more than by his labour, the life of this * 
 most useful animal was embittered, have happily 
 become, in a great measure, obsolete and forgotten in 
 our stables. 
 
 All coach and cart horses, whilst abroad upon duty 
 and standing still, during cold rains, fogs, or piercing 
 winds, should have a substantial dry covering thrown 
 over their loins ; and if in such weather they can be 
 kept from standing exposed to a current of chilling 
 air, for example, within or opposite to a gateway, it 
 may haply prevent a cold and running at the nose, 
 caught in one minute, which may require one month 
 
 f2 
 
106 THE HORSE. 
 
 to remove. The hood and breastplate complete the 
 suit above referred to ; but these last are only used in 
 sickness to horses generally in or out of the stable. 
 Hacks kept in high condition, and hunters, are mostly 
 exercised in their clothes ; but since they must be ex- 
 posed to the weather in actual service, it probably 
 lni^ht be full as well to accustom them to its vicissi- 
 tudes, by the grooms taking them out without cloth- 
 ing, since they are seldom exercised abroad in wet 
 weather. 
 
 Some horses, either from inferior breeding, consti- 
 tutional peculiarity, disease, or neglect, retain a rough 
 and lonor coat a considerable time after their intro- 
 duction into a good stable ; this troublesome eyesore 
 induced some enterprising and hasty gentleman in the 
 country, to revive the old and worthily forgotten 
 practice of clipping or burning the coats of these 
 hirsute animals, so taking time by the forelock. Here, 
 suppose the horse not naturally bristly, in sound 
 health, but only out of condition, good grooming and 
 keep will soon lay his coat smooth, without either 
 the trouble of barbering, or the after risk of catching 
 cold ; otherwise, should the eyesore arise from breed- 
 ing or disease, he may be sheared annually like another 
 sheep, but not quite to so beneficial a purpose ; this 
 farce in my time has been got up, and represented a 
 few times, and then damned. Twenty years hence, 
 some sporting wag may reintroduce it as a novelty. 
 
 It would be useless to be very particular as to the 
 manoeuvres or handiwork habitually observed in the 
 regular dressing of a horse, they differ very little, if 
 
THE HOUSE. 107 
 
 any, from those in fashion, in the days of our third 
 or fourth grandfathers, I remember, in early days, 
 ordering a smock frock, and giving a Newmarket lad 
 a guinea to initiate me ; but in good truth, I should 
 perform very awkwardly at this time of day. It is 
 not to be learned alphabetically, but practically in 
 the stable, and thus much may suffice — the groom, 
 currycomb and brush in hand, curries the nag all 
 over, from the ear roots to his knees and hocks, then 
 brushes, and uses the whisp and rubber to lay his 
 coat perfectly smooth. High bred, delicate, and fine 
 skinned horses are particularly ticklish and skittish 
 during this operation, and I have formerly adverted 
 to the music of the ratling chains in a Newmarket 
 stable during dressing time ; the boys had then a 
 vicious habit of teaching their horses to throw out 
 behind ; and I had once a very fair chance to have 
 left a certain stable without my head, at least, with 
 only a part of it. What I am about to say of currying 
 is certainly not addressed to regular and intelligent 
 grooms ; but in ordinary stables, the currycombs are 
 sometimes so sharp, and used with so heavy a hand 
 by stable Johnny Raws, that they become instruments 
 of torture instead of pleasure and gratification as they 
 ought ever to be, rendering it impossible for the 
 animal to endure it quietly; the hard headed and 
 insensible two legged brute in the mean time, seeking 
 to enforce absolute and quiet submission by repeti- 
 tions of the severest chastisement. The master's eye, 
 which, according to the old proverb, " makes the horse 
 fat," should also be directed to the currycombs with 
 which his horse is dressed. 
 
108 THE HOUSE. 
 
 SECTION XVIII. 
 
 The English stable food for saddle horses, con- 
 sists of meadow hay, oats white or black, and small or 
 horse beans ; the latter when used, in the proportion 
 of a pint or upwards to a peck of oats, or a handful 
 to a feed. Beans, a binding and strengthening food 
 are for extraordinary occasions, as to encourage mas- 
 tication, some horses swallowing their oats whole. 
 Neither new oats nor beans should be used, as they 
 loosen and scour the horse ; should it be necessary to 
 use such, they should be previously kiln dried. White 
 pease are occasionally substituted for beans, chiefly, 
 I believe, in the running stables. A small quantit 
 of the chaff of hay mixed in a feed of oats, is often 
 found useful. Short, plump, heavy oats, as free from 
 husk as they can be procured, and perfectly sweet, 
 are cheaper at the extra price, than the light and 
 ordinary samples ; three quarters of a peck of the one 
 will impart more strength to the horse, than a peck 
 of the other; that, suppose the keeper of a hack 
 allowed him but three quarters of good corn per day, 
 the nag would be more thankful to him for that allow- 
 ance, than for a peck of the light and chaffy, musty 
 and ordinary species. I incline to think that white 
 oats, as well as in price, are higher in value, than 
 black. I tried ground corn for cart horses during 
 several years, but could perceive no advantage from 
 it ; it can only be necessary for horses unable to mas- 
 ticate. 
 
 We find in books, particularly of the military class, 
 precise rules by the scale, for the quantity of hay to 
 
THE HORSE. 109 
 
 be allowed to a horse by day and by night; such 
 regulations may be necessary in the barracks, but 
 they are not worth the paper on which they are 
 written, in any other stables. The size, appetites, 
 digestive powers of horses, and the peculiar services 
 to w r hich they may be destined, differ so widely, that 
 no general rule in this respect can be established. 
 Corn lying in a small compass, but imparting the 
 chief nutriment, hay is given to fill up, to distend the 
 body of the horse, affording a different and inferior 
 species of nutriment ; the quantity required by each in- 
 dividual mustbe left to the experience of the groom, but 
 more to that of the master, if he be a horseman. The 
 only rule is to allow as much hay as a horse can eat 
 w r ith an appetite, granting no ill consequences to result. 
 Some horses, from a natural voraciousness, or from 
 complaints in the stomach, will be craving and eating 
 hay, night and day ; others will constantly pick and 
 pull it under their feet. In course, these must be 
 restricted in quantity, and have it frequently dis- 
 pensed. I have spoken of abolishing racks and 
 mangers, but it is not very apparent how we could 
 dispense with racks. Horses feed by night, and to 
 prevent waste, the mass of hay allowed them should 
 be as much as possible out of their reach, comeatable 
 only a mouthful at a time. Grooms are wonderfully 
 alarmed at horses eatino- their litter, an affair which 
 never disturbed me, since I never observed from it 
 any ill consequences ; but when a horse eats foul 
 litter (and I have known them eat the dung) it indi- 
 cates a bad state of the stomach, arising probably 
 
 from acid crudities, and a want of purging ; as to 
 
 v. 
 
110 
 
 THE HORSE. 
 
 straw, it is the common food of the horse in countries 
 and on soils, either not grassy like ours, or arid during 
 the summer from the solar heat. The coarser kinds 
 of hay are too filling and burdensome to the saddle 
 horse, which has to move quick, and must have no 
 impediment in the way of the active functions of his 
 lungs. But in the case of a horse that is washy, as 
 it is styled, and throws off his excrements too quickly, 
 a small quantity of clover, lucerne or melilot hay, 
 intermixed with the meadow, may be beneficial ; with 
 such horses, however, light work and short journeys 
 are most convenient. 
 
 I am not now so much among grooms as formerly, 
 but I remember that the old grooms, though so fond 
 of bub themselves, were dreadfully alarmed lest their 
 horses should be given to drinking; looking upon 
 them as full brothers in blood to sheep and rabbits, 
 and that water was at best, a necessary evil. Now 
 though I have had all sorts and descriptions of 
 horses, lame, blind, broken winded, glandered — I 
 never stinted a horse of his water in my life, yet never 
 experienced any ill consequences from such license. 
 To the general notion, that thick or broken winded 
 horses should be kept from drink, is to be attributed 
 their well known greediness of it ; and after all, per- 
 haps no horses have greater need of it ; excess in the 
 case is clearly another thing ; every one knows that 
 a horse in a state of heat and perspiration must not 
 be indulged with quantities of cold or of any water ; 
 the same rule holds previously to any great exertion ; 
 and should the animal be habitually too greedy of 
 drink, he should be restricted in quantity, and in- 
 
THE HORSE. Ill 
 
 dulged more often. Horses in the stable at hard meat 
 should be regularly watered twice a day, and if par- 
 ticularly greedy of drink, three times, the allowance 
 each time, being moderate. Every horseman is aware 
 of the preference due to soft water, and the ill effects 
 consequent on a change to hard water, more especially 
 to the race horse and hunter. The old grooms carried 
 the custom to excess, of exercising the horse imme- 
 diately after taking his water. Sudden quick motion 
 in that circumstance, must be painful, and may be 
 injurious to the animal ; a walk, or at most, a jog 
 trot, I judge to be preferable, since I always found it 
 sufficient. On watering in the stable in cold weather, 
 afterwards brushing or hard whisping is the proper 
 substitute for exercise. I have little doubt that stint- 
 ing from due quantities of water, horses naturally of 
 a retentive habit, and constantly high fed in the 
 stable, with dry and substantial provender, has often 
 proved the remote though unsuspected cause of those 
 violent and inflammatory cholics which have proved 
 fatal to such numbers. 
 
 Green food and roots in their season, make 
 part of the diet of the English stable, with every 
 description of the horse, from the racer to the cart 
 horse ; and their use forms an indispensable part of 
 our regular dietetic stable system. Green food, how- 
 ever, of every species, should be given as fresh cut 
 as possible, since, if stored or kept, it will absorb 
 moisture, heat, and become mouldy ; in which state, 
 instead of proving beneficial, it will gripe and scour 
 the animals, pall their appetites, and weaken their 
 stomachs ; lucerne, or fine meadow grass, are the 
 
112 THE HORSE. 
 
 proper soiling for the superior kinds of horses ; tares 
 are perhaps too succulent, and are supposed to ac- 
 celerate inordinately the process of sanguification, to 
 stuff the horse too much, which is required to move 
 with speed, impeding the free course of his wind. As 
 to the rule for dispensing this kind of food, its use 
 commencing in the spring, it may be continued once 
 a day, so long in the season as it can be procured 
 young, fresh, and good, and as it may appear to pro- 
 mote the condition of the horses, which during this 
 stable soiling, may be stinted of one feed of corn per 
 day, granting them not engaged in any severe duty. 
 All horses kept constantly in the stable should have 
 the benefit of this course, which relieves them from 
 that stuffing and confinement of the intestines to which 
 they are necessarily liable from the dry and binding 
 aliment which their labour and condition require. 
 
 Proceed we to the autumnal soiling, the prime 
 material of which is that noble root the carrot, 
 at once nutritive and cleansing, promotive of all the 
 secretions, and imparting a beautiful burnish to the 
 coat. Carrots contain no noxious juices necessary 
 to be evaporated or sweated away, but may be used 
 as soon as they are of perfect growth ; a feed, half a 
 peck to a peck, washed and sliced, being a substitute 
 for a feed of corn. Hunters, hacks, coach horses, 
 racers, out of training, in order to their well doing 
 and the credit of their proprietors, should all enjoy 
 the benefit of this stable act of parliament. Parsnips 
 are used in the same intent, but with more propriety 
 to the draught, than the saddle horse ; also the Ruta- 
 baga, the most substantial of turnips, and the mangel 
 
THE HORSE. ] 13 
 
 wurtzel, after its sweat. Peas or oats unthreshed, 
 cut fresh from the stack, as hay, are an excellent and 
 highly nutritious food for horses of all denominations, 
 particularly for brood mares giving suck. Horses 
 naturally hard-carcassed, and too slow in their di- 
 gestion, are much benefited and relieved by these 
 changes of diet, for which our fertile soil affords such 
 ample resources. In some cases of this kind, the 
 substitution of fine fragrant rowen, or cow-hay, during 
 a week or two, for the common hard hay of the stable, 
 will have a plainly perceptible and salutary effect. 
 I have occasionally used sweet sliced turnips in this 
 case, which are cooling and diuretic. 
 
 Slow draught horses, from their bulk, coarse- 
 ness, and the nature of their labour, which is restricted 
 to forceful not speedy exertion, require a dietetic regi- 
 men of a different kind from that necessary to saddle 
 horses, although the regimen of dressing and stable 
 attendance is, in degree, common to both, and to all. 
 The cart horse requires to be sufficiently well filled 
 with hay, more especially, by being amply racked up 
 with it by night, perhaps his most leisurely and best 
 feeding time. Supposing them good of their kind, 
 the coarser kinds of hay, clover, sainfoin, tare, lucerne, 
 and melilot, agree perfectly well with this species of 
 the horse. Their feeds of corn, or corn and beans, 
 are usually and properly mixed with cut chaff, or as 
 they phrase it, in Hants and Berks, hulls ; bran or 
 coarse pollard are also used with the corn and beans. 
 I fed my cart horses, which, on a certain occasion, 
 were put to the severest labour that can be endured 
 by the draught horse, with beans and chaff, during 
 
114 THE HORSE. 
 
 several years. In Norfolk, it has lately become the 
 practice among the farmers, to feed their horses on 
 barley instead of oats, as more economical, and ac- 
 cording to their experience, equally nutritive and 
 beneficial to the animals ; I believe they steep, or 
 malt the barley. With respect to horse corn, I have 
 said, because I have proved it on frequent experience 
 — the heaviest and best is the cheapest ; the analogy 
 holds with regard to hay, on which I cannot speak 
 more to the purpose than I have in another place. " I 
 shall make a single remark on the miserable, harsh, 
 and sapless garbage, on which farm horses, in some 
 places, are stuffed and blown out. Where from poverty 
 this cannot be avoided, it is but necessary evil, other- 
 wise it is pure deception in the guise of economy ; 
 for exclusive of the insalubrity of such food, and its 
 tendency to produce obstruction, broken wind, grease 
 from poverty of the blood, blindness, and a train of 
 kindred maladies, the cattle soon decline to half their 
 proper strength and utility, and hasten to a premature 
 old age. I know not how much, the rubbish here 
 alluded to may be improved by boiling and conti- 
 nental cookerv ; but I am convinced that no method 
 of dressing can impart to sapless haum that power 
 of nutrition which nature has denied it." — History of 
 the Horse. 
 
 The straw yard. It is the good custom of per- 
 sons who do not ride on horseback during the winter 
 season, more especially in the metropolis, to send 
 their hacks to straw yard ; a winter's run abroad also 
 is the last and best remedy for horses of all descrip- 
 tions, so far injured by labour, in their feet, joints, and 
 
THE HORSE. 115 
 
 sinews, as to be without the pale of stable remedy, 
 and with no other hope, than to be new made and 
 born again of their foster mother, the cool earth, and 
 through the bracing and consolidating influence of a 
 winter's atmosphere. But here, caveat doctor, for it 
 was too much the custom formerly, for persons to 
 advertise straw yards for wintering horses at a low 
 price, where they were so low kept and exposed to all 
 the inclemencies of the season, that in however good 
 condition when sent, they returned in the spring, 
 emaciated and in the state of doo-horses. This was 
 the case, a most shameful one indeed, with Bishop's 
 famous old trotting mare, which died in the stables 
 the day after her being taken up ; and I recollect an 
 action brought on the similar case of a pair of coach 
 horses, nearly starved to death in the same way. 
 Nothing can be more unthinking and cruel, than to 
 turn off a poor worked and disabled horse, accus- 
 tomed to warm stabling and solid meat, forcing him 
 to encounter starvation amid all the rigours of winter, 
 without shelter or comfort, more especially if aged 
 and with teeth not at all calculated for the mastica- 
 tion of straw; there are, however, always proper 
 places of this kind, within ten or twenty miles of 
 London, generally advertised, in which horses may be 
 safely confided, dependent on their owners' inspection 
 or necessary inquiries. 
 
 I always preferred parks as most, secure, and 
 where the supply of hay and grass is most certain * 
 and whilst I resided in Surrey, I have had horses 
 up from Bushey Park, after a winter's run, in good 
 flesh and with a sleek coat ; but I did not turn 
 
116 THE HORSE. 
 
 my horses off, whether for winter or summer, and 
 think no more about them till I wanted them home. 
 My plan was as follows, imprimis, I spoke properly 
 to the park-keeper, soliciting the honour of his ac- 
 quaintance for my horse or horses. In the next 
 place, a visit was paid them every month or six 
 weeks by myself or groom, in order to judge of 
 their condition, and particularly to inspect the state 
 of their feet, and to have recourse when needful to 
 the assistance of the neighbouring smith. Some 
 days previously to their being dismissed from the 
 stable, their clothes, if any, were taken off, and their 
 shoes, if old ; their feet pared so far as to promote 
 the future sound growth of the hoof, and light new 
 narrow-webbed shoes put upon them, somewhat 
 shorter than those to which the horses had been 
 accustomed in work. During many years, turning 
 off horses of almost every description, whether in 
 winter or summer, I do not recollect the occurrence of 
 a single accident, or of any thing but signal benefits 
 to the animals, and profit to myself. Since the trade 
 of horse stealing has become so general, and has met 
 with such notable encouragement from proprietors, 
 a park will no doubt be deemed the most secure 
 place, by that minority who are disinclined to join in 
 the general sentiment of apathy, and who are really 
 in earnest, on the score of shutting the stable door 
 before the horse be stolen. The terms at Osterley 
 Park at present, for wintering a horse, are two guineas 
 for six weeks, none being admitted for a less period. 
 A dry soil, at least a sufficient part of the land being 
 sound and dry, a comfortable and dry layer, whether 
 
THE HORSE. 117 
 
 in sheds or yards, affording a sufficient shelter from 
 the inclemencies of the season, are indispensable for 
 wintering the horse, or indeed any other animal. Corn 
 is, in course, an extra charge. 
 
 Formerly, observing in Middlesex, much long au- 
 tumnal grass unused and lying in waste, or for 
 manure, it occurred to me, that such lattermath, 
 clover, or lucerne, cut, and made into a stack with 
 oat straw, in alternate layers, might prove good 
 fodder for cattle and sheep after Christmas, when 
 that article is often so much in request. Many years 
 have since passed ; but I recollect an experiment on 
 a small scale, when it appeared to me probable, that 
 the straw absorbed the vegetables' juices, and was 
 thence rendered more nutritive. In consequence, I 
 proposed this plan in my books, from which it was 
 subsequently transferred into several other publica- 
 tions, without acknowledgment, and into the news- 
 papers ; but I have not yet seen or heard of any 
 experiments, which I would earnestly recommend. 
 Doctors differ on the comparative merits of oat and 
 barley straw. On the continent, and so far as I am 
 acquainted, in the Eastern parts of England, the 
 preference is given to oat straw ; in the western to 
 that of barley: I am on the eastern side of the 
 question. 
 
 I glanced above at the subject of horse steal- 
 ing ; but if, in 1796 (Philosophical and practical 
 Treatise on Horses, vol. i. p. 540), the numbers stolen 
 appeared to me extraordinary, what is to be said of the 
 enormity of the numbers stolen during the last seven 
 years ? Why, that stealing horses is one of the most 
 important branches of the general, notable, and ac- 
 
118 THE HORSE. 
 
 knowledged trade in felony. This is, however, not 
 the place for a discussion of the why and the where- 
 fore that such a profession should hold so distin- 
 guished a rank in our national system. Many years 
 previous to the above date, a near connection of mine 
 lost a cart stallion, of which no tidings could ever be 
 heard, notwithstanding the most immediate, perse- 
 vering, and extensive inquiries and researches. The 
 loss was rendered particularly grating on considera- 
 tion that the horse was reckoned the best and truest 
 puller in the vicinity, remarkably handsome for a 
 true Suffolk punch, and valued at a high price. I 
 lost a mare from off a common ; I well remember, at 
 this distance of time, seeino- her looking; over the gate 
 desirous of being taken in; that was procrastinated, 
 and I saw her no more. I thenceforth turned my 
 attention to the discovery of some plan of security in 
 this case, but with little satisfaction to myself as to 
 any prospect of success. Among other schemes it 
 occurred to me that it would, at least, put some diffi- 
 culty in the horse stealer's way, if a casehardened, 
 and file proof ring, lined with some soft material to 
 prevent chafing, bearing the owner's name and place 
 of abode, were locked upon the shank or pastern of 
 the animal when turned abroad. In or about the 
 year 1825, a certain smith, or manufacturer of Farn- 
 ham, exhibited a ring of this description, and adver- 
 tised it, in course, as his own plan. Nobody, how- 
 ever, within my knowledge, incurred the trouble of 
 the experiment, though several London smiths as- 
 sured me that it would not be very practicable to get 
 through a file proof ring. At any rate, a wooden 
 label upon the manes of horses, or the horns of cows, 
 
THE HORSE. 119 
 
 running upon common land, may have some conveni- 
 ence in case of their straying. In fine, to parody an 
 old parliamentary phrase, "the influence of horse- 
 stealing has increased, is increasing, and ought to be 
 diminished." I apprehend, however, our knowing 
 wags will have the laugh in both cases. And it is 
 really laughable to observe what immense pains men 
 will take in the second instance, who are so tardy 
 and averse to move a finger in the first; how they 
 will, when it shall have become too late, scour the 
 country, associate, threaten, reward ! But for one 
 countervailing reason I would adopt the principle of 
 Draco, and say, let it be solemnly announced from 
 the bench, no pardon for horse-stealers, and let it be 
 rigidly acted upon. Such vast numbers of horses and 
 cattle have been stolen, that it would well be worth 
 while to organize a night patrol, in many parts, and 
 to be active universally throughout the country in 
 clogging, with every possible difficulty, this most 
 flourishing trade. I formerly preached, and from 
 experience too, on the great use of bells and small 
 barking dogs in dwelling houses, but, as other 
 reverend preachers have spent their breath, so have 
 I shed my ink, in vain. 
 
 SECTION XX.— Exercise. 
 
 Not arguments, reminiscence only can be wanted on 
 on the necessity of exercise for the stabled horse ; more 
 especially the high fed, in order to remove bodily 
 obstructions, promote the secretions, and a due cir- 
 culation of the fluids. Air and exercise regard two 
 
120 THE HORSE. 
 
 material objects, preservation of the horse's health, 
 and putting him into a condition, enabling him in due 
 time, to undergo with vigour, and in a creditable 
 style, such exertions as may be required of him. 
 The species intended in this place are saddle and 
 coach horses; or indeed any, with the exception of 
 the sporting kind, racers and hunters, which demand 
 a more material and extensive consideration. For 
 those horses, of whatever description, which are en- 
 gaged in constant labour abroad, beyond all doubt, 
 that exercise is most salubrious and preservative 
 which they can give to themselves upon a comfort- 
 able and well-littered bed, not being made a fixture 
 to the manger, but having full liberty to change 
 their position, to turn, lie down, and roll, seeking the 
 best postures in which to assuage their aches and 
 pains ; to stretch their contracted, and to ease and 
 support their loosened sinews. For this desirable 
 end, the loose stall already described, formerly en- 
 titled by an old friend, the Laurentian stall, affords 
 the readiest opportunities. 
 
 To keep the horse in condition, there is much 
 pith and meaning in that word, he should be taken 
 out twice, or once a day, according to season and the 
 state of the weather. These airings should be daily 
 and regular, omitted only in those excesses of foul 
 weather, the exposure to which can be beneficial nei- 
 ther to man or beast. This tolerance, however, must 
 not go the length of excusing a groom who is afraid 
 of ruffling his horse's coat, or soiling his legs, from 
 the dread of a little additional trouble. The covered 
 rides in great stables, and those in livery stables, 
 
THE HORSE. 121 
 
 afford an important convenience during bad weather. 
 The exercise of horses in constant work, should never 
 be of the speedy or rattling kind ; their labour is, in 
 general, sufficient to wear out their legs and feet full 
 soon enough. Walking exercise alone, will keep a 
 horse in good condition ; beyond this, the slow trot, 
 the moderate journey-trot, and the canter, should not 
 be exceeded. The nag may be accustomed and 
 trained to that pace which is preferred and most used 
 by the master ; and a skilful groom may act the part 
 of a riding master, and improve a horse greatly in 
 his mouth, paces and habits. Many horses, good in 
 nature and really valuable, may have been rudely 
 and imperfectly broken. Such are apt to mix and 
 run their paces one into another, shuffling between 
 walk and trot, and between trot and canter. It is 
 the business of a good groom during exercise, to cor- 
 rect these errors of progression, and to accustom 
 the horse to change freely and easily from one pace 
 to the other. The vice of shying and starting also, 
 may be, to a considerable degree, remedied in exer- 
 cise. Should a man have two or three horses to look 
 after, by consequence he would not have much time 
 to spare ; but in any case, an hour is sufficient for 
 the airing, the chief part of which should be em- 
 ployed in the slow paces. Whether in morning, noon, 
 or a summer afternoon, high fed horses should be 
 taken out with empty stomachs. The high road is 
 the proper theatre of exercise for these horses ; but, 
 as in London, there may be sometimes a necessity 
 for exercising them upon the pavement, where the 
 pace should never exceed the slow trot. 
 
 G 
 
122 THE HORSE. 
 
 I dare not excuse myself from saying a few words 
 in behalf of the miserable victims of our public road 
 work, at the same time convinced by a disgustful, 
 discouraging experience of how little avail my remon- 
 strances or advice can possibly be. The poor foun- 
 dered and crippled post hack, or coach horse, whilst 
 unengaged and standing day after day, fastened to 
 the manger, in a miserable narrow stall, is, in an 
 especial manner in want of relief from the foul and 
 heated atmosphere of the stable, and also of liberty 
 and motion for his stiffened limbs. It is true that 
 the owners of these are convinced of the necessity of 
 such relief, since we are constantly seeing horses of 
 this description exercised upon the London pave- 
 ment, or . in miserable coachyards, every step 
 over the rough and uneven surface of which must 
 prove a renewed torture to the animals' crippled 
 joints and surbated hoofs. But what is still worse, 
 the hard headed, inconsiderate, and no-hearted owners 
 of these miserable beasts set up heavy fourteen or 
 fifteen stone fellows, equally considerate with them- 
 selves, to ride exercise ; or urchins of boys, bred in 
 the same school, whip or stick in hand, to abuse, 
 harass, and flurry the poor animals up and down, 
 sorely pained and wincing at every step. The indoor 
 exercise for cripples is, in course, the loose stable; 
 abroad, soft ground when at hand, the only pace a 
 walk, and if the horse must be ridden, a light weight ; 
 better still that he be led by the rider of another horse. 
 The country, however, affords opportunities for these 
 horses to air and exercise themselves, which is far the 
 most beneficial course. The following occurrence, as 
 
THE HORSE. 123 
 
 the reader will perceive, not one of the pleasing kind 
 to me, will be in place here : returning from the 
 cattle show, I met, in Gray's Inn Road, a powerful 
 fellow, apparently belonging to a livery stable, upon 
 a bay nag, trotting, which he checked with a powerful 
 curb and all his force repeatedly, at very quick inter- 
 vals, as though it were his purpose to break the ani- 
 mal's jawbone, at the same time ramming the spurs 
 into him with the utmost force, in similar repetitions. 
 The horse made no resistance, but trotted on quietly. 
 Now, in the name of common sense and rational 
 horsemanship, what could be the intent and purpose of 
 all this ? I am yet too young and inexperienced to 
 discover in it any probable or possible advantage. 
 
 SECTION XXL— Purchase. 
 
 To commence with the hackney. Every one knows 
 the resorts for buying and selling horses — fairs, repo- 
 sitories, and the stables of dealers. Few, moreover, 
 are ignorant of the considerable difficulty, notwith- 
 standing such vast numbers of horses are bred in this 
 country, of obtaining that which may be truly pro- 
 nounced a good, sound, and useful hack : the reason 
 of this, however, is sufficiently obvious. In the first 
 place, the number of ill-formed horses, calculated nei- 
 ther for use or beauty of figure, notwithstanding our 
 great advantages as a breeding country, seems out of 
 all fair proportion, and the early and excessive labour 
 to which we expose them, subjects them to such pre- 
 mature decay, that it is too often very difficult to 
 meet with a second-hand, or worked nag, in a tho- 
 roughly sound state, however young he may be. The 
 
124 THE HORSE. 
 
 immense and constant demand also for horses, 
 greatly diminishes the chance of finding a good 
 one, and with respect to those of high qualifica- 
 tions, they never abound, or fail to command a 
 high price. It is probable, that the saddlehorse of 
 fifty or sixty years since, was more useful than of 
 the present day, as having more substance, less 
 height, and shorter legs, yet with a good, and for 
 the road, sufficient mixture of racing blood. Per- 
 haps the first, and most important counsel to be given 
 in this case, is to advise, that no inexperienced person 
 attempt to purchase ahorse for himself; for there are 
 so many considerations involved in the act, and so 
 many difficulties of decision to be encountered, that 
 the most experienced horsemen often hesitate, and 
 not seldom, after a purchase, find themselves out- 
 witted by the mere nature of the case. A dealer of 
 first rate experience, and with every requisite for con- 
 ducting his business upon the most advantageous 
 terms, shall purchase and bring up a string of horses 
 from the country to the metropolis, and subsequently 
 find most of them greatly below his first expectation. 
 The safest course then for a buyer without experience, 
 is to engage a thorough judge of the kind of horse 
 in request, with a proper remuneration, if necessary. 
 As to buying a horse of a friend, an old jockey of 
 my acquaintance used to declare, that of all sellers 
 he would least choose a friend ; adding, that it was 
 too much to expect from any man the unaccount- 
 able honesty of crying stinking fish. The too gene- 
 ral neglect of this counsel has been the chief cause 
 of the many fatal accidents with which the public 
 
/ 
 
 THE HORSE. 125 
 
 press has teemed of late years. Vicious, restive, and 
 runaway horses have been uncommonly numerous, 
 and the greater number of accidents have arisen from 
 horses in harness. This has, in great measure, been 
 the result of defective breaking and training in the 
 horse, the supply of the vast demand in this country 
 perhaps not admitting of sufficient time for that pur- 
 pose. The defect is more materially perceived in re- 
 gard to horses for single harness, which are in com- 
 mon pushed off by the dealers as quiet, after having 
 perhaps been only two or three times driven. We 
 need not wonder at any sinister result to an inexpe- 
 rienced or even an experienced hand, with such 
 horses in a crowded metropolis, or the roads in its 
 vicinity. Nor is the riding or driving such, at all 
 just or fair towards the public, even if the parties 
 themselves have so slender a regard for their own lives 
 and limbs; which brings to recollection a lament- 
 able accident of the present year, the death of a well 
 known dealer, from riding in the environs of London, 
 a mare that was a notorious runaway. This person, 
 though a middle aged man, had doubtless the too 
 common forgetfulness of the dangers to which he 
 was exposing others. I have known in various in- 
 stances, confirmed runaways, biters, and kickers, in- 
 deed have possessed several of each kind, in which 
 the vice was constitutional, inherent, and incurable. 
 
 A buyer of horses, particularly if not quite aufait 
 at the critical business, should have in ready me- 
 mory and his mind's eye, a list of their possible and 
 too common defects, with a quick sense of the old 
 caveat emptor. Here then, I again present them to 
 
126 THE HORSE. 
 
 the reader from my old treatise, in the ancient slang 
 of the stables, not yet become obsolete with some 
 additions : 
 
 Abrupt setting on of the head. Cock- 
 throppled,or crest-reversed, the substance 
 of the neck being placed below. shoulders 
 of insufficient compass, depth and sub- 
 stance, or upright, instead of declining 
 
 TOWARDS THE WAIST, OR GROSS AND HEAVY. LeG- 
 
 giness, or too great length of leg. round 
 and fleshy legs. deficient muscular sub- 
 stance in the thighs and fore-arms, or those 
 too loaded with flesh. glrth too narrow 
 in proportion to the size of the horse. 
 Want of width and substance in the loins, 
 frequently with the appearance of a sink- 
 ing or cavity across the fillets. defici- 
 ency of width, or extension of the hinder 
 quarters; the hinder approaching nearer 
 to each other than the fore feet. want of 
 substance in the leg bones. crookedness in 
 the hocks and pastern joints, or sickle- 
 HAMMED. String halt, or catching up of the 
 hinder legs. going hammer and pincers to- 
 gether, or over-reaching. faulty position 
 of the feet, from crooked pastern joints, 
 the toe being either turned outward or 
 inward. Soft and delicate, white, or party 
 coloured, wrinkled, or broad and flat, 
 or deep ass-like hoofs, with narrow heels, 
 and deficient frogs. dead hair, sadness, 
 
 AND DULL EYES, THE itldkes OF IMPENDING ROT- 
 
the horse. 127 
 
 tenness. Fetid discharge from the nostrils. 
 Defective wind. 
 
 As a commentary on this text, the abrupt setting 
 on of the head may prevent the horse from reining 
 well, for which a curve at the extremity of the neck 
 is necessary, with the addition that abruptness de- 
 tracts from the line of beauty. The same with re- 
 gard to the cockthroppled in both respects. Deep, 
 declining, and as it is termed, counter-shoulders, are 
 materially promotive, if not absolutely necessary to 
 speedy progression; firm substance, muscular also, 
 in those parts, is of material consequence, as fleshy 
 grossness and heaviness, are a material defect. Nar- 
 row girth and legginess indicate weakness and liabi- 
 lity to the legs interfering. Weak and unsubstan- 
 tial loins need no comment, in reference to an animal 
 destined to bear burdens. Extent in the hinder 
 quarter is a very important point, not only for the 
 support of the loins, but as placing the feet suffici- 
 ently apart to prevent interfering, knocking, or the 
 speedy cut. It is an old and general rule, that a 
 horse can scarcely go too wide behind, or too close 
 before. Smallness of the bone below the knee, and 
 of the sinews, evince too much delicacy in those 
 parts, and inaptitude to endure the concussion of the 
 hard road, or to support a heavy weight ; and if, of 
 all other horses, it may be deemed of the least con- 
 sequence to the racer, there can be no doubt that 
 even to that class, a large and clean cannon bone, 
 with tough and prominent sinews, form an inesti- 
 mable qualification. Crookedness in the hocks and 
 
128 THE HORSE. 
 
 pastern joints, is an evidence of natural weakness in 
 those parts, inducing irregular action, by striking and 
 wounding the legs, on which sundry cautions have 
 been already given. Going hammer and pincers to- 
 gether, points to over-reaching, or the hinder toes 
 striking the fore heels, one of the most perilous de- 
 fects of the saddle horse, since it has so often hap- 
 pened, that from the hinder and foreshoes being inter- 
 locked, the horse has come down in a mode the most 
 probable to inflict the severest injury upon the 
 rider. String halt, or a convulsive qatching up of the 
 hinder legs, is not deemed a mark of unsoundness ; 
 but in excess is an unsightly defect, though gene- 
 rally of tough and good horses. The elder Tatter- 
 sall used to say, that he scarcely recollected a bad 
 string halted horse. The hoofs described as defective 
 are contrasted by the dark whole coloured, shining, 
 and tough-horned hoof, of appropriate size to the 
 size of the horse, neither deep nor flat, with a wide 
 and open heel, substantial bars, and dry, tough, 
 and sufficiently enlarged frogs. Splents, spavins, 
 
 RINGBONES, CAPPED HOCKS, QU1TTOR, AND 
 FALSE QUARTERS, AND CRACKS, CORNS, BRUISES, 
 
 or running thrushes, have been described in 
 the Section on the Les;s. It is needless to direct the 
 attention of a buyer to the eyes of a horse in the 
 first instance ; but he may be reminded of the occa- 
 sional hereditary and constitutional blindness of that 
 animal, of which there may be indications, the horse 
 being young, though his sight may not be yet mate- 
 rially affected. It is an ancient stable warrant, that 
 
THE HORSE. 129 
 
 the wall-eyed horse never becomes blind ; an instance 
 of which indeed has not hitherto come within my 
 observation. 
 
 Hereafter followeth the ceremony of inspection, 
 for the purpose of purchasing a horse. If from a 
 dealer, it is to the interest of the purchaser, as a 
 preliminary to bar figging or fundamental firing 
 with ginger ; the which, however it may render the 
 patient apparently active and showy, will likewise 
 contribute to hide defects from the buyer, as well as 
 to render the animal restless and skittish, and in an 
 improper state for a close and minute examination, 
 Thus it is safer to substitute — bar ginger for ware- 
 house ! The first should be a stable examination, 
 ever to be preceded indeed by the question, " Is 
 the horse quiet to go up to?" On this point, it may 
 not be amiss to observe, that there is a possible risk 
 of danger (I have experienced the reality) in walk- 
 ing along a stable gangway at the heels of strange 
 horses, some one of which, by ill-hap, may be a 
 kicker. This, naturally enough, leads to a kicking 
 comparison between the horse and the cow. The 
 horse salutes you with his heels thrown out straight- 
 forward behind ; the cow with one hoof directed late- 
 rally, or from her side, whence many a meal of milk 
 has perished which might have been saved, had 
 mother nature taught the cow to kick straight for- 
 ward, a tergOj like the horse. For the sequel, as to 
 the stable show, I make the following quotation from 
 the advice I gave many years since, to which I have 
 nothing of importance to add. 
 
 g2 
 
130 THE HORSE. 
 
 " Now for the accustomed ceremonial of examining 
 a horse in order to purchase. Having already been 
 made acquainted with the terms, and that the nag is 
 quiet to approach, giving him some gentle warning 
 with your voice, you go up to him in his stall, on the 
 near (left) side, and laying your hand on his forehand 
 (touching his height), you proceed from thence to 
 examine his eyes, mouth, and countenance ; still 
 holding his head, and turning your own to the right 
 about, you have a view of the curve of his neck, the 
 height of his forehand, the position of his shoulder, 
 and the substance of his forearm. Returning to his 
 forehand, you descend to his legs and feet, minutely 
 examining with your fingers, every part, from above, 
 below, withinside, and without. You will not forget 
 the virgin integrity of the knees, so much and so 
 justly in request : so difficult is this to repair, either 
 by nature or art, when once violated, that I am almost 
 tempted to add it as a fifth, to the four irrevocable 
 things, tempusyjuventus, verbum dictum, et virginitas* 
 
 " Being satisfied respecting his foretrain, your eye 
 and hand will glance over his back, girting place, 
 carcass and loins; thence proceeding to his hinder- 
 quarter, and the setting on of his tail. You will 
 judge how far he agrees in each and every respect 
 with those rules of proportion already laid down. — 
 The hinder legs and feet will demand a share of at- 
 tention, full as minute as the fore ones ; and I must 
 once again repeat my advice, that the inside or hollow 
 of the hock be not passed without due notice, as is 
 commonly the case ; since it often happens, that the 
 
THE HORSE. 131 
 
 injuries of hard labour are most apparent in those 
 parts. A survey of the other side of the horse, con- 
 cludes the stable examination. 
 
 " Suffer no person belonging to the seller to be 
 with you in the stall (unless you know and are well 
 satisfied with the dealer's character) during your 
 inspection, that the horse may not be rendered un- 
 quiet, either designedly, or at the mere presence of a 
 habitual tormentor. A short time since I had occa- 
 sion to examine a horse, for a friend, at the stable of 
 a considerable dealer; it was a very beautiful and 
 well shaped nag, but, as is commonly the hard fate 
 of such, he appeared to have done too much work. 
 The attendant, from a superabundant share of regard 
 to my safety, must needs hold the horse's head whilst 
 I examined his legs, still assuring me he was per- 
 fectly quiet ; nevertheless, every time I attempted to 
 feel below his knees, the horse started, and flew 
 about the stall in a strange manner, to the no small 
 risk of my toes and shins. Whilst I stood musing 
 and wondering what beside the devil could possibly 
 ail the animal, I discovered a short whip under the 
 arm of the jockey, with which he had, no doubt, 
 tickled the neck and chest of the horse, whenever I 
 stooped down with the intent of handling his legs. 
 I wished this adept good morning. 
 
 A good quiet stable survey is a material prelude, 
 the horse beino; under none of that excitement which 
 will probably have place in him when abroad upon 
 the show. Unless, indeed, he should have been pre- 
 viously subject to that most barbarous stable disci- 
 pline which I too often witnessed in days of yore, 
 
132 THE HORSE. 
 
 but which, I hope, does not in the present days, at 
 least, not in so great a degree or so usually, disgrace 
 the conduct of our dealers. I refer to the daily, too 
 probably almost hourly, attendance of a fellow with 
 a whip, who flogs and cuts the horses up and down 
 in their stalls, causing them to jump and fly about 
 as if mad, keeping them in such a constant state of 
 miserable apprehension, that they dread the approach 
 of any human being. The motive of this was to 
 render them active, ready, and lively on a show, and 
 to hide defects ; and, as an exaggeration of this mon- 
 strous barbarity, the unfortunate cripples had even 
 an additional share of this discipline, being whipped 
 and beat most cruelly for putting out, in order to 
 ease, a crippled limb. I vouch as an eye witness. 
 It was a constant practice at the repositories, with the 
 poor worn out machiners and post hacks, and I have 
 related, in my old treatise, the case of a beautiful 
 mare, so totally worn out, that every step she took 
 was obviously attended with acute torture, whipped, 
 and cut, and beat, and checked with the curb, with all 
 the force that a powerful ruffian could exert, whilst 
 the tears were dropping from her sightless eyes ! The 
 intervention of more than fifty years has not allayed 
 my suffering at this sight, which seemed not to attract 
 even the notice of any other, among numerous spec- 
 tators ; but I am not ashamed to acknowledge that, 
 whilst I now write, and at this distance of time, my heart 
 is agonized at the recollection ! This was some time 
 before the sale began, and the most disabled of the 
 horses were led out in order to receive the habitual 
 discipline. I ought not to omit that, however the fact 
 
THE HORSE. 133 
 
 may be, constant as my visits have been at TattersalFs, 
 I never witnessed such a practice at that repository nor 
 at the Horse Bazaar. I remember to have seen the 
 proprietor of a repository, from whom I had expected 
 better things, whip an animal in the above mode, 
 until it fell down upon the stones; fortunately, or 
 unfortunately, it was able to get upon its legs again. 
 Since writing the above I regret to say, on dis- 
 gusting experience, that I have been paying an un- 
 merited compliment to the humanity of the present 
 day. The barbarous and revolting custom above 
 stigmatized, I fear, prevails in as great, perhaps a 
 greater degree than ever, among the persons referred 
 to, from the greater number of victims. The miser- 
 able objects of our road work, worn down to the 
 very dregs of existence and ability for labour, aged, 
 lame, blind, racked and strained in every nerve and 
 every joint, and the more miserable and deplorable 
 the case, the greater and the more lancinating the 
 severity, are by common custom, previously to being 
 offered for sale, exposed to the utmost torture that 
 can be inflicted by the whip, whether by force or the 
 horrible ingenuity of applying it to those parts of 
 the animal most susceptible of acute feeling. Abuse 
 and irritation begin in the stable, and the wretched, 
 intimidated, and apprehensive animal led out, his 
 mouth checked and torn at intervals by a severe bit, 
 is then assailed by a powerful fellow, who gives the 
 discipline of the whip with his utmost force. If it 
 be possible to adduce any thing partaking more of 
 cruelty and absurdity than this, it is the inadvertence 
 and apathy of the public thereto ; and even the opi- 
 
134 THE HORSE. 
 
 nions of men of somewhat high pretension, who, being 
 apprised of the custom, very coolly view and descant 
 upon it as a measure which the interest of the seller 
 renders necessary. Let us, for a moment, take this 
 for granted — what follows ? It is an interest foully 
 obtained through the medium of injustice and cruelty. 
 A man has an undoubted property in his animal ,• on 
 the other hand, that animal, in foro consciefitia, in 
 sound morality, and, as it ought to be, in the eye of 
 the law, has an equally valid claim upon the justice 
 and compassion of his proprietor. That system of 
 laws in a state, which does not include the protection 
 of animals, however perfect in other respects, is, pro 
 tantOy defective and barbarous. 
 
 I recall the above momentary grant, on experience 
 probably as long as that of any man. The abuse 
 rests on a ground totally different from that of ne- 
 cessity, in fact, it is an abuse which no necessity of 
 the species pointed out can justify. Its only neces- 
 sity resides in a custom handed down to us from the 
 barbarians of former days, and is held fast as the 
 dear delight and gratification of those inconsiderate 
 mortals, who can derive pleasure from the wounded 
 feelings and miseries of animals, whether it be use- 
 lessly and wantonly torturing horses with whips and 
 goads, or baiting to a slow and lingering death, bulls 
 and badgers. I have seen boys engaged in a stable, 
 obviously at the command of the proprietors, and 
 apparently as at a most delightful amusement, 
 striking with sticks and whips, the most decrepit 
 and worn down of the horses about to be led out, in 
 their tenderest parts. Indeed, such is the pleasure, 
 
THE HORSE. 135 
 
 joined with an imaginary interest in this custom, 
 that it is no uncommon spectacle to see even sound 
 horses, full of high keep, and already in the highest 
 degree animated, exposed to this favourite discipline, 
 as though it were desirable and advantageous to 
 exhibit the animals stark, staring mad. No intelli- 
 gent reader will mistake me. I am not declaiming 
 against real use but its needless abuse. I have 
 bought and sold too many horses not to be well con- 
 vinced that they must necessarily be exhibited on 
 sale to the best advantage, and that this must be 
 effected by the aid of the whip, the flourish and very 
 moderate use of which will not only suffice, but even 
 in a superior degree to the usual tortures inflicted, 
 which at last deceive no one but those who inflict 
 them. This being no practicable object for legisla- 
 tive interference, is the proper theme of the moralist, 
 and is submitted to the j ustice and compassion of all 
 true lovers of the horse. 
 
 To return, the nag being led out will, first of all, 
 most probably be placed upon a rising ground, for 
 the purpose of showing his fore quarters to advan- 
 tage, which also affords the buyer an opportunity of 
 another examination in a good light. This also is 
 the place, particularly if the sun shine, for judging of 
 the eyes, the orbits of which should be of good size, 
 the balls full, and the coats transparent, free from all 
 specks or opaque clouds, which are generally the 
 forerunners of blindness. The horse is next trotted 
 in hand, or ridden, during which, the first look out 
 should be, whether he bend his knees sufficiently, 
 and goes clear of both hinder and fore legs ; whe- 
 
136 THE HORSE. 
 
 ther he goes wide enough behind, and whether his 
 feet stand straight. His reining too may be then 
 observed, and how he carries his head, which, if 
 thrust out, he will go heavy in hand. The mode in 
 which he is shod should be well observed, from the 
 knavish tricks which are occasionally played in that 
 respect, not to forget the exquisite barbarity known 
 to be practised by hellish miscreants upon a horse 
 lame of one foot, by driving a nail or peg into the 
 other, that, by the force of whip and spur, the horse 
 going alike with both, may momentarily assume the 
 appearance of soundness ! A second-hand horse, or 
 one which has been a considerable time in work, 
 may be warranted sound, but care should be used to 
 observe whether he knuckles with bent knees, or has 
 any other impending cause of unsoundness. Such 
 horses, beyond seven or eight years old, will gene- 
 rally appear stale and dingy in their coats, with 
 perhaps a mixture of grey hairs ; and a horse, low in 
 flesh and dull, with his coat dead, may be suspected 
 of rottenness. I once bought a mare in this state of 
 a noble Lord, which died rotten in three days after 
 the purchase, and was simpleton enough not to claim 
 a return of the purchase money. In course the 
 horse's mouth will be examined simultaneously with 
 his eyes. The naturally vicious horse will show it 
 in the leering and designing glances from his eyes, 
 not to be mistaken, and by laying back his ears ; the 
 kind and playful horse will also lay his ears, but with 
 indications from his eyes of a very opposite nature 
 to those of the former. It has been said of natural 
 vice or restiveness in the horse, however temporarily 
 
THE HORSE. 137 
 
 subdued, such submission ought never to be impli- 
 citly relied on, as a boon from nature and fortune in 
 this case ; on the other hand, a horse, which is by 
 nature kind and tractable, and has been duly edu- 
 cated, may be depended on throughout life, and a 
 case of accident will seldom by skittishness, never 
 from vice, have its ill consequences increased through 
 him. This point well merits the consideration of the 
 drivers in single harness, especially those who do 
 not profess to be crack ivhips. 
 
 » 
 
 SECTION XXII. 
 
 These various examinations of the intended bargain 
 may probably give satisfaction, as far as the judg- 
 ment of the eye can go, but there are yet very solid 
 allegations to be adduced against their being made 
 final ; and more especially, by a purchaser who has 
 not already i earned vert adeptus' in the noble science 
 of jockeyship. During the show he views the horse 
 under every circumstance of advantage to the seller, 
 ridden by one whose able hands and habitual use of 
 the spurs, do not fail to command the animal's im- 
 plicit obedience and the putting his best foot forward. 
 But a buyer, expecting to find the accomplishment 
 of all this under his own management of the horse, 
 may find himself unpleasantly deceived. A horse 
 may be cunningly and occasionally restive, as the 
 opportunity shall occur, and from the natural skill 
 that such a one has in the ability of the rider who 
 bestrides him. I have seen numerous instances of 
 this equine intuition. A horse shall go quietly with 
 a good rider, even if no particular traits of horseman- 
 
138 THE HORSE. 
 
 ship are discovered ; set up one of another descrip- 
 tion, particularly if fearful, and the cunning varlet, 
 though he proceed at first, will soon find a spot at 
 which to stop, or will refuse to go beyond a walk, on 
 correction making a full stop, bending his neck, 
 rejecting the government of the bit, sucking his 
 wind, and swelling out his body as if to burst the 
 girths. Nothing short of the discipline of the whip 
 and spurs, administered by a knowing and able hand, 
 can be remedial in this case ; nor is the attempt by a 
 rider of inferior description either efficacious or safe. 
 These remarks amount to as much as to say, let the 
 buyer claim the privilege of riding the horse several 
 miles on the common road, in his walk, trot, canter, 
 and gallop, and thence judge for himself whether, in 
 the first place, he may find those paces of the nag 
 agreeable, whether he ride pleasantly in hand, neither 
 bearing too hard on the bit, nor too lightly, with a 
 tender mouth and loose neck; whether he go safe 
 and carefully, without being timid or skittish and 
 ready to shy at every extraordinary object; but, of 
 all things, whether he trot steadily and well downhill, 
 naturally throwing his weight upon his haunches, 
 and bearing light on the rider's hand, one of the 
 highest qualifications of the saddle horse, since a 
 horse going in that compact form, on a declivity, is a 
 general indication of good shape, and of adaptation 
 to general use. It is a great objection to a hack 
 requiring either martingale or crupper. The wind 
 and condition of horses made up for sale, must not be 
 put to immediate and too severe tests ; and, if wanted 
 for hard work, should have sufficient preparation by 
 
 
THE HORSE. 139 
 
 moderate daily exercise and purging, if necessary. 
 On the topic of shying, it should be known and 
 remembered, that it is often the unavoidable conse- 
 quence of decaying and vacillating sight in aged, 
 and particularly worked horses, representing to them 
 objects at uncertain distances and in strange shapes. 
 Instead of rigour and correction, this defect, in the 
 poor, aged, and guiltless animal, should be met with 
 kind consideration and gentle government of the 
 hand ; the passion, whipping, spurring, and checking, 
 which I have so often seen used on these occasions, 
 by incurable thick skulled human, not humane, idiots, 
 only serve to produce additional fright and despera- 
 tion in the horse, and danger to the rider : another 
 instance, not of honourable mention, is the common 
 practice of these worthies to use all the above seve- 
 rities upon a horse which, shod with smooth iron, 
 unavoidably makes a false step on a pavement slip- 
 pery as glass ! The faltering also, and joint dropping 
 of crippled horses, should be treated with care and 
 compassion. 
 
 With respect to the signs of soundness in a horse's 
 wind, the best testimonies are a loud, bold, sonorous 
 cough, and the absence of short, quick, irregular 
 heavings of the flanks. I perfectly agree with an 
 old French writer, that we may judge correctly of 
 the state of a horse's wind by the motion of his 
 flanks, without hearing him cough ; but I cannot 
 join in his assertion that there are confirmed asth- 
 matic horses that do not cough, since I am not aware 
 that I ever knew one in such state which did not 
 frequently send forth a short husky cough in con- 
 
140 THE HORSE. 
 
 sequence of the disease. The loud or long cough, 
 a symptom of cold taken, or sore throat, is plainly- 
 distinguishable from the cough of broken or imper- 
 fect wind. There is yet a class of sound, but thick 
 winded horses, in which this defect, if such it be, 
 does not appear on a show, but in action, and when 
 first put into a speedy pace. But here lies the dif- 
 ference between them and the broken winded, their 
 wind mends gradually, and comes more freely on 
 continuance, whilst that of the latter becomes more 
 and more distressing to the animal as he proceeds. 
 This thickness of the strong and long winded is ob- 
 servable, even when he is in the highest condition. 
 The well known customary method of causing the 
 horse to cough is by compressing, between finger 
 and thumb the top of the trachea, or windpipe; 
 with some this will succeed instantly, and without 
 the use of any painful and dangerous violence ; others 
 I have seen with which the utmost force could not 
 prevail. The violence used by your hard and strong 
 fingered fellows in this case always occasions great 
 pain to the horse, and has sometimes been the cause 
 of dangerous inflammation, preventing the horse from 
 swallowing his food ; or it may ultimately produce 
 roaring by narrowing the circumference of the 
 pipe. This symptom, one of the worst and most 
 distressing of imperfect wind in the horse, is suffi- 
 ciently described in the first instance by the term. 
 The animal, in work, makes a roaring noise in the 
 expulsion of his wind. The mode of discovering 
 this, in use by dealers, is to give the horse a smart 
 stroke on the flank, which causes him, if a roarer, 
 
THE HORSE. 141 
 
 to emit that peculiar sound. This is usually over- 
 done, to the needless pain and alarm of the horse. 
 The cause of the malady is obstruction in the wind- 
 pipe, natural or acquired. When in a young and 
 unworked subject, sometimes, but rarely the case, it 
 may be presumed to originate in malconformation. 
 Roarers, and, indeed, all horses in which the wind is 
 materially affected, and crib-biters, are generally 
 lean and gaunt, seldom carrying much flesh. Crib- 
 biting is the habitual trick in the horse of laying hold 
 with his teeth of the manger, or a post, or any sub- 
 stance he can come at ; and, while nibbling, sucking 
 in the external air and inflating his lungs, his body 
 heaves and swells. The teeth, from this habit, are 
 sometimes broken and much injured. This is a se- 
 rious defect, the cause of which does not appear to 
 be hitherto satisfactorily ascertained ; it may, proba- 
 bly, indicate a morbid or imperfect state of the lungs ; 
 some have supposed it to arise from a depraved state 
 and heat of the stomach. A confirmed crib-biter 
 should not be accepted as sound. It being judged a 
 mere trick, or acquired habit in a young horse, pre- 
 vention is the obvious remedy. The horse should 
 never be fed from rack or manger until he has relin- 
 quished the practice. 
 
 Hacks of high qualification, whether for superior 
 form and ability to carry weight, speedy trotting, or 
 elegance and steadiness in their canter, command 
 high prices; and the advantage lies on their side, 
 who have either the judgment, or the good fortune 
 to get the start of the public, in discovering the 
 merits of such. The horse, to be able to carry a high 
 
142 THE HORSE. 
 
 weight, should have a good shoulder, wide and sub- 
 stantial loins, be well spread behind, and straight in 
 his pasterns, with ample muscular fore arms and 
 thighs, clean and great bone of the leg, and tough, 
 strong feet : a nag, indeed, otherwise strongly built, 
 might put twenty stone to extreme risk, especially 
 down hill, by striking one of his legs in a tender 
 part, or treading upon a flint. Fast trotting has 
 been stigmatized as ungentlemanly ; but trotting is a 
 natural and most useful pace of the horse, and supe- 
 riority, in whatever qualification, must have its value. 
 We have beside, and always had in this country, a 
 number of gentlemen horsemen attached to speed in 
 this pace, which after all, is certainly the best adapted 
 to the road, galloping over which, has a flying high- 
 wayman-like appearance. Trotters too, are generally 
 great performers on the road, particularly for a long 
 day, their travelling rate giving them such an advan- 
 tage over ordinary hacks ; but, unfortunate animals, 
 their high qualification is their great misfortune, 
 since generally falling into ignorant and barbarous 
 hands, their rapid action upon the hard road, and 
 even stone pavements, soon brings them to the state 
 of cripples for life. Certainly a horse may be im- 
 proved in his trot ; but with respect to the real fast 
 trotter, it seems in some sort a parallel case with the 
 speedy racer, as contradistinguished from the stout, 
 and I suppose, I may venture to say, succussor nas- 
 citur non Jit. 
 
 It cost me upwards of twenty years' solicitation and 
 botheration, both oral and scriptural, to induce our 
 trotting jockeys to set up racing weights, and make 
 
THE HORSE. 143 
 
 use of chosen level roads ; at length, I fortunately- 
 interested the attention of Robson the dealer, who 
 made the experiment in a match with his mare Phe- 
 nomena, setting up a feather from the training stables 
 at Smitham Bottom, and making choice of a proper 
 road ; the mare in Consequence, though not of the 
 first class for speed, performed upwards of eighteen 
 miles in one hour; this improvement of adopting 
 light weight, and the avoidance of hills and rough 
 roads, so destructive to the limbs, joints, and feet, of 
 the trotter, has since become the established custom 
 [in all regular trotting matches. To preserve a horse 
 of this description any length of time, in a state of 
 soundness, requires the utmost skill and care, par- 
 ticularly of the legs and feet, with the never failing 
 relief an annual run at grass. The true trot is per- 
 formed with a well bent knee, and a quick step; not 
 i however with a step so quick and short, that the 
 'horse seems to put his foot down precisely in the 
 same place whence he took it up ; far less must he 
 trot with a stride and an unbent knee, a mode of pro- 
 gression so much admired in Germany; as to trot- 
 ting, that form never comes to any thing. There is, 
 however, the variety of the running trotter ; some of 
 those have great speed, and will trot their course 
 through ; it is easier to name these, than to describe 
 their mode of going, they do not bend their knees so 
 much as the common and fair trotter, and appear to 
 run in our bipedal acceptation of the term. None of 
 our horses are now taught to amble, and natural 
 padders, of which I never knew but one, are no longer 
 heard of. Half a century past, the utmost speed for 
 
144 
 
 THE HORSE. 
 
 a single mile of our first rate trotters, with a high 
 weight, was about twenty to tweniy-five seconds less 
 than three minutes. An old Norfolk stallion trotted 
 over the common road, seventeen miles in about fifty- 
 eight minutes, carrying twelve stones or upwards. 
 Nearly, or about forty years since, Ogden's chesnut 
 mare, with upwards of ten stone, trotted on the 
 Herts road, thirty miles, in several minutes less than 
 two hours ; she had also first rate speed. In the 
 present spring 1829, two American trotters have 
 arrived, one of which, Ratler, with nine stone, trotted 
 ten miles over a level road, in about thirty-one minutes 
 and a half, the particulars of which match may be 
 found in the Sporting Magazine. The present price 
 of a good sound and fashionable five or six year old 
 hack, to carry fourteen stone, varies between five and 
 thirty and fourscore pounds; time has been when we 
 could purchase such, at from twenty to forty pounds. 
 
 SECTION XXIII. 
 
 Much care, and very laudably, seems in general to 
 be used in the selection of ladies' horses, and our 
 ladies appear to be sufficiently attentive to that 
 necessary accomplishment, equitation ; this is evi- 
 dent from the comparatively few accidents which 
 happen to females on horseback. For elegance, a 
 lady's pad should have a considerable show of blood, 
 and I think, should seldom exceed fifteen hands in 
 height ; the paces should not be rough ; and an easy 
 slow trot, the pace of health, is a valuable qualifica- 
 tion ; the canter is of the chief consequence, and that 
 
THE HORSE. 145 
 
 it be performed naturally and handsomely, the neck 
 gracefully curved, and the mouth having pleasant 
 and good feeling ; these are natural canterers, they 
 will last at it, taking to it, and on the proper signal 
 dropping into the trot or walk, without roughness, 
 boggling, or changing of legs. But the first and 
 grand consideration is going safely ; for a horse, defi- 
 cient in that respect, is perhaps always most liable 
 to fall in his canter. The most graceful canterers 
 may be observed to lead generally, with the off leg ; 
 but no doubt there is such an error, as a horse, both 
 in his canter and gallop, going with the wrong leg 
 first, to the considerable uneasiness of the rider ; this 
 is most felt upon worn and battered horses, which 
 change their legs to procure momentary ease. 
 
 Carriage horses. These are divided into coach 
 horses of the first class ; horses of inferior size for the 
 chariot, and a hunting-like kind of horses for the 
 curricle and the various kinds of carriages now in 
 use, and for single harness. Our horses also for 
 common road work, are of the last description, and 
 indeed our coach cattle, almost universally, have a 
 show, and many of them a considerable portion of 
 racing blood ; a measure of necessity from the pre- 
 vailing fashion, from the activity required, and from 
 the pace at which they are expected to travel. The 
 enormous and killing; rate, at which we of this coun- 
 try have been accustomed to travel, during the last 
 forty years upwards, such as no age or nation ever 
 before witnessed, has occasioned an annual destruc- 
 tion of horses, that the scarcity and high price of 
 fresh and sound ones is necessarily a matter of 
 
 h 
 
146 THE HORSE. 
 
 course ; a gentleman then, who wants a pair of first 
 hand and elegant horses for his carriage, must make 
 up his mind to allow an elegant price; in fact, to 
 search the country for horses of this description, to 
 find matches for them, to bring them to London, put 
 them into high condition, and make them steady in 
 harness, must, at a certainty, cost the dealer a consi- 
 derable sum both of money and time ; and having 
 succeeded, he is justly intituled to a profit in propor- 
 tion. It is said that gray, in the coach horse, is the 
 most expensive colour, and that fancy colours bear 
 an extra price ; purchasers who are not particular on 
 the score of show, may suit themselves, probably at 
 half the price, or even less, than must be paid for 
 first rate coach horses ; for example, with horses that 
 have been worked, but which are still sound enough 
 with care, to do good service, or by driving horses of 
 different colours ; the repositories and inferior dealers 
 have generally a supply of horses of this last des- 
 cription. 
 
 Coach horses should match well in height, in form, 
 and in colour ; they should step and pull well toge- 
 ther, and their trot should be as equal as possible, 
 since it has an awkward appearance with a pair of 
 horses, for one to gallop and the other trot. The 
 match of colour is surely of the least consequence, 
 and a good pair of horses should not be rejected for 
 a few shades of variation. Pairs of horses often take 
 a great attachment one to the other, causing them to 
 work pleasantly together, and much to the satisfac- 
 tion of the man who sits behind them, if one of con- 
 sider." tion, and of the right stamp ; these horses for 
 
THE HORSE. 147 
 
 private carriages are generally well broke and trained, 
 by no means the case, as has been said, with the 
 other kinds used for quick draught. With respect 
 to horses for single harness, the cause above stated 
 has long since exploded any difference between them 
 and the hackney, this last being indifferently used 
 for saddle or harness, as his substance may suit. 
 Many years ago, it was a very prevailing fashion to 
 drive mares, and in consequence, there was then 
 raised and selected a peculiar class of strong, short 
 legged, bold and high crested or well topped mares, 
 universally known as gig mares, which being gene- 
 rally sought after, commanded a good price ; Mr. 
 Aldridge, late of the repository in St. Martin's Lane, 
 will well remember these. They had their day ; and 
 it has since been decided by our knowing ones, that 
 the gelding is to be preferred to the mare, for his 
 superior steadiness in harness. Ponies for draught, 
 have greatly advanced in public estimation, and an 
 increasing number is annually procured in the Hio-h- 
 lands of Scotland and Wales, for that purpose and 
 for the saddle. The price, I suppose, of a sound five 
 year old poney, is between ten and twenty guineas ; 
 in former days, between five and ten. 
 
 It is an unwelcome subject to introduce, but justice 
 to the reader demands it, however little regard it may 
 experience from him. I refer to the perpetual recur- 
 rence of those accidents, too many of them fatal, 
 which blacken the columns of our newspapers ; the 
 great and constantly operating cause of this, is the 
 almost insatiable demand for quick draught horses, 
 rendering purchasers too eager and hasty in their 
 
148 THE HORSE. 
 
 choice, and occasioning a necessity for such a speedy 
 conversion of the saddle horse to draught, as is incon- 
 sistent with allowing a sufficient length of time for 
 his due qualification ; thus, a horse shall be put two 
 or three times in harness, under the management and 
 skill of those who are well able to effect a temporary 
 controul over him, and he is without further cere- 
 mony, warranted steady in harness. In too many 
 cases, and I can vouch from personal experience, the 
 more credible warrant would be, " well qualified to 
 break any man's neck, who is weary of it." To give 
 grave and formal advice in so plain a case, and where 
 the remedy is so obvious, certainly carries with it 
 something of the ludicrous ; nevertheless, they who 
 by their conduct appear to have need of such advice, 
 are equally exposed to the joke, as the sage adviser. 
 If they are themselves au fait, instead of trusting to 
 a mere show, and a common warrant, let them stand 
 their own guarantee, by driving their intended pur- 
 chase a sufficient number of miles upon the public 
 road, and through the streets, to ascertain how far 
 they can depend upon his temper and his steadiness 
 in harness ; with such a trial, an experienced hand 
 cannot be mistaken. 
 
 The marts for horses in the country, are fairs, 
 the stables of dealers, and repositories in the large 
 towns. London, however, is a universal mart, to 
 which recourse is had from the extremities of the 
 kingdom, for both the purchase and sale of horses, 
 of the highest and lowest description. The buyer of 
 a horse of the highest figure will search the London 
 markets for it ; and the seller of such a horse, will 
 
THE HORSE. 149 
 
 have the same recourse, fully persuaded, that he 
 must go to London, in order to obtain the top price. 
 London, moreover, is the great recourse of those 
 whose object lies with worked and low priced horses, 
 whether for labour, farm labour particularly, or turn- 
 ing to grass for improvement, and a market. This 
 speculation, in course, requires no ordinary share of 
 skill and experience, and it is probable, many of the 
 London dealers turn it to good account. These dealers 
 class very conveniently with the horses themselves, 
 the superiors, selling chiefly first-hand horses fresh 
 from the country, at prices high in proportion ; the 
 inferiors, divided into a variety of grades, dealing in 
 an inferior commodity, which they both purchase and 
 sell at the repositories, at the fairs in the vicinity of 
 the metropolis, and by advertisement at their own 
 stables. Advertisement of a horse is a common mode, 
 by which the proprietor seeks to get clear of an in- 
 cumbrance ; yet there are, doubtless, good bargains 
 to be picked up in London, that vast menagerie of 
 horses, answering every possible description, granting 
 two necessary qualifications in the aspirant, skill and 
 leisure. It should be noted by those who are ambi- 
 tious of possessing horses of high qualifications, that 
 there are generally to be found in London, dealers 
 who make it their business to look out for such. 
 
 Repositories are most useful and accommodating 
 places of meeting to buyers and sellers. It was per- 
 haps about the year 1740, or somewhat later, that 
 Beavor, supposed to have first introduced the plan of 
 sale in this mode, opened the horse repository in 
 
150 THE HORSE. 
 
 Little Saint Martin's Lane, London ; lie was suc- 
 ceeded by Aldridge, father of Mr. Aldridge, who has 
 within the last two or three years, retired, parting 
 with the concern to the present proprietor, Mr. Mor- 
 ris. Tattersall's repository at Hyde Park Corner, 
 was opened about the year 1760, by Mr. Tattersall, 
 who had previously resided at Worcester, and was 
 proprietor of the stallion, Young Traveller; he was 
 also engaged awhile in London, with Beavor. After 
 the then Duke of Cumberland's decease, his stud was 
 sold at Tattersall's in 1765. Old Tat, as he was in due 
 time familiarly called, was so fortunate at his very 
 outset, as to obtain the countenance and patronage of 
 persons of the highest distinction, who took an in- 
 terest in horses ; and that important advantage has 
 continued undiminished, to his successors of the pre- 
 sent day. I first knew old Mr. Tattersall in 1773, he 
 was a shrewd, assiduous, and observant man, pre- 
 cisely one of those qualified by nature to be faber 
 fortume, the maker of his own fortune; and he 
 achieved it, becoming the founder of an opulent and 
 respectable house. One of the best proofs that he 
 gave of that never failing presence of mind in cases of 
 meum et tuum, vulgarly called a man's knowing what 
 he is about, was the mode in which he covered him- 
 self, by laying hold on Highflyer, at Newmarket. 
 The City Repository in Barbican, now the pro- 
 perty of Mr. Dixon, is, I apprehend, next in point of 
 chronoloov, to that of Tattersall ; but whether or not 
 it originated with the former proprietor, Langhorne, I 
 am uninformed. There have been generally, within 
 
 
 
THE HORSE. 151 
 
 my remembrance, various minor establishments of 
 this kind in the metropolis, and such is the case at 
 present. 
 
 The Horse Bazaar in Kino; Street, Portman 
 Square, remarked for the novelty of the appellation, 
 and for the extent and splendour of the establish- 
 ment, was opened about eight years since. Having 
 detailed, somewhat at large, particulars of the inter- 
 nal state and management of this great concern, in 
 two numbers of the Sporting Magazine (July 1822, 
 and August 1824), I must refer the reader thither 
 (a reference indeed, of universal and popular noto- 
 riety) ; having nothing to add but the general opinion 
 of the now solid and permanent situation of the 
 Horse Bazaar. The repository in Gray's Inn Road 
 was opened in 1828, upon too large and expensive a 
 scale, certainly with respect to those spacious apart- 
 ments above stairs ; and with a most unaccountable 
 blunder, as to the purpose for which they were pro- 
 fessedly intended. A recent example ought to have 
 demonstrated to the speculators, the impossibility of 
 attracting to Gray's Inn Road, and of filling their 
 rooms with a company of that description of which 
 they dreamed ; otherwise, and granting there is yet 
 sufficient business for another repository in the me- 
 tropolis, the situation is not inconvenient, the stablino- 
 is excellent, and the scheme, commenced upon a 
 smaller scale, might have gradually succeeded. 
 
 Sale days at Tattersall's are Monday and Thurs- 
 day, the auction commencing with much regularity, 
 at twelve o'clock. At the Horse Bazaar, they sell 
 on Tuesday and Saturday, commencing at one o'clock. 
 
152 THE HORSE. 
 
 The repositories, generally, have fixed on different 
 days, so as not to interfere with each other. Although 
 horses of all kinds and carriages are to be found at 
 Tattersall's, it is peculiarly the chief mart for horses 
 of the highest description and price — racers, stallions, 
 brood mares, hunters, bred hackneys, and studs of 
 such species ; with dogs, and any animals appertain- 
 ing to the sporting class. Other cattle also of sup- 
 posed valuable breeds, British or foreign, are sent 
 thither for sale. There is a subscription room always 
 open on sale days, where the betters meet, and the 
 general business of the turf is transacted ; and where 
 the betting accounts are finally adjusted, after every 
 great meeting at Newmarket or elsewhere. The sub- 
 scription for this room is open to the public, at an 
 annual guinea. The Horse Bazaar seems to have 
 had the largest share of the lighter kind of horses 
 imported from the Continent, and also of Highland 
 ponies. It is the only repository where, beside car- 
 riages, sadlery, harness, and every kind of utensil or 
 necessary for the use of the horse, is ready for sale, 
 by hand. Dixon's, in Barbican, is the chief market 
 for horses out of coach work from the roads, and 
 many valuable bargains may be there found for coun- 
 try buyers; indeed, these horses are so numerous, 
 and so soon cast off, that most of the repositories ob- 
 tain a share. 
 
 Repositories are, beyond a doubt, the best adapted 
 to the disposal of horses of high qualification, and 
 for which great prices are expected. Such however, 
 to obtain their fair chance, should remain a sufficient 
 length of time at the repository, thoir own grooms 
 
THE HORSE. ] 53 
 
 attending them, the horses in the mean time beino- 
 advertised. There is a printed catalogue at every 
 sale of any consequence. Horses to be sold at the 
 hammer, should be sent on the morning preceding the 
 day of sale, or if necessary, stalls should be timely 
 secured for them : such as are accustomed to stand 
 clothed, should be sent in their clothes; and the 
 buyer of a horse which has been so treated, should 
 send clothing for him when taken away, or a cold 
 may be caught instantly, which will not be got rid of 
 with equal quickness. The seller warrants the sound- 
 ness of his horse or not, according to the nature of 
 the case ; and either fixes the price, or attends him- 
 self, or by deputy, to set the bargain going and keep 
 the ball up. Horses warranted in any respect, must 
 be returned in two days after the sale on alleoed 
 failure of the warranty. The days of payment for 
 horses sold are to be found in the counting house of 
 every repository. 
 
 With respect to a purchaser's chance at a reposi- 
 tory — he who has so exalted an opinion of his own 
 skill in horse-flesh, as to expect to drive a good bar- 
 gain extemporaneously, during the flourish of the 
 hammer, the crack of the whip, and the excited 
 action, airs, and graces of the nag, may find himself, 
 on the cool inspection and trial of the morrow, cured 
 of the conceit; the way to do the business to any 
 good or safe purpose, is to attend on the morning of 
 sale, sufficiently early to have time to look over the 
 whole stock, and to select any which may appear 
 suitable ; to order them out, and either ride, or seo 
 them ridden. The price being often fixed, and beino* 
 
 h2 
 
154 THE HORSE. 
 
 moderate, it may be as well to purchase at once, in 
 the case of a horse of good promise, and so avoid fur- 
 ther trouble, and the risk of the hammer. The follow- 
 ino- are the conditions of sale at the new repository, 
 Gray's Inn Road. A deposit of ten per cent, by the 
 purchaser on each lot if demanded, and the remainder 
 before delivery. The purchase money not being paid, 
 the deposit to be forfeited. Two shillings and six- 
 pence the charge on each horse or carriage, put up to 
 auction. Commission on the sales of horses and 
 carriages five per cent, on the amount. Standing for 
 four wheeled carriages, three shillings per week each, 
 for two wheeled, two shillings each. In bidding at 
 the hammer, the lowest advance ten shillings and 
 sixpence on sums under twenty guineas ; one guinea 
 under one hundred ; and five guineas above one hun- 
 dred. All risk of fire attaches to the owners of the 
 property, of whatever kind, sent for sale. The com- 
 mon charge for keep of the horses at repositories, is 
 half a crown per night ; duty on sale by auction, ten 
 pence in the pound, which duty is avoided, the horse 
 being sold by private contract. The commission on 
 sales at the Horse Bazaar, is two and a half per cent. 
 Smithfield is the well known common market 
 for horses of all descriptions, and for asses, which in 
 latter days, have much increased in use, indeed have 
 become animals of high fashion, whether for saddle 
 or (not quick) draught. Men who are troubled with 
 feelings and compunctious visitings, will find exer- 
 cise enough for them, whilst viewing the miserable 
 objects destined to slaughter, preceded by starvation 
 and all manner of cruelty and abuse, which are gene- 
 
THE HORSE. 155 
 
 rally to be found haltered to the rails in Smithrield. 
 For me, I have not during many years, dared to trust 
 myself in that epitome of hell, the horse market. 
 However, our Christian customs render such a place 
 necessary, indeed indispensable; the market is held 
 on Friday afternoon, for the lowest kinds of horses, 
 and some few sound cart horses of the inferior size 
 and price. This market, and the fairs, are certainly 
 the best places in which to get rid of low priced 
 horses, since the sales are unburdened with charges. 
 The superior and first rate slow draught horses, for 
 brewers' drays and the heaviest town work, must be 
 sought at the houses of the considerable dealers, 
 chiefly in the city ; or if foreign horses are preferred, 
 at the houses of those on the coast of Kent. 
 
 SECTION XXIV.— Warranty. 
 
 Considerable discrepancy prevailed in former 
 days, relative to horse warranty, on which subject, 
 at length, our notions have become more settled; 
 and if in a law case, at present, any material dif- 
 ficulties arise, they generally result from good hard 
 swearing, on one or both sides of the question. When 
 we read and hear of such vast consequence attached 
 to the sanctity of the oath, and reflect, look round 
 and see, what a wide field lies open before us. The 
 late Lord Mansfield ruled, that any price above ten 
 pounds, made a sound horse. But however good a 
 civilian, the noble Judge was certainly an unsound 
 jockey. I remember a rum conversation which took 
 place in court, between that Judge and a Bow-street 
 
156 THE HORSE. 
 
 runner, who, no disparagement to him, had himself 
 been a thief; he had apprehended a ci-devant brother, 
 and on his lordship's inquiries, as to the how and so 
 forth, he replied, " Vy, my Lord, I was up to his 
 gossip." " Up to his gossip ;" said the Judge, " I 
 do not understand you, what do you mean by that V 
 " Vy, my Lord, I was down upon him, I stagged 
 him." His lordship still appearing uninstructed, 
 " I'll tell you, my Lord," retorted the professional 
 man, " Ve make use of a little rum tongue, vich ve 
 call slang." On retiring from the court, full of the 
 achievement, he said to an old pal, — " But I queered 
 old full bottom though." 
 
 O ur present rules of warranty seem to be accord- 
 ing to the following tenour ; when a horse is simply 
 warranted sound, that does not extend either to his 
 qualifications or disposition; it merely guarantees, 
 that the animal at the time of sale, is neither lame, 
 blind, broken winded, or in any respect diseased, or 
 has any impending cause of unsoundness. Or a horse 
 may be warranted with a bar, in respect to some ac- 
 cidental defect or blemish which does not impede 
 soundness; for example, the loss of an eye, or the 
 string halt. The warranty of qualifications or temper,, 
 is thus stated — quiet to ride — free from vice — quiet 
 in harness : horses warranted in either of these points, 
 and proving deficient, are by common custom, re- 
 turned on the third day. Lord Loughborough held, 
 that it was not necessary that the horse had been so 
 returned, in order to recover. No doubt it may re- 
 quire a longer than the stipulated time, to detect 
 a latent unsoundness ; for example, a horse may have 
 
THE HORSE. 157 
 
 been rotten at the time of sale, proved after death by- 
 dissection, or have been incurably lame, and turned 
 off to grass, thence acquiring an apparent soundness, 
 which, nevertheless, will not endure any considerable 
 labour, or even, at any rare, continue beyond two or 
 three weeks. Such a fact proved in court, would 
 undoubtedly secure the plaintiff. As a defence 
 against possible foul play, horses may be sold on a 
 three days' warranty only. It is common enough for 
 an auctioneer to preface a sale in this way — " I am in- 
 structed by the proprietor, to say this horse is sound, 
 but to avoid trouble, he does not choose to warrant 
 him." The sellers of horses being notorious, as the 
 most honest and simple minded people in the world, 
 who could make any scruple on such a warranty ? I 
 have known the following manoeuvre pass success- 
 fully : A seller has said, " At twenty pounds, I will 
 warrant this horse sound ; but if you will take him 
 without warrant, you shall have him at fifteen." 
 
 Blemishes may or may not occasion unsoundness. 
 I would not accept a horse with a false quarter in his 
 hoof, as a sound one. Broken knees, and loss of hair 
 in the cutting places, do not impede a sound warrant ; 
 nor do windgalls, or bog spavins, the horse retaining 
 sound action; these, however, may have been re- 
 pressed by bandages and astringents immediately 
 previous to the sale, and a temporary apparent sound- 
 ness procured ; but they may reappear in a few miles' 
 riding, and if of long standing, will soon produce un- 
 soundness. Bone spavins always occasion lameness, 
 temporary or permanent; but a horse may have a 
 splent or exostosis, an excrescence on the leg bone r 
 
158 THE HORSE. 
 
 which not interfering with the joint, does not occasion 
 lameness. Sallenders and mallenders, cracked heels, 
 grease, running thrushes, all sufficiently visible, are 
 not decisive of unsoundness in a horse, but may have 
 arisen from neglect and want of good grooming ; the 
 coarseness, however, and roundness of the legs, are 
 indicative of a constitutional tendency to these mala- 
 dies ; and I have known horses, the legs of which 
 could, by no possibility, be kept whole within doors, 
 particularly if the horses were tied up in the stall. 
 
 The following judicial decisions deserve attention: 
 — The terms of warranty announced at a public sale, 
 are binding, as being known to purchasers ; but in 
 private sales, the warranty must be specific, not in 
 mere general terms or words of course ; it should be 
 expressed in the receipt for payment. The common 
 and general assertions respecting the horse's age, are 
 not included in warranty ; it is not usual to warrant 
 the age, but in that case, the warranty must be specific. 
 
 A chronic, or cough of long standing, discovered 
 subsequently to the sale, vitiates a sound warrant. 
 
 In the case of a roarer, defendant had a verdict 
 under the direction of Lord Ellenborough ; but his 
 lordship's distinctions do not savour much of expe- 
 rience. He talked of a horse contracting " a bad 
 habit" of roaring. It is probable, however, that such 
 defect cannot exist independent of a morbid cause, 
 or imperfect organization. 
 
 Crib-biting, Judge Burroughs held to be a mixed 
 question of law and fact. In an old and inveterate 
 case, it is an evidence of unsoundness ; not so when 
 incipient, and judged to be merely a habit and curable. 
 
THE HORSE. 159 
 
 The buyer might, in case of suspicious appearance, 
 have demanded warranty against crib-biting. Plain- 
 tiff nonsuited. 
 
 The old opinion (never indeed of general authority), 
 that a sound price made a sound horse, or that a 
 sound price was an implied warranty of soundness, 
 has long since been rejected in the law courts. 
 
 A wife cannot make bargain and sale of her hus- 
 band's horse. In this case the husband rescinded 
 the contract by an action at law and recovered the 
 horse. C. J. Abbott decided, that the proprietor, 
 having received the horse back improved in value, 
 was liable for the keep during the interim. 
 
 Breach of warranty is not an indictable offence, 
 the only remedy being an action at law; but if a 
 Conspiracy can be proved to defraud and cheat in 
 horse bargains, in the various modes of chanting or 
 swindling, the parties may be indicted. 
 
 To entitle the buyer to recover for the keep of an 
 unsound horse, he is bound to make a tender, or 
 offer to return the horse immediately on discovery of 
 the unsoundness ; for (Lord Mansfield) unless he has 
 previously made that tender he cannot recover for the 
 keep, though he may recover the purchase money. 
 
 SECTION XXV. — Equitation, male and female, 
 in plain old fashioned English, Riding on Horse- 
 back. 
 
 The nag being led out, saddled and bridled, let 
 every would-be horseman (for the real horseman does 
 this instinctively) apply to his own hands and eyes 
 
160 THE HORSE. 
 
 to ascertain that every part of the furniture has 
 been rightly placed, both for his own safety and the 
 comfort of the horse. First, of the bridle, that the 
 headstall be of proper length, neither too loose, nor 
 so short as to gall the horse's jaws; the curb-chain 
 hooked in its proper place, leaving the snaffle above 
 and clear; the fore top hair drawn under the band 
 of the bridle; the reins untwisted and even; if a 
 martingale be used, that it run immediately in the 
 centre of the horse's chest. 
 
 That the saddle sit perfectly even and centrical 
 on the horse's back, so placed, according to his form, 
 that his forehand and shoulders may be the boun- 
 dary of its advance forward, yet not so far forward 
 as to impede the motion of his shoulders ; that the 
 girths, buckled one over the other, be sufficiently 
 tight to retain the saddle firmly in its place, without 
 being drawn to that excess as to endanger a rupture 
 of the materials, beside being a source of pain and 
 inconvenience to the horse. The soundness of the 
 tackle generally is a matter of too much consequence 
 to be overlooked. It is but the work of a minute 
 to lift up a horse's feet, and to observe whether the 
 shoes be trustworthy for the occasion. Some readers 
 may probably sneer at these seemingly trifling cau- 
 tions, and demand what kind of groom a gentle- 
 man must have to set him off in a negligent and 
 slovenly manner ? Not to speak of tea-kettle grooms, 
 I can only say that I have witnessed enough of care- 
 lessness in the regulars, and it is scarcely a week 
 since that, passing the house of a man of rank, I saw 
 a young man on horseback leading his master's horse, 
 
THE HOESE. 161 
 
 the martingale of which was so placed that it was in 
 close contact with the inside of the horse's fore-arm, 
 which it must, consequently, chafe with its edge 
 every step the horse took, beside causing uneven 
 pulls with the reins. As to twisting bridle reins till 
 they will never again go even, and placing saddles 
 awry on horses' backs, until they acquire the knack 
 and will never afterwards quit it ; such slovenly 
 habits are much more common than needful. I have 
 already hinted at the disgrace to a modern horseman 
 of riding a cruppered horse, but he had better do that 
 than do worse ; now for the other extreme of a nag 
 lofty forward, with no middle piece. This last, if 
 washy, and pushed on, may chance to run through 
 his girths, leaving saddle and rider behind him, even 
 as his antagonist in form may gently cast both over 
 his head. The one then needs a posterior, the other 
 an anterior crupper; the last, a breastplate strapped 
 to the pommel of the saddle and the girths. Half a 
 century since we used to sport this, a white sash, in 
 Rotten Row, by way of flashing the slant of our hack- 
 ney's shoulder. 
 
 Mounting. The nag being led out and held, our 
 jockey that is to be, approaches the near (left) shoul- 
 der, and gathering up the reins between the fingers 
 in his left hand, the thumb upwards, at the same 
 time, weaving the fingers into the horse's mane, he 
 acquires a holdfast and purchase. The whip is held 
 with the reins, in the left hand. With his right 
 hand he then takes hold of the stirrup, the flat side 
 of the leather being placed towards him, and into the 
 stirrup inserts his left foot. Next placing his right 
 
162 THE HORSE. 
 
 hand on the cantle or afterpart of the saddle, and 
 making a moderate spring or vault, being cautious, 
 at the same time to keep his foot and spur clear of 
 the horse, he seats himself, and the left hand still 
 retaining hold of the mane, with the right he adjusts 
 the stirrup to that foot. Being seated at his ease, as 
 in a chair, and looking forward between the ears of 
 his horse, he will find himself in a square and even 
 position with the animal. The two forming a perfect 
 centaur. His next object is to adjust the reins, sup- 
 posing them the bridoon or snaffle, and curb, which 
 should be done by leaving the rein of the latter rather 
 slack, the chief pressure being upon the snaffle rein ; 
 the curb being reserved for occasional use, when a 
 more than ordinary command over the horse's mouth 
 may be needful, the curb rein may then be drawn with 
 the requisite force. The right foot being fixed in the 
 stirrup, the whip, its handle being upwards, is gently 
 withdrawn from the left to the right hand, and its 
 usual place is down behind the calf of the leg. As to 
 the seat, a man will sit upright, as in his chair, but in 
 the common, and more particularly the sporting seat 
 on horseback, the spine is bent in a small degree out- 
 ward, being directly contrary to the form in military 
 equitation, in which I am no professor. The stirrup 
 leathers should be of such length as to admit of the 
 knee being sufficiently bent to retain a firm hold of 
 the saddle, but not to that degree as to hoist the 
 rider much above it when he stands in his stirrups : 
 nor should they be so long as to exhibit him a straight- 
 kneed jockey, which detracts from his power on 
 horseback, and is dangerous in the respect of that 
 
THE HORSE. 163 
 
 pressure which has sometimes occasioned rupture in 
 the belly of the rider. The foot, for a road or sport- 
 ing, indeed the most secure seat, is placed home in 
 the stirrup, the toe rather elevated and turned some- 
 what outward; thence arises a centre and union of 
 force between the foot and the knee, the toe beinof 
 turned out and the knee inward pressing the saddle 
 which assures a firm seat, indeed is the very essence 
 and groundwork of the seat in the speedy trot and 
 gallop ; this, with the firm grasp of the thighs and 
 the hold on the bridle, assures the stability of the 
 seat on horseback. (In military riding the seat is 
 said to depend entirely on the equipoise, or balance, a 
 point of consequence, no doubt, but which, on trying 
 occasions, can only be maintained as above stated.) 
 It has been observed of bad horsemen that they can 
 scarcely keep their spurs from their horses' sides, but 
 such can never be the case with the above seat, in 
 which the greater difficulty is to reach the horse's 
 sides with the spurs. The act of spurring, contrary 
 to the military mode, is performed with a kick, the 
 toe being somewhat more turned out. 
 
 In dismounting, the left hand inclosing the 
 reins, resumes its former place in the horse's mane, 
 and the rider lands from the same side on which he 
 mounted, with his horse safe in hand. Particular 
 situations may render it necessary to mount on the 
 oif side. The convenience is considerable when a 
 horse will stand still, unheld at the head, to be 
 mounted; a point of obedience, however, to which 
 some spirited and impatient horses can scarcely be 
 reduced. When a horse is held for mounting it 
 
164 THE HORSE. 
 
 should be by the checks of the bridle, not the reins, 
 least of all by the curb rein. 
 
 Being mounted, the rider may find the stirrup 
 leathers too long or too short. In applying the 
 remedy the attendant should be careful to draw the 
 buckle of the stirrup leather to the top, and to leave 
 the pad of the saddle smooth and even. The arms 
 should hang easily down the waist, and, though the 
 elbows be bent, they must not be awkwardly elevated 
 or protruded. The bridle is held about level with, 
 or rather above the pommel of the saddle, at a length 
 somewhat beyond it, towards the rider. The reins 
 should not be held so Ions; and loose as to diminish 
 the rider's power of supporting the horse by a pull, 
 in case of a false step. Few are left now, I appre- 
 hend, of the school of Bake well, who taught that the 
 rider, being upon the horse, could afford him no pos- 
 sible support in case of stumbling, but that, by pull- 
 ing at him, would rather accelerate his fall. The 
 horse, well aware of the purpose for which he is 
 mounted, will, in general, proceed, on his head being 
 loosed ; if not, an intimation by the rider gently 
 moving the reins, or pressing the horse's sides with 
 the calves of his legs, will be sufficient. If a steady 
 and quiet hack, and on such only should a tyro be 
 mounted, he will commence with a walk, and, in all 
 probability, continue that pace till put forward by 
 his rider. Horses, indeed, full of good keep, high 
 spirited, and having had little work, will, at starting, 
 be impatient of a slow pace and cut a few capers, on 
 which the rider has nothing to do but to sit quiet 
 with a mild and steady hand, until his nag's merry 
 
•THE HORSE. 165 
 
 fit be over. The proper starting pace, the walk, 
 being continued at the rider's option, the intimations 
 above described, or a gentle touch on the horse's 
 buttock with the whip or stick, will cause him to ad- 
 vance to his next pace, the slow or jog-trot, the best 
 pace of the horse perhaps, to those who ride for their 
 health's sake, granting the motion be not too rouoh. 
 In the walk, the slow trot, and the canter or slow 
 gallop, the rider sits on his saddle as in his easy chair; 
 in the speedy trot he makes more use of his knees, 
 hitching, or his body rising and falling in unison with 
 the motion of the horse : in the swift gallop the rider 
 stands in his stirrups, chiefly depending on the grasp 
 of his knees and thighs. Formerly it was the prac- 
 tice to ride a galloper with stirrup leathers too short, 
 whence the seat was unsteady, and too much depend- 
 ence was placed for support on the reins. It is ob- 
 viously impossible to lay down a precise rule in this 
 case, The length at which to ride a racing pace, 
 whether trot or gallop, must be left to the judgment 
 and convenience of the rider, with the remark that, 
 of the extremes, riding too short is the worst. Rising 
 in the trot, and lifting and working the horse along 
 with the reins in the gallop by the jockey, are, no 
 doubt, practices purely English. 
 
 Beyond the slow trot the motion of few horses is 
 sufficiently smooth and easy to encourage the rider to 
 sit upon the saddle, nor is the appearance of such a 
 seat very seemly ; it is preferable then, if more speed in 
 the trot be desired, to advance to that degree in which 
 the rider may rise in his stirrups ; in order to perform 
 this easily and gracefully, the rate must be somewhat 
 
166 THE HORSE. 
 
 considerable, To put the horse into a canter, a touch 
 of the left heel and a gentle pull of the right rein, for 
 which the right hand may be used, is the proper 
 method. The canter is a natural pace, in which the 
 off or right foot takes the lead, though horses, when 
 they come to be worked, will lead indifferently with 
 either foot, and change from one to the other to 
 ease themselves, in either canter or gallop: and, 
 though the canter be a natural pace, which all foals, 
 whilst at large, are seen to practise, yet many, when 
 brought into use, seem to have forgotten it, or to- 
 practise it reluctantly and require to be accustomed 
 to it, in which case they should be used to lead na- 
 turally with the off foot. There are trotting hacks 
 and cantering hacks, that is to say, from inclination 
 or use; comparatively few of the latter willingly con- 
 tinue the pace to any great distance, and it is, per- 
 haps the most unsafe of all the paces, unless the nag 
 be very adroit at it and a naturally safe goer. In 
 the canter the horse should proceed in a straight 
 line, and not in the sideways or crab-canter, a habit 
 chiefly with battered hacks; after all, however, to 
 speak of seasoned horses, the mode of performing the 
 canter is better left to themselves, granting they per- 
 form it with ease and safety. A steady cantering 
 hack will start into that pace from the walk, either 
 habitually, or from a concerted signal between him- 
 self and his rider; my old signal was tapping the 
 horse's neck with the but end of the whip, and a 
 horse may be accustomed to drop from the canter 
 immediately into the walk ; but the trot is the most 
 natural and safe pace from which either to commence 
 or finish the canter. 
 
THE HORSE. 167 
 
 SECTION XXVI. 
 
 Upon the high road, and with a beginner, it would 
 be out of place to say much respecting the gallop ; 
 again, few English, or, indeed, European readers, 
 have need to be taught that the left is their right side 
 of the road, or the reason why it is so. It has been 
 observed that the curb ouo-ht to be reserved for occa- 
 sional use ; in course, that the curb alone and single 
 rein is an unfair bridle towards the horse and entirely 
 deceptious to the rider, since its first effect is to torture 
 and ultimately to harden the horse's mouth, depriving 
 it of all the fine sensibility, the basis of that which, 
 par excellence, we style a good mouth. The curb 
 beside, is an awkward bit wherewith to turn a horse, 
 it being calculated only for pulling straight forward. 
 It has also been before remarked that, in former 
 days, the snaffle was deemed the severest bit, no 
 doubt from its being made small and sharp; as all 
 things change for better or for worse, we have, during 
 a great length of time, and for the better, changed 
 the snaffle into a mild bit ; not but that the foUy yet 
 remains with ingenious bit makers and inconsiderate 
 horsemen, of using hard and sharp snaffles. A horse 
 is a hard puller, and you are devising all kinds of 
 tricks and schemes for severe bits, wherewith to hold 
 him, by which indeed you have your revenge, such 
 as it is, by fretting and punishing the animal, ren- 
 dering his mouth callous, and enabling him to pull 
 with an increased force. Young horses should be 
 first put to work with mild bits, and chiefly accus- 
 tomed to the snaffle, which will ensure a good mouth, 
 
 
168 THE HORSE. 
 
 sufficiently hard for fair pulling, yet with a due share 
 of sensibility and liability to be affected and acted 
 on by the occasional use of the curb. The snaffle 
 bit should be of considerable thickness, particularly 
 at the ends next to the reins, and not made so long 
 that the joint work into the bars of the horse's 
 mouth. In favour of sharp bits, and of this and that 
 man's cunning, and ingenious devices by way of re- 
 medy, it may be indolently observed, what a fatigue 
 it is to be encumbered with the weight upon your 
 hands of a horse's head, and peradventure of his fore- 
 quarters ; but should this be the result of insensibi- 
 lity in the mouth of the horse, lameness, fatigue, or 
 natural sluggishness, the remedy and the animal's 
 defect will very cordially shake hands and jog on 
 together. 
 
 The old attachment to " a good snaffle-bridle horse" 
 is a very rational one. Enthusiastically fond of the 
 horse from infancy, one of my greatest pleasures has 
 been derived from riding a horse with a good mouth. 
 Such a one as champs and takes pleasure in the bit, 
 and with jaws of such a temper and feeling as readily 
 to obey every motion of the hand, and yet sufficiently 
 hard to bear a good pull, and even delight in it. It 
 must not be the extreme delicacy of mouth, looseness 
 of neck, and general suppleness induced by a riding 
 school education ; these are all doubtless indispen- ; 
 sable for the airs and graces of the menage, and the 
 purposes of military parade; but they induce also a 
 fixedness of the joints, and an activity of a different 
 species to that which is required in speedy action and 
 for other occasions. Both horse and rider ought to 
 
THE HORSE. 169 
 
 be aware of the two different intents of a pull ; the 
 one to stop the horse, the other to keep him going, 
 or increase his speed ; this last, by consequence, must 
 be of less force than the former, merely sufficient to 
 give the horse support, and keep him steady in his 
 course. As to the length at which to hold the bridle, 
 it should not be much behind the pommel of the 
 saddle, as the rider would not then have sufficient 
 purchase in case of a false step by the horse, for 
 which an experienced horseman is always instinc- 
 tively prepared. In passing dangerous ways, and 
 descending steep and stony hills, the bridle hand 
 may very properly call in the aid of the right. In 
 turning a horse, the snaffle only should be pressed, 
 and the act. performed by the fingers and wrist, the 
 body of the rider remaining steady. There is an ad- 
 ditional convenience in the double-reined bridle, in a 
 case of a rein breaking. The martingale, a necessary 
 evil, is most safe when it runs through rings; that 
 which is fastened to the front of the saddle, or other- 
 wise fast, is dangerous in case of a false step. The 
 attempt to amend natural defects is seldom success- 
 ful ; and when dame Nature has commanded the 
 cock-throppled, or otherwise ill formed horse, to carry 
 his head so or so, she will be obeyed. We may in- 
 deed, punish the innocent victim, but can seldom 
 improve him. The case is very different when a 
 horse has acquired an ill habit of carrying his 
 head, or throwing it up, particularly in hot wea- 
 ther, then the martingale may have a legitimate use. 
 I have experienced great pleasure in riding true 
 snaffle-bridle horses, which being in high spirits and 
 
 i 
 
170 THE HORSE. 
 
 o-ood humour, would on a brisk trot now and then 
 stretch out the neck and immediately curve it, re- 
 turning the head and playing with the bit ; and I 
 remember a famous racer that had the same habit in 
 his exercise, to the great pleasure of the lad who rode 
 him. 
 
 On any critical occasion, whether of embarrass on 
 the way, or of unquietness in the horse, the reins may 
 be taken separate in each hand ; and it is much prac- 
 tised both in riding and driving. It obviously in- 
 creases the rider's power over the horse, and is useful 
 in case of starting or shying, or the attempt in the 
 animal to turn round, in plunging, kicking, or rear- 
 ing. In the latter case, common sense will inform 
 the rider that he must lean forward with slack 
 reins, or he may pull the horse over ; certainly one of 
 the most dangerous accidents among the many which 
 appertain to horsemanship; whilst leaning forward, 
 he should apply his spurs sharply to the horse's 
 sides, which punishment will cure the horse of this 
 vice, granting it be curable. In the opposite habit 
 of kicking out behind, which some performers have 
 the knack of doing very high and hard, with jerks 
 not over comfortable to the rider's back bone, the 
 precisely opposite course is dictated, in order to avoid 
 a somerset over the horse's shoulders. The rule now 
 is, sit back, sit fast, pull hard, holding the horse's 
 head as high as possible, and spur with all your 
 force at every interval of kicking ; and finding the 
 opportunity, use your whip effectually on the thigh, 
 the belly, and, if necessary, on the jaws of the brute. 
 In a confirmed case of vice, nothing short of intimi- 
 
THE HORSE. 171 
 
 dation and absolute conquest will succeed. Such 
 severity indeed, instead of a cure, may sometimes 
 produce desperation ; and when patience and mild 
 measures will succeed, they are infinitely preferable. 
 The vicious horse has various modes of showing it ; 
 but I think the most dangerous of any that I have 
 had the good fortune to be associated with, have 
 been from those which will stop short on the way, 
 hold the head down almost immovably, ' and suck 
 in the wind,' as it is termed, to the swelling out of 
 their bodies as if intending to burst the girths. I 
 have frequently been under the expectation, that an 
 actor in this way, meditated to lie down and roll 
 over me. Among some very bad bargains which in 
 th§ dear season I bought for a friend in the North, 
 at the London Repositories, was a mare warranted 
 * quiet to ride, and quiet in harness.' She proved 
 the worst of the above description that I have known ; 
 and two or three of perhaps as experienced and able 
 men as any in the metropolis, could not put her into 
 harness. Nevertheless the warranty was forfeited, 
 I could get no return of the money without a law- 
 suit, for which I was unwilling to exchange even a 
 restive horse. 
 
 The Irishman of old, being ridiculed for suffering 
 his horse to run away with him, retorted, " And, 
 by Jasus ! how would I be able to stop him, when I 
 had no spurs?" There is, however, a better than an 
 Irish reason for wearing spurs. A restive horse 
 would once have gone down a cellar with me, but 
 for my spur on the cellarside ; and, in the case 
 of being placed between two objects, one of which 
 
172 THE HORSE. 
 
 alarms the horse, and the other dangerous for him to 
 come in contact with ; the spur on the dangerous 
 side is of unspeakable use, as the rider's chief de- 
 pendance in aid of his hand, to keep the horse in his 
 safe and proper place. This is, indeed, a critical il- 
 lustration of medio tiitissimus ibis. A man of right 
 feelino- and reflection will endeavour to render his 
 horse's labour as little irksome, and as comfortable 
 to him as may be, and will thence give the nag his 
 rein, and bear as lightly on his mouth as possible ; 
 consistently, however, with having such a hold upon 
 him as may be necessary on any emergency ; and if, 
 as with holding the reins sufficiently short, I have 
 laid much stress on the fixedness and grasp on horse- 
 back, I intended that grasp, like the curb of the 
 bridle, for occasional use; but by no means that the 
 rider should be a mere fixture, as though nailed 
 to his saddle, with a backbone like a hedgestake. 
 On the contrary, he should learn to sit at his ease, 
 pliable to the motions of the horse, and in full pos- 
 session of that equipoise, so much the boast of the 
 schools. I have already treated of starting and shy- 
 ins:. When they obviously arise from real apprehen- 
 sion, patience and forbearance are the only remedies ; 
 passion and punishment among the numerous proofs 
 of human outdoor insanity. A horse certainly must 
 be forced to pass the object at which he shies; but 
 the practice of too many horsemen is worse than time 
 and pains thrown away, when with the utmost seve- 
 rity they force the horse close up to the thing which 
 has alarmed him. It is far better to go on with him, 
 hold firm in hand, to scold him, and suffer him to 
 
THE HORSE. 173 
 
 deviate as little as possible from the road. This 
 practice persevered in will, in time, awaken the ani- 
 mal's common sense, and put to sleep his apprehen- 
 sions. On all occasions, great severity should be 
 reserved for vice and roguery. Horses free from vice 
 are ever most easily and profitably managed by mild 
 and considerate treatment ; and many have I known 
 of such docile, kind, and accommodating disposi- 
 tions, that it is one of the deadly sins to treat them 
 otherwise. Par exemple, a few years since, I had 
 occasion to go to Smitham Bottom, to see a colt be- 
 lonoing- to an absent Irish friend, tried two miles. I 
 had a hack from Sex's livery stables, precisely one of 
 the above kind description, apparently desirous of 
 pleasing his rider in all things. We were jogging 
 on at the rate of seven or eight miles per hour, when 
 the horse gently slackened his pace and then stopped, 
 without any intimation from me, saying as well as he 
 could, " Oh ! you have dropped something." In 
 effect, I had dropped my whip, and dismounting, the 
 nag turned his head, to see me recover that which I 
 had dropped. When he found me remounted, away 
 he went, as cheerfully as possible, and seemingly 
 with self-approbation at having acted right. I have, 
 in my day, had the pleasure of forming sundry in- 
 timate acquaintances with horses of this description ; 
 with one beyond all others. It is not the whole of 
 their duty for masters themselves to learn and prac- 
 tise rational, mild and fair treatment, towards their 
 animals ; it is a material branch of that duty to instruct 
 their servants, and to ascertain how far their instruc- 
 tions are obeyed. Horses, and the domestic animals 
 
174 THE HORSE. 
 
 generally, suffer numberless cruel inflictions from ig- 
 norant, unfeeling, and profligate servants ; and espe- 
 cially, in the case of the animals not understanding 
 that which is required of them, or for doing this or 
 that, which they could not be aware was forbidden. 
 
 SECTION XXVII. 
 
 The following detached quotations are from my 
 " History of the Horse," commencing at page 
 189. 
 
 " The general objects of the modern menage, are 
 to unite, truss, or knit the body of the horse, binding 
 his haunches more under him, to give him a graceful 
 and lofty action ; a mouth of the highest delicacy, in 
 order to secure that appui, or reciprocity of feeling 
 between it and the rider's hand, and to teach him 
 movement in every direction, with certain feats of 
 vaulting, for the technical names of which, I must 
 refer to professional books. In few words, to edu- 
 cate the horse in this way, is literally to teach him to 
 dance and to caper ; formerly, for aught I know, also 
 at present, horses on the Continent were accustomed 
 to dance the saraband, and to perform the capriole, 
 that is, to caper like a goat, as the term implies. 
 There is, however, a view of utility, as well as amuse- 
 ment in these feats ; since to be able to sit scientific- 
 ally and securely upon the horse, while he performs 
 them, is the great test of complete horsemanship. 
 
 " Nothing can be more obvious than that the 
 menage is chiefly ornamental ; and that the tho- 
 roughly dressed horse is rather an object of luxu- 
 
THE HORSE. 175 
 
 rious parade than of real utility ; even allowing, that 
 by this extensive education, all the bodily and mental 
 powers of the animal are elicited and displayed : but 
 it is far otherwise with the petit, or inferior menage, 
 which consists of all that is useful in the other ; tit- 
 ting the horse for the ranks, and for every purpose of 
 military service. This useful part of the system is 
 also applicable to other services ; in how great a de- 
 gree it is beneficially so, will be by and by con- 
 sidered. 
 
 " The practice of the old school necessarily partook 
 of the ignorance and barbarity of the times ; and the 
 most absurd and useless trespasses were made upon 
 the animal feelings. Over and above the gags and 
 tortures of the mouth, the legs of the horse were often 
 confined in trammels ; in which state he was driven 
 on by sharp goads, that he might acquire a crippled 
 and unnatural pace ! Heavy shoes were fixed upon 
 his hinder feet, and even sacks of sand upon his loins, 
 in order to keep down the hinder parts of the horse. 
 To these were added, pasterns of lead and shoes of 
 advantage, which last with their plates, beside the 
 constant torture they occasioned, often crippled the 
 horse for life, by strains in the stifle or lower joints. 
 In the modern English school, all unfair and unna 
 tural methods of subduing; the horse are, or ou^ht to 
 be, totally discarded, and his education to be com- 
 menced and completed by legitimate and uninjurious 
 implements; by wholesome restraint, moderate cor- 
 rection, and rational appeals to his natural docility. 
 
 "The body (according to Adams on Horsemanship), 
 must always be in a situation, not only to preserve 
 the balance, but maintain the seat. The distinction 
 
176 THE HORSE. 
 
 between the balance and the seat mav be thus marked. 
 The balance is the centrical or equilibrium position of 
 the body, whatever may be the motion of the horse. 
 The seat is the horseman's firm hold of the saddle, 
 when he is liable to be thrown over the horse's neck, 
 or to fall backward over his tail. 
 
 " To preserve the balance, it is evident the body 
 of the rider must keep in the same direction as the 
 horse's legs ; e. g. if the horse work straight and up- 
 right on his legs, the rider's body must be in the 
 same upright direction ; but when the horse bends 
 or leans, as when working on a circle, or trotting 
 round a corner, the rider must lean in the same di- 
 rection or proportion, or his balance will be lost. 
 The balance, indeed, may be preserved by a different 
 seat ; but the seat will not be secure. 
 
 " The hand — (Adams continued) : If the hand 
 be held steady as the horse advances in the trot, the 
 fingers will feel by the contraction and dilatation of 
 the reins, a small sensation or tug, occasioned by the 
 measure or cadence of every step. This, which is 
 reciprocally felt in the horse's mouth, by means of 
 the correspondence, is called the appui ; and while 
 the appui is preserved between the hand and the 
 mouth, the horse is in perfect obedience to the rider, 
 the hand directing him with the greatest ease, so 
 that the horse seems to work by the will of the rider, 
 rather than the compulsion of the hand. The hand 
 thus possesses a considerable power, independently 
 of other aids and assistances, more than sufficient to 
 controul and direct a horse that is broke and obedient. 
 
 " I return to Berenger, for a few practical ob- 
 servations on the functions of the hand. Hold your 
 
 
THE HORSE. 177 
 
 hand three fingers breadth from your body, as high 
 as your elbow, in such manner that the joint of your 
 little finger be upon a right line with the tip of the 
 elbow; let your wrist be sufficiently rounded, that 
 your knuckles may be kept directly above the neck 
 of the horse ,* let your nails be exactly opposite your 
 body, the little finger nearer to it than the others ; 
 your thumb quite flat upon the reins, which you 
 must separate by putting your little finger between 
 them, the right rein lying upon it : this is the first 
 and general position. 
 
 " Does your horse go forward ; or rather, would 
 you have him go forward ? yield to him your hand, 
 and for that purpose, turn your nails downward in 
 such manner as to bring your thumb near your body * 
 remove your little finger from it, and bring it into the 
 place where your knuckles were in the first position ; 
 keeping your nails directly above your horse's neck : 
 this is the second position. 
 
 " Would you make your horse go backward ? quit 
 the first position ; let your wrist be quite round ; let 
 your thumb be in the place of the little finger in the 
 second position, and the little finger in that of the 
 thumb; turn your nails quite upward, and towards 
 your face, and your knuckles will be towards your 
 horse's neck : this is the third position. 
 
 " Would you turn your horse to the right ? leave 
 the first position, carry your nails to the right, turn- 
 ing your hand upside down, in such manner that 
 your thumb be carried out to the left, and the little 
 finger brought unto the right : this is the fourth 
 position. 
 
 i 2 
 
178 THE HOUSE. 
 
 " Lastly, would you turn to the left ? quit again 
 the first position; carry the back of your hand a 
 little to the left, so that the knuckles may come un- 
 der a little, that your thumb may incline to the right 
 and the little finger to the left : this makes the fifth 
 position. These different positions, however, alone 
 are insufficient, unless the horseman be able to pass 
 from one to another with readiness and order." — 
 Thus far, Beringer. 
 
 " With respect to a comparison of the menage, or 
 in the old style, riding the great horse, with the En- 
 glish method, my sentiments published some years 
 since, have sustained no alteration. The grand me- 
 nage is an antique and cumbrous superfluity, which 
 ought to be laid aside, Or exhibited or\ly in a depo- 
 sitory of heavy carriages and heavy starched apparel. 
 Beringer says, It is impossible to find a universal 
 horse, or one excelling in all the numerous actions of 
 the school. For, to complete the full dressed horse, 
 requires no inconsiderable portion of his life, and the 
 severity of action in those ingenious and showy, rather 
 than useful feats, which he is taught to perform, con- 
 stantly exposes him to the risk of dangerous strains 
 in his reins and hinder quarters. Indeed no labour 
 of the horse can be so severe and distressing as his 
 full lesson in the school, of circling, sideling, advanc- 
 ing, retreating, vaulting, kicking, rearing, and the re- 
 sidue of those exhausting feats, in which he rivals his 
 fellow performer on the stage, who leaps, vaults, 
 tumbles and dances upon the slack rope. 
 
 "The late Charles Hughes, and other riding mas- 
 ters, have acknowledged, that a thoroughly managed 
 
THE HORSE. 179 
 
 horse is spoiled for other purposes ; and Adams con- 
 fesses, that the managed style of riding is unsuitable 
 to speedy trotting or galloping. To dress a horse 
 perfectly, not only is his mouth too much weakened, 
 as has been shown, but his body is so united, or 
 trussed together, his haunches so much drawn under 
 him, and he is so used to lift up his fore-quarters, 
 that his progressive powers are spent in the air, and 
 he can no longer project himself with his natural ra- 
 pidity in a horizontal direction. In plain English, he 
 loses the greater part of that qualification, so ex- 
 tremely valuable in England, his speed ; paivs awk- 
 wardly with his fore feet, maugre all his airs and 
 graces, and cannot put forth his science-shackled 
 limbs, without present pain and early fatigue. He 
 is suppled indeed, but he has acquired that kind of 
 suppleness which gives him the action of a crab. 
 
 '< Again, respecting the managed seat, however 
 grand and chivalrous it may appear in a procession, 
 on which I shall hold no argument, surely its most 
 strenuous advocates must acknowledge, that it is 
 equally ludicrous upon any common occasion ; a man 
 with his hollow back, prominent belly and chest, 
 braced shoulders, stiff neck, straight and stiff legs 
 and thighs, mounted a cockhorse on the ordinary 
 occasions of business or pleasure, can scarcely fail of 
 exhibiting to the life, the hero of La Mancha ; and 
 more especially should his figure possess those na- 
 tural tendencies grateful to the burlesque which need 
 not be pointed out. 
 
 " With a conviction of the inutility, expensiveness, 
 and injury of the thorough menage, and with a simi- 
 
180 THE HORSE. 
 
 lar conviction of the equal use and security of jockey 
 equitation, for en dernier ressort, the forms of both 
 seats must give way to holding fast, by whatever 
 means : I am so far from wishing the abolition of 
 riding schools, that I would rather see them increased, 
 not merely for military, but general use. A system 
 of demi-menage, including; all that is useful of the 
 grand system, would form military chargers, sup- 
 posing the horses naturally adapted, with action suf- 
 ficiently lofty and grand for the most ostentatious : 
 horses for the ranks also, perfectly qualified, and 
 those for general use, more graceful, safe and plea- 
 sant, than we at present find them. These last ought 
 to come out of the riding schools with a moderately 
 tempered mouth, and no further put together than to 
 render them safe. There are some loose formed 
 horses, however, leaving their legs behind them, which 
 might probably receive benefit from the uniting pro- 
 cess of the menage ; and those with ill-formed and 
 reversed necks, would receive at school their only 
 possible improvement, that of a good mouth. I have 
 before given the caution that, in general, most horses 
 out of training, should previously to their being rid- 
 den on the road or field, be sent to the riding house, 
 and be set moderately upon their haunches ; for how- 
 ever good their mouths may be, they have been too 
 much accustomed to the longeing form of going to 
 be either pleasant or safe upon the road." — History 
 of the Horse, p. 206. 
 
THE HORSE. 181 
 
 SECTION XXVIIL— Female Equitation. 
 
 It seems that either Queen Anne, wife of Richard 
 the Second, or our virgin Queen Elizabeth, first in- 
 troduced the present fashion of the lady's seat on 
 horseback, which had previously been similar to 
 that of the gentleman ; and probably this last form 
 may be yet retained by the women on some parts 
 of the Continent. The last that I have heard or 
 known of it was in my very early days, whilst re- 
 siding in Suffolk. Two young ladies of family, then 
 lately from the Continent, resident not many miles 
 from Ipswich, were in the constant habit of riding 
 about the country, in their smart doeskins, great 
 coats, and flapped beaver hats ; but those ladies ven- 
 tured upon a still more curious mode of high-bred 
 singularity. Being at the Ipswich theatre one even- 
 ing, and sitting on the stage, as was then the custom, 
 and the commencement of the play being unexpectedly 
 delayed, they opened their work-bags ^nd began 
 knotting ! The hissing and groaning of the sailors 
 from the galleries, however, and the general disap- 
 probation of the house, did not give them encourage- 
 ment to proceed. I was not present, but had the 
 account from one who was ; indeed, of course, it 
 became town talk, and a rare topic of newspaper 
 criticism. 
 
 Assuredly, the male seat on horseback is the most 
 secure, and in an especial manner, for ladies who 
 venture into the field ; although our huntresses, so 
 
182 THE HORSE. 
 
 far as I know, in these days, have always retained 
 their proper seat ; and as I recollect, Lady Craven, 
 upon Pastime, never shrunk from either fence or 
 timber, reasonably passable ; and Lady Hester Stan- 
 hope may be now hunting upon her Arab, in those 
 howling wildernesses. All that I have to say further 
 on this point is, I have never been an advocate for 
 women riding to hounds : ladies had even better be 
 knotting ! 
 
 I think I have already spoken of the kind of 
 horse for female service — not too lofty, a natural safe 
 goer, a steady canterer, a good walker, and easy slow 
 trotter, and one that neither starts nor shies ; on this 
 latter account, bred horses, or nearly so, are the best 
 adapted, granting they go safe. A few additional 
 words on the canter : it has caused me some surprise 
 that I should exhibit the smallest hesitation, when 
 several years past I was corrected on this point (in 
 the Sporting Magazine), for asserting the plain and 
 obvious fact of its beings natural to the horse to lead 
 with his off foreleg ; but I was in some degree tem- 
 porarily biased by the opposite opinion of an old 
 Newmarket man, who grounded his judgment on the 
 alleged custom of the rider pulling the left rein in 
 starting a galloper. Well, but surely in that case, 
 the horse's head being pulled to the left, must make 
 him throw forward his off leg;. This indeed militates 
 against my late rule, to put a horse into a canter by 
 pulling the right rein; but, I believe, such has always 
 been my practice on the road ; and such, it seems, is 
 the practice of the schools : I leave the matter to ex- 
 periment. 
 
THE HORSE. 183 
 
 The canter I have represented as the most dan- 
 gerous pace, unless the horse be a naturally safe 
 goer, and not tender footed. This becomes periodi- 
 cally a touching subject to me, in regard of my left 
 knee, the tendon and ligaments, though the accident 
 occurred such a number of years since. A recent 
 and very dangerous accident happened to Lady Eli- 
 zabeth Belgrave, in Cheshire; her horse dropping 
 down suddenly in his canter, her Ladyship was taken 
 up insensible, and apparently much hurt, though by 
 good fortune, no fracture was discovered. The high 
 estimation and regard in which she was held in the 
 vicinity, was fully demonstrated by the general 
 anxiety felt and expressed during the time she re- 
 mained in an uncertain state : happily, this has been 
 removed by her Ladyship's arrival in town, fully con- 
 valescent. 
 
 To put a lady on horseback. I formerly 
 adopted the rules of my old acquaintance Charles 
 Hughes the riding master, and there seems little 
 variation in them since his time; to do the thing 
 completely, requires the ministry of two persons, the 
 gentleman who attends the lady, and the groom. 
 One person only being present, steps are necessary. 
 The lady for divers reasons, should not approach her 
 nag from behind, but from his head,^ or directly to 
 his shoulder, and the stirrup. He should be ren- 
 dered still and quiet; the servant standing immedi- 
 ately before the horse, should hold him either by the 
 checks of the bridle, or with the bridoon rein in each 
 hand, near the horse's mouth. The lady then, alt 
 being right respecting her clothes, places her shoul- 
 
184 THE HORSE. 
 
 der against the saddle, and taking the bridoon rein 
 loosely in her right hand, upon the fore finger or 
 thumb, she lays hold on the upright horn of the sad- 
 dle, standing in the mean time erect, and ready to 
 place her left hand on her assistant's right shoulder. 
 The person who attends to seat the lady, approaching 
 close to her, must join his hands, by weaving his 
 fingers within each other, to form a stirrup for the 
 lady's left foot, as near the ground as possible ; her 
 left knee must be quite straight, which will facilitate 
 the assistant's effort to place her in the saddle, which 
 is also forwarded by a moderate spring from herself; 
 she will perceive the necessity of the knee being held 
 perfectly straight, and of her standing with her 
 shoulder close to the saddle. Here one reason is 
 apparent why a lady's pad ought not to be too lofty. 
 Being seated in the saddle, and her garments 
 smoothed a second time, if need be ; our horse- 
 woman's first act ought to be the drawing up her 
 clothes with the right hand, to the height, that her 
 right knee may be clear to enter the crutch, where it 
 is to be fixed. If she did not mount with the whip 
 in hand, joined with the reins, the person at the 
 horse's head, will have held it ready for her. The 
 whip in her right hand is held obliquely near the 
 head, with the thumb upon it, and the four fingers 
 under it, the arm hanging down straight, but with 
 ease. Hughes, who taught his lady scholars to ride 
 on either side the horse, counselled to have the pom- 
 mel of their saddle made very low, that the knee 
 may not be thrown too high ; and also that the pom- 
 mel be made with a turn-again screw, to be taken off 
 
THE HORSE. 185 
 
 in case of a necessity of the lady changing sides, on 
 any particular account. Ladies' riding shoes should 
 always be straight soled, as in case of accident, there 
 is the risk of the foot hanging in the stirrup when the 
 sole, according to the old fashion, is hollow next the 
 heel. A female, as well as a male rider, should hold 
 the reins moderately slack, that a sufficient purchase 
 may be retained. This caution, however, is entirely 
 slighted by an excellent horseman, a gentleman un- 
 known to me, whom I frequently see passing through 
 Kentish Town, upon a chesnut nag, the most grace- 
 ful, the steadiest, and apparently one of the most safe 
 canterers, that I have ever seen ; the reins are always 
 thrown loose upon his horse's neck. A lady's pad 
 should particularly be accustomed to walk off quietly ; 
 and with respect to his improvement in that pace, it 
 is accomplished by touching him gently behind with 
 the whip, at frequent intervals, at which I have 
 known ladies very expert. 
 
 The dismount. In case a lady who may have 
 reasons for not sporting her agility, should have to 
 dismount with the assistance of only one person to 
 hold her horse, steps or a chair, are sine quels non. 
 Otherwise, a lady springs from her seat, and should 
 her pad, so often the case, be upwards of fifteen 
 hands in height, she has a good j ump to make, and 
 I have, now and then, heard of a strained ankle, as 
 the consequence ; a man, it may be observed, dis- 
 mounts in a much more favourable mode. Having 
 an assistant, the lady gives him her left hand, sup- 
 porting herself by that hold, and by the crutch of the 
 saddle with the other as she alights. Her preliminary 
 
186 THE HORSE. 
 
 act, however, is gently to change her whip from the 
 right to the left or bridle hand, leaving its end to 
 hang down the horse's near shoulder, hanging the 
 reins upon the upright horn of the saddle, on which 
 also she rests her right hand ; her garments clear of 
 giving any obstruction, she may then, turning a little 
 to the right, make her spring towards the assistant, 
 who is ready to break her fall. She should be careful 
 on quitting her stirrup, to keep her knee upon the 
 crutch, as a security in case of the horse starting. 
 It must be superfluous to note, that a gentleman who 
 attends a lady on horseback, rides on her near side ; 
 and that it is one of his first duties, ever to keep him- 
 self between the lady and any carriages or horsemen 
 that may be met. I have spoken against men riding 
 with a curb and single rein ; it is still more objection- 
 able for women, as keeping the horse constantly on 
 the fret, if he have a proper feeling in his mouth. 
 The woman's bridle should be double reined, bridoon 
 and moderate curb ; and for a lady's convenience, the 
 turf method may be adopted, of sewing the curb 
 reins together at a proper length, in which state if 
 dropped from the hand they can always be recovered 
 in an even state. Females riding at a speedy trot, 
 are accustomed, indeed necessitated, to rise, or hitch, 
 in the male style, which, however, has somewhat of 
 a ludicrous appearance. 
 
 I crave pardon of two young ladies for thus defer- 
 ring honourable mention of them, as devotees of the 
 goddess Diana. Miss Catharine Arden, I am in- 
 formed, is regular at the Melton hunt ; and Miss. H. 
 of Staffordshire, not only hunts, but sees the end of 
 
THE HORSE. 187 
 
 it, as often as the most crack male rider in the field, 
 priding herself no little, in generally tiring her attend- 
 ant whether there, or upon the road ; she has beside, 
 terriers the most stanch at the badger, of any in the 
 vicinity, with the performances of which, she is in 
 the habit of regaling her friends, male, I must pre- 
 sume. 
 
 SECTION XXIX.— The Road. 
 
 For journey riding, men have various tastes ; in con- 
 sequence, seek to provide themselves with hacks of 
 peculiar and appropriate qualifications. Those of the 
 very patient class, prefer a fast walker ; and some I 
 have known, Job's descendants, who in warm wea- 
 ther, will walk their nags the day throughout ; the 
 next of this qualification, will jog trot it : Others are 
 devoted to fast travelling, and these have ever the 
 greatest difficulty in horsing themselves. I belong to 
 this impatient class, feeling excessively fatigued at a 
 long day and slow progress ; my travelling rate, here- 
 tofore, was generally eleven miles per hour, stages 
 from sixteen or seventeen, to twenty-two miles, at 
 which rate, I could get through eighty to eighty four 
 miles in a day, more than which I never attempted ; 
 nor should such excess, oppressive and ruinous to the 
 horse, ever be used, except in cases of necessity, or 
 once perhaps, for the sake of experiment. No doubt 
 a few of our best English hacks, and I believe I had 
 one of them, have been able to travel one hundred 
 and twenty miles over the road, in twelve hours ; or 
 upwards of four score miles per day, during three or 
 four days, but no conscientious and reflecting man 
 
188 THE HORSE. 
 
 will require of his beast such a murderous effort for 
 any cause short of indispensable necessity. In speedy 
 travelling, a horse will perform best, which will both 
 trot and canter, easing himself and his rider by occa- 
 sional alteration. 
 
 A good hack will perform fifty or sixty miles in a 
 day, without injury, indeed with ease; but for long 
 continued journeys, thirty to forty two miles per day 
 is as much as can be required. Some hacks I have 
 known, which, though able to trot after the rate of 
 fourteen miles within the hour, and in the best condi- 
 tion, could never stand fast travelling, losing their 
 appetite and becoming powerless ; yet at a slow pace, 
 would travel the day through. Let no man expect 
 great performance, unless his horse be in condition, 
 and full of hard meat ; not, truly, from a hack that 
 has been " fed according to his work," on the plan of 
 certain stable economists — in other words, to be alter- 
 nately fed and starved. However, a right moderri 
 Job, as above described, may safely engage his nag 
 with his full burden of grass flesh upon him, in a 
 month's journey; and by virtue of good solid corn 
 feeds, he will in that month attain condition. 
 
 Feeding and management on the road. Many 
 persons ride long stages, for example, thirty or forty 
 miles without feeding; but it is inconsiderate and 
 injurious to the horse. Moderate feeds at the dif- 
 ferent stages, and an ample one at the last, are most 
 beneficial ; a quartern of oats, with a handful or two 
 of beans are sufficient quantities during the day; 
 at night, half a peck of oats and a few handfuls of 
 beans ; so that a hack upon a journey of considerable 
 length, may be allowed from a peck and a quarter, to 
 
THE HORSE. 189 
 
 a peck and a half of oats. Hasty travellers will yet 
 find an advantage in starting at a very moderate pace, 
 and in finishing the three last miles of a stage, more 
 especially in hot weather, as leisurely as their haste 
 will admit, since by such means, they will save time; 
 as their horse, on reaching the inn, will be the sooner 
 dry and ready to feed. On the road, the horse may 
 be indulged, every eight or ten miles, if he require it, 
 with a few go-downs of water ; and in hot weather 
 over hard roads, and with fast travelling, when the 
 shoes acquire a burning heat, it is most refreshing to 
 the horse, to ride him over his pasterns, momentarily, 
 through any water that may be accessible. But a 
 caution of much moment must have place here ; be 
 the weather hot or cold, a horse in a state of perspira- 
 tion should never be kept standing any length of time 
 in water. An old writer records the case of a hunter 
 so rendered irrecoverable; and some years since, a 
 neighbour of mine, by the same accident, brought an 
 incurable founder upon his chaise horse. 
 
 In fast travelling, every horseman of common sense, 
 will ease his hack up the hills, giving as many pulls 
 as the nag may seem to require : down hill, he may 
 dash away, as the old seamen used to say — at no 
 allowance ; provided always, that in the first place, 
 his horse's feet are sound, and in the next, that the 
 horse be well confirmed in the theory arid practice of 
 safely descending a hill. I have in former, and foolish 
 days, rattled down a steep hill, on a skilful, but tender 
 footed hack, trotting after the rate of eighteen miles 
 an hour, the nag not bearing an ounce on the bit, but 
 seeming as if inclined to sit upon his haunches. 
 
190 THE HORSE. 
 
 That, however, is nothing in comparison of riding to 
 hounds down the flinty and chalky hills of Surrey 
 and Kent. 
 
 When a hack, always known to ride quiet, does 
 not set off readily, or makes a stop upon the road, 
 the rider may be assured that it arises from some 
 sudden painful bodily affection, or something mis- 
 placed and galling in his furniture. On such an oc- 
 currence, it would be most unfeeling, to correct and 
 drive the animal on; the rider should instantly dis- 
 mount, and examine both horse and tackling, at all 
 points; the curb may be too tight and severe, the 
 checks of the bridle too short, the girths too tight (I 
 have several times seen a quiet horse refuse to pro- 
 ceed when mounted, from the girths being drawn up 
 to that excess, as if to make halves of the animal), or 
 he may have picked up a nail, or a stone. He may 
 be suddenly griped or seized with a fit of strangury, 
 which will appear from his dilated nostrils, sweating 
 at the ear roots, staring coat, and attempts to stale. 
 Aged and worked hackneys are liable to the stran- 
 gury, in which case, all the rider can do is to lead 
 him about gently, and give him time to void the 
 dripping urine. Some of your knowing and quidding 
 country jockeys are up to the stupid practice of 
 placing the saddle entirely backward, upon the 
 horse's loins, girthing it bursting tight upon his 
 paunch, giving great pain whilst it may remain in 
 that state, which is seldom long ; and when the sad- 
 dle gets forward, it is with more proportionally 
 loosened girths. 
 
 Arrived at the inn, and the horse cool, no extra 
 
THE HORSE. 191 
 
 care or solicitude is required, he may be led into the 
 stable, stripped, rubbed over, whilst eating a lock of 
 hay, and soon be ready for his feed of corn ; but if in 
 a high state of perspiration, the care is far otherwise ; 
 and although, at most good inns, the hostlers are very 
 well acquainted with the treatment that is necessary, 
 yet it is a great convenience for a traveller to be ac- 
 companied by his own groom ; but even so, a gentle- 
 man should attend personally to all the essentials ; 
 for as according to the old adage, the " master's eye 
 maketh the horse fat," so that same eye is most pro- 
 bable to attend to minutia, and these of importance, 
 which the less interested eye of his groom might 
 overlook. The weather being cold or damp, and the 
 horse under the effects of violent exertion, he should 
 be led instantly to stable, and placed in a situation, 
 free from any chilling current of air, and upon a 
 good deep bed of fresh and dry litter. The girths are 
 to be loosened, but the saddle not removed, and a dry 
 cloth thrown over the loins ; the face, ear-roots, neck, 
 and throat, are first to be rubbed gently, and whilst 
 he is eating a little of the best hay to be procured, 
 his feet and legs, up to the hocks, should be well 
 washed and suppled in warm water. This is a most 
 beneficial practice, and nothing contributes so much 
 to cheering, cooling, and refreshing a hard ridden 
 horse, and to abating the excessive and painful heat 
 and tension in his joints and sinews, and the surbat- 
 ing effects of the hard road upon his feet. Every 
 man who knows the road, however, must be apprised 
 that these extraordinary performances can only be 
 acted by particular desire. Subsequently, the belly, 
 
]92 THE HORSE. 
 
 flanks, thighs, and fore arms, being cleared from the 
 thickest of the dirt, it may be time to strip the horse, 
 rub him down, and as soon as possible to get him 
 finished. The feed should be tendered, so soon as he 
 may be cool enough, and desirous to receive it; and 
 half a pail of blood warm water may be allowed at 
 twice. Should the nag feed with an appetite, he will 
 be ready in due time for the next stage. If he will 
 not feed, it will not do exactly, to call upon him for 
 such another stage. It is a good precaution used, if 
 the inside and lining of the saddle has been made dry 
 and comfortable ; and at every stage, the horse's 
 back should be looked to, from the apprehension of 
 possible chafing or warbles. 
 
 In summer travelling, the horse at the end of his 
 stage is best dried abroad, being led gently with his 
 saddle on or not, according to the temperature and 
 degree of the solar heat. In this case, I was gene- 
 rally obliged to thwart the common practice of the 
 hostlers, in not suffering them to dry my hacks in the 
 sun like a shirt ; instead of which, I ever preferred 
 the shade. I have seen horses sick and faint after a 
 hard stage, exposed by way of drying them to the 
 blazing heat of the dog-day sun, which must assur- 
 edly increase their faintness, and blunt their appe- 
 tite, beside rendering them liable to a stroke of cold 
 in removing to an atmosphere of lower temperature, 
 which may bring on the low dog-day fever, so diffi- 
 cult to remove. I remember Smolensko, from an 
 affection of this kind, losing a match over the Beacon 
 Course, in July, which I have every reason to believe, 
 he ran to win. 
 
THE HORSE. 193 
 
 The master or groom should attend at every feed- 
 ing time, with an eye to the due quality as well as 
 quantity of corn, and to prevent the stable doctor's 
 from stopping the horse's feet, for the ease and preser- 
 vation of which, soaking in water, either warm or 
 cold, is the best application. It would be a o-reat 
 convenience, whether upon a journey or in the field, 
 were gentlemen's grooms to acquire enough of the 
 shoeing smith's art to fix a shoe, or drive a nail upon 
 one becoming; loose. 
 
 SECTION XXX.— Driving. 
 
 Our Public Stage Work at once, the glory and 
 shame of Britain ! Never, in any age or nation, 
 was, or is there such a spectacle as our light, con- 
 venient, and gallant coaches, drawn at such speed, 
 many of them, by the finest formed, highest condi- 
 tioned, and best bred horses which this country can 
 produce, and completing journeys of such extraordi- 
 nary length in a day, as with foreigners can scarcely 
 obtain belief ! But this, alas, is attained at the ex- 
 pense of such an additional load of animal misery, 
 and at so much risk, and even loss of human limbs 
 and life, that it seems extraordinary, no regret, mode 
 of reform, or effective security have hitherto been 
 thought of, far less attempted. On this subject, I 
 some time since sent a paper to the Sporting Maga- 
 zine, but it arrived too late for insertion ; containino- 
 as it does, my present sentiments on the matter I 
 give a place here to the chief part of it. 
 
 " The fact is proverbial — that which is every 
 
194 THE HORSE. 
 
 body's business, is nobody's business : and in good 
 honest truth, did the public ever reflect as a body, it 
 might pause on the numerous mishaps, which it has 
 brought upon itself. Nothing, however, of this is 
 probable to happen, for we are naturally and habitu- 
 ally, every one for himself, and God for us all ; and 
 on all occasions the principle seems to be — the devil 
 take the hindmost. There is one point, nevertheless, 
 in which all men seem to agree, indeed to act in a 
 body, if it may be called acting; it is to grumble 
 pretty audibly, on the occurrence of every accident, 
 and as for the individual victims to whom the power of 
 complaining is left, their plaints are sufficiently loud. 
 But these good people, like certain associations to 
 prevent horse-stealing, have shut the stable door 
 after the steed was stolen. Our travellers on the 
 road will think of no steps towards their own and the 
 general security ; they will not put their shoulders to 
 the wheel, but like the carter in the fable, expect all 
 from St. Antonio ; or like Emperor Nap, from their 
 " fortune ;" by which sapient conduct, they, as well 
 as the imperial escroc, sometimes have to encounter 
 a Russian winter. For example, without the idea of 
 a single remonstrance, will not a whole coach load of 
 living lumber, suffer themselves to be whirled down 
 a precipice, always and universally known to be dan- 
 gerous, without a wheel being tied? This case of 
 itself might suffice as an illustration, for thus pas- 
 sengers generally conduct themselves in collaterals. 
 Their minds are so totally engrossed by the insatiable 
 desire of getting to their journey's end, with the 
 utmost speed, that they have no considerations to 
 
THE HORSE. 195 
 
 bestow on the perils of furious driving, or any o tip- 
 pet ils, however obvious, with which their journey may 
 be attended. They thus, contemning all cautions, or 
 ideas of prevention, determine to stand their own in- 
 surers, trusting to their fortune and taking the risk. 
 Nay, beyond all this, there is a certain part of the 
 public, so thoroughly satisfied with things as they 
 are, that individuals of that cast have expressed to 
 me their astonishment at the complaints made of the 
 accidents on our roads, of which they are equally 
 astonished there should be so few ; in this last view 
 of the matter, I certainly agree with them. 
 
 " Things remaining in this state, there inevitably 
 must, therefore will be, periodical and fatal accidents 
 which ought not, and need not be : and even so, per- 
 haps in despite of every practicable addition to our 
 road legislation; but surely the limbs, the future 
 comfort of life, even life itself, are objects of at least 
 equal consequence with any temporary locomotion, of 
 whatever necessity or importance that might be. It 
 is a theme proper for all travellers, indeed all men, to 
 debate and comment upon ; and in regard of which, 
 men ought to impose some law of discretion and 
 decision upon themselves ; and as this is the age of 
 Associations, the establishment of some such, in aid 
 and with the view of assuring all due effect to the 
 laws already in force, and to the enactment of addi- 
 tions which might be deemed necessary, would not 
 be useless or mere toast-drinking and holiday insti- 
 tutions. 
 
 " I am, however, ready to acknowledge that some- 
 what of the former mania of neck or nothing on the 
 
196 THE HORSE. 
 
 road has passed away, with its kindred adventurous 
 insanity of public companies, and that some reforma- 
 tion has taken place, more thanks to the parental 
 care and discretion of certain coach proprietors than 
 to those who had, or ought to have had, the most 
 intense interest in the business. The number of 
 skilful and careful dragsmen has increased, which is 
 in no small degree to be attributed to the exertions 
 of our spirited young men of quality, in extending 
 and patronizing the science of the ribbons. Our 
 modern gentlemen dragsmen have' superior and more 
 laudable motives than some few whom I knew in 
 former days, whose delight was bribery for the exe- 
 crable letch of whipping a set of tired horses through 
 an additional stage ! On the other hand it must not 
 be passed over that, excessive, and beyond all animal 
 endurance, and human safety, as our speed on the 
 road has been, an attempt was made two or three 
 years since to increase it, and when the results of 
 the experiment were reported in a great assembly, 
 namely, the broken legs, loins, and hearts of the 
 many horses, these formed no objection in the view 
 of certain individuals, who still called out for a 
 general rate of twelve miles per hour. 
 
 " But public vigilance ought not to slumber in 
 this every man's case; the risk of life and limb for 
 a noble cause is not only meritorious, but a bounden 
 duty with the brave ; but to put those to an immi- 
 nent risk for something of less consequence than a 
 good old song, is the part of insanity, stupidity, or 
 sheer folly. Notwithstanding what I have said of 
 some awakening to caution and improvement, a re- 
 
THE HORSE. 197 
 
 appearance of the old leaven is far from uncommon ; 
 and many fatal accidents, from mere foolhardiness 
 and negligence have occurred, are indeed periodically 
 occurring, as though they were the order of the day 
 and necessary to our glorious system. The very idea 
 of stage coaches racing on the high road savours 
 strongly of out door Bedlam; more impressively in 
 the travellers ; yet I have lately seen two stage 
 coaches of the very first class, following each other 
 upon the gallop, at the rate of sixteen or seventeen 
 miles an hour, from the turnpike down and up the 
 hill to Piccadilly. After all the threats and fuss 
 which have been made about this coach racing, there 
 is now full enough of it to be witnessed ; and, as the 
 present law in the case is somewhat like a dead letter, 
 were some of these drag competitors and jockeys pre- 
 ferred to a box in Botany Bay, I can predicate no 
 possible harm in it. A coach, last year, was upset 
 from no other cause or obstruction than the swing 
 round a well known sharp corner; and other acci- 
 dents occurred, which obviously required legal inter- 
 ference, though they had none. Now stage coach 
 travellers are in a rare predicament, if their necks 
 require insurance against turning corners. The adept 
 who achieved this feat, I believe, escaped the annoy- 
 ance even of a remonstrance. But what is to be said 
 about excessive, heavy, and high loads, with which, 
 descent of steep hills and inequality of surface on the 
 road, render it even betting up or down ? Why, that 
 it is a race, but not at even weights, between the pe- 
 cuniary interests of the coach proprietors and the life 
 
198 THE HORSE. 
 
 and limbs of their clients. Some years since, on a 
 journey into Kent, and sitting on the box beside the 
 dragsman, I was surprised to see him turn out of a 
 fine piece of road which had the most moderate, and, 
 in my idea, most insignificant slope, in order to whip 
 his horses over a deep and fresh laid piece of gravel. 
 On my remark, he said, ' hush ; I have upwards of 
 three tons on the coach, and an unevenness of the 
 road, which otherwise would not be felt, might now 
 bring us on our knees.' We were at whips soon 
 after starting, in ascending Westminster Bridge, and 
 at our second stage one of the wheelers swooned in 
 his collar. One of the leaders, in a coach with 
 which I travelled last year, had, the previous week, 
 dropped down dead, heart-broken, in his stage ; and 
 a dragsman, apparently a very careful man, and, I 
 should think, a proprietor, whose coach runs west- 
 ward, assured me, that a certain crack brother of the 
 whip had actually driven a poor mare several miles, 
 after one of her legs and her loins had been broken. 
 To record the road accidents of years past a man 
 must determine to write a folio. It was indeed a 
 fatal accident in December last, from which a worthy 
 gentleman lost his life. It occurred from the horses 
 running away with the coach, and from no fault of 
 the driver. In all probability they were, at least 
 several of them, raw horses, not thoroughly broke to 
 harness. I have formerly written against the em- 
 ploying any restiff horses in the public work, but 
 such is the difficulty of horsing a large coach con- 
 cern, that proprietors have not always time to be 
 
THE HORSE. 199 
 
 very nice in their choice, and they never, I believe, 
 take the time or pains of putting a fresh horse into a 
 break, but set him to work in his untutored state. 
 
 " It will be no digression, but, indeed, quite in 
 course, to notice the accidents which too frequently 
 occur by furious driving and riding through the 
 crowded streets of the metropolis. Some regulation 
 in the case is certainly necessary, at least, some 
 public and efficient admonition and caution from the 
 authorities. To be sure, the loss of an old woman, 
 or an old man, of seventy, put hors de combat by a 
 coach wheel or a horse's hoof, is thought little of; 
 such valueless beings are not indeed missed from our 
 superabundant population. A paragraph appears in 
 the public papers by way of dirge ; we read, shake 
 our heads, and repeat, ' It is pity 'tis true, and true 
 'tis pity,' and there the matter ends, until we have a 
 fresh memento mori which nobody remembers. But 
 I have a fellow feeling for my co&tanians who have 
 not been so fortunate as myself in retaining their 
 activity, and who cannot like me cross the street, on 
 occasion, with a hop step and a jump. However, 
 some time since, I had very nearly 'napt it,' or at 
 least, ' got done brown,' for, as I was crossing Fleet 
 Street, near St. Dunstan's church, my eyes not having 
 so much speed as my heels, I narrowly escaped con- 
 tact with the horse of a huge, thundering, and, 
 apparently, hard headed fellow, of the true welter 
 and chew of tobacco sort, who came trotting along 
 the street at the rate of sixteen miles an hour. I 
 was, indeed, at whips, and literally won the race 
 by a head ! Walking down the street, I immediately 
 
200 THE HORSE. 
 
 began musing upon a proper funereal paragraph for 
 myself, on the speculation that the accident had 
 proved deceasive, as thus ; — ' Yesterday old John Law- 
 rence, of Somers Town, reached the ending post 
 quite in his proper style, that is to say, by the help 
 of a trotter; but he well knew that he was born on 
 purpose to die, though the how and the when were 
 wisely concealed from him. P. P. clerk of this parish, 
 was certainly right, for 
 
 Do all we can, death is a man 
 That never spareth none.' 
 
 " Yet, however lightly this may concern one party, 
 yet the other, the actual or probable sufferers, must 
 have a very different view of the matter, and may 
 surely and very justly be permitted to insist that, 
 when the streets are crowded with traffic and foot 
 passengers, and more especially near crossings and 
 corners of streets, both dragsmen and horsemen ought 
 either to be contented, or compelled to be so, with a 
 very moderate pace, and to be laid under the obliga- 
 tion of some kind of regard for the lives and limbs of 
 other people. Instead of which becoming and com- 
 passionate moderation, it is the fancy of our swell 
 gig drivers and others, lying under no kind of restraint, 
 to dash through the crowded streets at all they can 
 do in the trot; and nothing so flash as the rapid 
 whirl round every corner, to which their horses have 
 become so accustomed that, at the sight of an angle, 
 they never fail to prick their ears and make a volun- 
 tary burst." 
 
 I have this moment taken up a newspaper — more 
 
THE HORSE. 201 
 
 accidents — more and more yet ! Are we never to 
 have our fill of this kind of gratification ? for such it 
 must be or we should never endure it. It is gratis 
 dictum with the devil to it, to give advice and to call 
 for reflection upon those whose answer is, or whose 
 silence and disregard implies, this is our saucy taste, 
 and we will have it. Only a few more vain, but well 
 meant words, then on the subject. " Tis the pace 
 that kills the horse." What mighty mischiefs 
 would accrue to our public and commercial interests, 
 or our private accommodation, were an hour or two 
 in the four and twenty abated and abstracted from 
 our travelling speed ? I apprehend we might grow 
 as rich, live as well, and live as long, some of us 
 much longer, without flying as with it. And eight 
 to ten miles per hour, with sufficiently short stages, 
 might well serve every rational purpose, whether of 
 business or pleasure. It is a grave subject to laugh, 
 at; but surely there is something of the ludicrous in 
 the boasts of our flyers, on our having arrived at 
 such a bent of speed in all points, that the four horses 
 of a coach may be changed and harnessed, by day or 
 in the dark, in a certain number of seconds ! This 
 is, indeed, Newmarket on the road, but without that 
 care, and precision, and caution, ever to be found at 
 Newmarket, the head quarters of every thing that is 
 guarded and regular. No doubt our dependence ought 
 to be great and implicit in the care and solicitude of 
 fellows, perhaps dosing or half stupid, whilst hurry- 
 ing post haste to harness the horses ; and that we 
 have no need to fear any carelessness or blunder in 
 
 k2 
 
202 THE HORSE. 
 
 girthing, buckling, curbing, or the continuing of 
 reins nearly worn out. This last instance of care- 
 lessness had lately a very serious effect; the horses 
 ran away with a certain coach from the reins break- 
 ing and the coach was upset. One would suppose 
 that the needful time ought to be allowed, and the 
 greatest care taken in putting the horses to. An- 
 other very important consideration appertains to this 
 subject. Whenever an extraordinary hot summer 
 occurs, we never fail of the intelligence of how many 
 horses have dropped down dead upon the roads, and 
 the number is too often considerable. Now, I have 
 travelled the road occasionally, and not unobservantly, 
 under its three regimes — the old, or five miles an 
 hour; the new, or improving, to which the mail 
 coach plan gave birth ; and the immediate, the ultra 
 or flying regime. Some years ago, in one of the 
 most sultry and dangerous seasons that I have wit- 
 nessed, I took my station on the dragbox of the fast 
 Colchester, in order to get a few hints from the 
 dragsman, whom I had long known to be one of the 
 most respectable, skilful, and steady of his class. 
 Our first topic was, in course, the extraordinary 
 number of horses that had fallen in the late heats, 
 then abated. He pointed out to me a mare, his off 
 leader, " There," said he, " is one of the freest and 
 best bits of horseflesh that ever I sat behind, and I 
 should have lost her at a certainty, indeed she was 
 going, had I not eased her up every hill, and all 
 my sets, by the allowance of between one and two 
 hours in the day." He continued, without reserve, 
 
THE HORSE. 203 
 
 to say that the greater part, or perhaps all the horses 
 that dropped, were lost merely for want of such pre- 
 cautions as he had used. 
 
 I have " held palaver" with several persons con- 
 cerned in the horsing business, on the general system, 
 and inquired whether it would not be more to the 
 interest of those who possessed capital sufficient to 
 turn off their horses before they became too much 
 injured by work, with a view to their recovery and 
 their lasting to the longest possible period. I touched, 
 however, only on the ground of interest, not that of 
 mercy or morality, which, in the view of my confa- 
 bulators, would have been palaver indeed. I recol- 
 lect only one coachmaster who professed to have 
 tried that plan to any extent, and he seemed to have 
 succeeded in it. The general method is to work the 
 animals as long as they can stand upon their legs ; 
 and when lame, I have heard it said, " we can whip 
 them sound." 
 
 With respect to driving a single horse in harness, 
 as it is to be supposed that the aspirant has been 
 previously on horseback, and somewhat familiar with 
 handling the reins, " knuckles up or knuckles down," 
 and with the use of either one hand or both, there 
 can be little need for precise directions, which may 
 be gathered from every day examples on the roads 
 and in the streets. But, for a man to square himself 
 with four in hand, and to finger the ribbands with 
 dexterity, effect, and grace, is really an affair of no 
 mean consequence, whether we consider appearances, 
 6r the responsibility which he incurs in regard to 
 the lives and limbs of the passengers and of the ani- 
 
204 THE HORSE. 
 
 mals committed to his charge. A due respect more- 
 over, to the prevailing taste of the day, as exhibited 
 by our gentlemen dragsmen, could not consist with a 
 neglect of this branch of the subject. The "Whip, 
 or Four in Hand Club," and it cannot be yet worn 
 out of remembrance, seems to have been the pre- 
 cursor of driving as an essential part of a modish 
 education. Previously to this the practice was set 
 on foot by individual adepts with the stately phaeton ; 
 and, if my memory serve me faithfully, I have seen 
 my old acquaintance, Bob Allen, on Epsom course, 
 in his phaeton, driving six in hand. Mr. Onslow 
 too, had been a celebrated four in hand man, witness 
 the high encomiums upon him by one of the news- 
 paper wits of the day ; — 
 
 Little Tommy Titmouse, what can he do ? 
 
 Drive a Phaeton and two. 
 What can little Tommy do more ? 
 
 Drive a phaeton and four. * 
 
 The remarks I am now about to make tender of to 
 the gentle reader, may either be part and parcel of 
 the whims of my own brain, or may bear actual rela- 
 tion to custom and to propriety. The driver of a 
 coach, with his tenfold capes, jolly face, and full- 
 furnished corporation, may sit with all imaginable 
 stateliness and decorum in the centre of his box. 
 Not so the driver of a gig or buggy, who, sitting 
 alone in the middle, makes a cockneyish, undrags- 
 manlike appearance, exhibiting a proper model of 
 caricature for the print shops. He should invariably 
 be found on his own side, and particularly if privi- 
 
THE HORSE. 205 
 
 leged as a fancy man, leaving his near side vacant 
 to attract the asking eyes of any pretty pedestrian 
 damsel, whom he may hap to find fatigued upon the 
 road. And with regard to the proper driving paces, 
 it appears to me that either a single, or pair of horses, 
 galloping has an awkward and unseemly appearance, 
 that pace being only tolerable with four in hand ; 
 with which, indeed, it must be acknowledged, if they 
 all gallop handsomely together, there is something 
 spirited and gallant in the show. 
 
 SECTION XXXI. 
 
 Previous to entering particularly into the practice 
 of driving, I feel the necessity of some explanation. 
 I have no pretence whatever to eminence as a drags- 
 man. Whatever I may know, little or much, of the 
 subject, has arisen chiefly from long observation, and 
 the sum total of my pretensions is, that I might for- 
 merly have taken four steady horses through their 
 stage with safety, handling the ribbons in such a style 
 as to escape rebuke or ridicule. This being the 
 case, I shall, for the instruction of the reader, have 
 recourse to higher practical authority than my own ; 
 at the same time using that freedom to which I must 
 yet hold myself intitled, of making any objections 
 that may appear to me rational and appropriate. 
 The highest and best existing authority then, accord-' 
 ing to my estimation, is the well known writer Nim- 
 rod, of the Sporting Magazine. As sufficient 
 vouchers for his thorough practical knowledge of the 
 art of driving and management of the horses, we 
 
206 THE HORSE. 
 
 need but appeal to his various and ample instruc- 
 tions, and to the fact that he was entrusted during a 
 considerable length of time, with the driving and care 
 of a public coach running the western road. I refer 
 the reader, in the first instance, to the Magazine 
 itself, availing myself subsequently, of the liberty to 
 make selections sufficiently extensive for my purpose. 
 
 Before me lies a number of the Sporting Magazine, 
 for July, 1827. The following preliminary observa- 
 tions and instructions (p. 157) are strictly and prac- 
 tically useful, and too important not to be given toti- 
 dem verbis. " Before a coachman gets upon the box 
 he should walk round his horses heads and see that 
 his curb chains and coupling reins are right, and, 
 above all things, that the tongues of his billet buckles 
 are secure in their holes. Many bad accidents have 
 arisen from the want of this precaution, and I set 
 down no man as a scientific, or even a safe coachman, 
 who does not see to these things. 
 
 " A graceful, at the same time a firm seat on his 
 box, is a great set off to a coachman. He should sit 
 quite straight towards his horses, with his legs well 
 before him, and his knees nearly straight, with the 
 exception of a pliant motion of his loins on any jolt- 
 ing of his coach ; his body should be quite at rest, 
 and particularly so when he hits a horse. In handling 
 the ribbands also as little motion of the arms should 
 be observed as the nature of the act will admit ; the 
 reins should be shifted, when necessary, with almost 
 as gentle a motion as if he was sorting a hand of 
 cards at whist, and, apparently, with as little diffi- 
 culty. 
 
THE HORSE. 207 
 
 " There is an excellent way of handling reins not 
 generally adopted ; this is, when you want to take a 
 pull at your horses, to open the fingers of the right 
 hand and put the reins into them ; then pass the left 
 hand, with the fingers open, in front of the right 
 hand, and receive the reins into it again ; then you 
 get extra power over your team without disturbing 
 their mouths. Independently of appearances, a firm 
 seat on a box is very necessary for safety to a coach- 
 man and his passengers, or a little thing will displace 
 him. I once was by the side of a coachman on the 
 box of a mail when he was chucked off, merely by 
 one of his hind wheels striking lightly against the 
 post of a gateway, and a bad accident was like to 
 have been the consequence. 
 
 "He who has made a good beginning has half 
 finished his work, and this applies to driving coach 
 horses. Harness them well, and they are much easier 
 driven. It is also with coachhorses as it is with man- 
 kind — the physical strength is in the governed, there- 
 fore we must humour them a little. When startina- a 
 coach, do not pull at their heads, but feel their mouths 
 lightly, or they may both throw themselves down, or 
 break through their harness. If old horses, and the 
 stage commences with a hill to go down, let them 
 feel their legs for two hundred yards before they are 
 put to their usual pace. When in turn point your 
 leaders well, that is, take proper ground for them to 
 make their turn, and let your wheelers follow them. 
 As wheel horses are always in a hurry to make the 
 turn, shoot them out to the contrary side just as you 
 have pointed your leaders ; for example, if your turn 
 
208 THE HORSE. 
 
 is to the right, catch up your near wheel rein and hit 
 your off wheel horse, and vice versa. This will keep 
 the head of your pole (which you should have your 
 eye upon) just between your leaders, and your 
 wheelers will follow as if they were running on a 
 straight road. This also secures you against danger 
 by clearing your coach of posts, gutters, &c. No 
 man can make a neat turn with four horses unless he 
 shoots his wheelers at the same time that he points 
 his leaders. Never turn a loaded coach short, even 
 at a slow pace, for she is never safe when there is 
 not an even bearing on her transom beds. If turned 
 short, at a quick pace, she must go over, and for this 
 reason ; by the laws of nature all bodies put in mo- 
 tion by one power will proceed in a straight line, 
 unless compelled to change their course by some 
 force impressed. Thus a horse, at full speed, is with 
 difficulty turned to the right or left ; if he turns sud- 
 denly, and of his own accord, he puts his rider's 
 horsemanship to the test. So it is with a coach, a 
 sudden turn to one side of the road makes her swas: 
 towards the other, and her centre of gravity is lost. 
 The middle of the road is the safest place for a 
 loaded coach, except under peculiar circumstances. 
 
 " A most material point in driving four horses is to 
 keep them well in hand, not merely as regards their 
 work, but also for the safety of the coach. The 
 track which a coach makes in descending a hill will 
 show whether the horses are properly held together 
 or not. We are perpetually hearing of accidents 
 from horses taking fright and bolting across the 
 road, but these only happen to clumsy fellows, of 
 
THE HORSE. 209 
 
 which the list is considerable. Many coachmen, in 
 fast work, like to have their horses pull at them, con- 
 sidering it safer, and therefore cheek their horses to 
 enable them to do so. I have seen Peer with all his 
 horses to the cheek, over what is considered his 
 fastest stage, from Hounslow to Egham, but it is a 
 rare occurrence. 
 
 " Although there are rules for passing and meeting 
 other carriages on the road, yet there are times when 
 they need not to be strictly adhered to, and a little 
 mutual civility and accommodation between coach- 
 men is pleasing. Thus, if I have the hill in my 
 favour, that is to say, if I am going down it, and a 
 loaded coach is coming up it at the same time, I 
 ought, if I can do it with safety, to give the hardest 
 side of the road to the other coach. Nothing; can be 
 lost by a little civility when it costs nothing." 
 
 The following remarks are of considerable import. 
 I have always imagined that a horse in harness 
 cannot apply so forcible a pressure, or carry up so 
 much weight in the canter as in the trot, from the 
 curvetting and irregularity of the former, and the 
 steadiness of the latter pace : thence the greater value 
 of trotters in harness. I have mentioned this, how- 
 ever, to two or three eminent dragsmen, who made 
 little account of it, observing, that when the traces 
 are even, each horse must take an equal weight, 
 though one may canter to his partner's trot. I am 
 not convinced. Nimrod says, " It is not every man 
 who knows when a coachhorse is at work. He may 
 keep a tight trace, and yet be doing little. There is 
 a certain increased tension of the frame when a horse 
 
210 THE HORSE. 
 
 is taking weight with him, which is the surest cri- 
 terion to judge by, and which never escapes a quick 
 and experienced eye. What are called lobbing goers, 
 take a greater weight with them than horses of finer 
 action, that is, provided they are equally close 
 workers. 
 
 The powers of a horse in a fast coach can be mea- 
 sured to a mile. He may be very good for eight or 
 ten, but very bad for twelve miles of ground ; with 
 heavy loads the priming is soon taken out of most 
 of them, and, therefore, they must be looked to. 
 Wheel horses have the hardest place, as they are at 
 work up hill and down; nevertheless, if favour be 
 shown, it must be to the leaders. You may drag a 
 tired wheeler home ; but if a leader cuts it, you are 
 planted. Always put your freest leader near side, 
 as you will have him better in hand than if he were 
 on the other. If a leader is weak and cannot take 
 his bar, tie up the wheeler that follows him, and he 
 will place him by the side of his partner. Leaders 
 should be fast trotters, for fast coaches. When they 
 are galloping, the bars are never at rest, conse- 
 quently much of the draught is lost in the angles 
 they describe." 
 
 SECTION XXXII. 
 
 The above quotation has proved such a hobby horse 
 to me, that I have transgressed considerably in res- 
 pect of space, and must dismount and have recourse 
 to abbreviation, with the endeavour to render it as 
 intelligible and useful as possible, by extracting and 
 
THE HORSE. 211 
 
 retaining the marrow, or at least giving the heads 
 and cardinal points of instruction. 
 
 All fast, go 6n ! — Management of high blowers, 
 or broken-winded horses, to enable them to keep their 
 time : " If distressed, keep them off their collar, and 
 let them only carry their harness for a hundred 
 yards or so, and they will recover if their condition is 
 good. They work best by night, escaping the heat 
 of the sun, and without the throat lash ; which, in- 
 deed, should ever be omitted in very hot weather 
 with leaders, granting they can be driven without it ; 
 and horses in general pull more freely and pleasantly 
 without it. A coachhorse cannot carry his head too 
 high, provided he is obedient to the hand ; a horse 
 going with his head down has a mean appearance." 
 I acknowledge, that a coachhorse carrying his head 
 high, has a finer and more stately appearance than 
 one carrying the head lower, and as may be said, 
 more naturally ; but, assuredly, appearance and show 
 have most to do in the case, as the artificial elevation 
 of the head reduces the power of traction in the 
 horse, which seems proved by the level in which the 
 slow draught horse holds his head when making his 
 utmost exertions. The use of the bearing rein is to 
 enforce and accustom the horse to this elevation of 
 the head, and that rein certainly gives the driver a 
 greater command over his horses. 
 
 "Temper in harness horses is much to be re- 
 garded (indeed in all others). Some coachmen would 
 have a horse never to know his place, but to take all 
 equally and indifferently, whether wheeler or leader, 
 or to work on either side. A horse fancying his place, 
 
212 THE HORSE. 
 
 should have it, and will pay well for it." Some 
 horses have great affection for their partners, and 
 should not be parted. 
 
 "Very tender mouths. — Snaffles are unsafe, un- 
 less in single harness. The usual coach plan is to 
 cheek the tender mouthed horse, by putting his cou- 
 pling rein to the cheek instead of the bottom of the 
 bit; this being too severe, bringing his head too 
 much towards his partner ; his draught rein should 
 be put down to the bit, he should have liberty in his 
 bearing rein, be very moderately curbed, and be 
 worked out of the throat lash. Expedient for very 
 hard mouths. A bit with the double port — the 
 Chifney bit, putting the curb chain in the mouth, 
 over the tongue — letting out the head of the bridle in 
 the middle of a stage — a check rein in the middle of 
 the curb chain — the bearing rein put to the top of 
 the bit, and the coupling rein to the lowest loop in 
 the bit, &c. I have copied these admirable, and as I 
 have long known, too common expedients, chiefly for 
 the purpose of stating, that I have never observed any 
 good resulting from them ; it seems, in fact, as though 
 their proposed intent were to render the hard mouth 
 of a horse incurably so ; for the natural effect of these 
 antiquated devices is to induce a callus on whatever 
 part they take place; and you may as well pull against 
 a stone wall, as against the jaws and tongue of a 
 horse whereon they have been applied at all points. 
 If not such effect, a still worse ensues, the horse's 
 mouth continues raw and filled with blood, taking off 
 his appetite, cowing his spirit, gibbing him, and re- 
 ducing his powers. In a large concern, there are 
 
THE HORSE. 213 
 
 horses of all qualifications, and hard-mouthed and 
 suspicious leaders should always be backed by steady, 
 sound, and powerful wheelers, a dispensation under 
 which, a real and able performer on the box pre- 
 supposed, no leaders, whatever their character, could 
 possibly run away with a coach to the length of five 
 hundred yards. 
 
 " A wheel-horse, being a kicker, should work on 
 the near side. A leader, being a kicker, should be 
 driven with a ring on the reins, to prevent his getting 
 a rein under his tail. A wheeler fresh in condition 
 and ticklish, may kick over his trace, especially in a 
 short turn, when the traces are necessarily slack : 
 This frequently happens in the crowded streets of 
 London to gentlemen's coaches. A light hip-strap is 
 the best, or only remedy, however slow it may look. 
 Speaking to coachhorses from the box, is now con- 
 sidered slow, but it is not without its effect." Our 
 best performers use it occasionally, adopting certain 
 modulations of the voice, a check, or whistle, to which 
 the horses become accustomed. Here Nimrod gives 
 an anecdote of a mail coachman, who being engaged 
 expressly on purpose to drive horses which had been 
 reported as unable to keep time, used the rare expe- 
 dient of belabouring each horse with a broomstick, 
 in the stable, for at least five minutes, about an hour 
 before starting, and mirabile dictu, succeeded, the 
 horses never losing time afterwards. Now had I 
 been apprized of this, and endowed with the same 
 tyrannical authority over this fellow as he was over 
 the poor brutes, he should have been flogged, not at 
 the cart's a — , but at the halbert, where he should 
 
214 THE HORSE. 
 
 have had the benefit of five dozen, tastefully and ef- 
 fectively laid on by one of those capital artists in the 
 line, a black drummer. This brutality, I suppose, 
 belongs to the new era. We are no longer to boast 
 that " we can whip them sound," but that we can 
 broomstick them sound ! According to what I daily 
 see, we are far more in need of strong and substantial 
 reins and powerful arms, than of either broomsticks 
 or whips, with a sound team in good condition. If 
 the " certain coach proprietor" was privy to this dis- 
 graceful fact, and grinned at it ; with my hearty 
 good will, he also should have had his turn at the 
 halbert. Suum cuique. 
 
 Night work, of which Nimrod has had his share 
 as an amateur, he observes, " If I were to go upon 
 the road, I would be a night coachman through a 
 well inhabited country. For six months of the year, 
 it is undoubtedly the pleasanter service ; and I never 
 found any difference between taking my rest by day 
 or by night. Fit, however, only for a man in the 
 prime of his days, as all his energies are wanting. 
 He ought to know his line of road well, for lamp- 
 light is treacherous, not only in fogs, but the steam 
 from the horses bodies often obstructs the lamp- 
 light. Accidents often occur from coachmen neglect- 
 ing to light their lamps in going into a town, where 
 obstructions may occur from rubbish or stones left in 
 the streets." 
 
 The following rules, as Nimrod warrants, are 
 truly worth observing by a night coachman ; indeed, 
 can never be neglected with safety, or an honest sense 
 of duty in the man. " Take your rest regularly, or 
 
THE HORSE. 215 
 
 you will be sure to become drowsy. Keep yourself 
 sober. Keep a tight hand on your horses, your eye 
 well forward. Get out of the way of carts and wag- 
 gons in time. Keep the middle of the road. Be sure 
 to keep time. Chains and springs on the bars are 
 good things for night work, as they prevent the 
 leaders traces from coming off." Were these Nim- 
 rodian rules framed and glazed, and hung up at our 
 inns, they would afford a good memento, non mori, sed 
 vivere. 
 
 At page 159, u. s. there are a number of excellent 
 and truly practical observations on coachhorses and 
 coach work, which I regret the want of room to ex- 
 tract, but to which I urgently recommend a refer- 
 ence. An account is given of two horses that have 
 stood the work of the Southampton Telegraph more 
 than ten years ; and of a grey gelding, the property 
 of my namesake of Shrewsbury, which has earned 
 £1,440 in the Holyhead mail : surely this horse de- 
 served, and I hope had, in the ultimate, his otium cum 
 dignitate, instead of the too usual reward ! A rela- 
 tive of mine, an old breeder, sold a five years old 
 blind mare, by Young Traveller, to the old Colchester 
 coach : I sat behind her as a wheeler, when she had 
 run twelve years in that situation, and was then well 
 upon her legs, and in remarkable good case. It was 
 in the day of Abram Stragler. I hail the following 
 remarks from Nimrod : 
 
 . " I like to see flesh on a coachhorse, if it be good 
 flesh. It is quite a mistaken notion that fat horses 
 cannot go fast in harness ; they are more powerful in 
 draught than thin horses ; and having nothing but 
 
216 THE HORSE. 
 
 themselves to carry, the flesh does not injure their 
 legs as in riding." To this I will add, what I have 
 long practically known, that good firm elastic mus- 
 cular flesh remaining upon a saddlehorse of sound 
 constitution, which has gone through regular exer- 
 cise, a case of no unfrequent occurrence, far from 
 being any hinderance to his exertions, will eminently 
 promote them both with regard to speed and continu- 
 ance ; and instead of injuring his legs, will help him 
 to keep upon them. Coachhorses, in the road work, 
 filled, satiated as they are, and must be, with dry 
 and solid corn, would be greatly benefited by peri- 
 odical mild purges. 
 
 " A horse in a fast coach, ought not to work more 
 than four days without rest: in slow, heavy work, 
 he will do his ground every day in the year, barring 
 accidents or illness, but i it is the pace that kills/ 
 Coachhorses are subject to many accidents — to one 
 of a peculiar nature, broken legs, in the act of trot- 
 ting over level ground ; and to fractures in the feet 
 from draught. They are also subject to the megrim 
 and the lick" 
 
 Not only coachhorses in fast work, are in danger 
 of a rupture of the canon, or leg bone — and many 
 legs and loins were broken in the insane attempt to 
 increase the already murderous speed of our coaches, 
 which the public never heard of; but racehorses are 
 occasionally subject to the rupture of the canon bone. 
 It arises from an overstrained excess of exertion, af- 
 fecting; both the leg; bone and the bones of the foot. 
 The megrim, as we are used to phrase it, "swooning 
 in the collar," results either from the horse being 
 
THE HORSE. 217 
 
 driven too long at a rate of speed, or of draught, be- 
 yond his powers. A too profuse expenditure of the 
 nervous fluid and consequent exhaustion ensue, and 
 the horse drops. Of course, this must be a more 
 frequent occurrence in hot weather ; indeed, inciden- 
 tally unavoidable, without the greatest precaution, as 
 I have before remarked ; but there is a great misfor- 
 tune attached to the case, drivers think too slightly 
 of it. On the occasion of a horse dropping, the 
 coachman has said to me, " O, he is only a little sick, 
 he'll come again !" and the last instance of the kind 
 that came under my notice, we drove a leader that 
 had fallen, half a stage over a dreadful hilly country. 
 But let no man flatter himself that, after a coach- 
 horse has had this seizure repeatedly, he will ever 
 afterwards recover his pristine goodness. The lick I 
 have sometimes seen in my stables formerly ; and one 
 horse in particular, which was subject to it, was also 
 given to eat the dung of other horses. I think Nim- 
 rod is correct in attributing this habit to crudities in 
 the stomach (and whether or not I have ever tried it I 
 have forgotten), I should recommend salt, or salt and 
 sulphur, equal parts, with the addition of cream of 
 tartar, should that seem to be indicated ; a table 
 spoonful to be given morning and night, in the feeds 
 of corn, during a week or two. The best and first 
 hunter I ever rode, a grandaughter of Old Sampson, 
 she fully mistress of seventeen stone, and I a five 
 stone jockey, would eat raw flesh, as greedily as the 
 finest corn. I have an anecdote to give of her anon. 
 To return to Nimrod and his excellent correspon- 
 dent, Mr. Buxton, (page 162). Breaking horses to 
 
 L 
 
218 THE HORSE. 
 
 harness. — " A young horse, the first time, should be 
 put into the break with only one other, and that one 
 steady, good-collared, and quick. The young one 
 should have plenty of room given him in his head, 
 and be driven at the cheek of an easy bit, with his 
 pole-piece rather slack. Start him quietly the first 
 time on a wide space of ground, any way he pleases, 
 without checking him ; the old horse being made to 
 take collar first. The new horse being alarmed, and 
 inclined to bounce, should yet not be held hard, far 
 less be stopped, as there may be a difficulty in getting 
 him to start again, which is the chief object ; and if 
 inclined to run, his partner will be able to stop him. 
 A young horse, shy of his collar, should not be 
 pressed to it at first, as a lasting dislike may ensue, 
 with the vice of gibbing. Young ones going several 
 times without touching collar, should be patiently 
 borne with, and such temperance will be rewarded 
 by their gradually taking to it of their own ac- 
 cord. All young coachhorses should be stopped 
 very gradually, allowing them at least ten yards to 
 do it in ; if stopped short, they will resist, and are 
 then drawing by the head. In going down hill, the 
 horses should not be held hard, as is too common ; 
 the great weight thrown upon them should be recol- 
 lected, as they are then drawing by their heads. 
 
 " A young horse having been driven long enough to 
 make him steady, he should be taken up in his bear- 
 ing rein, put down lower on his bit, and driven in a 
 wide circle, or figure of eight, keeping the inner 
 horse well up to his collar and bit. He should be 
 frequently stopped in his exercise, but not held tight 
 
THE HORSE. 219 
 
 after being pulled up, which may make him restless. 
 When horses are put for the first time into coaches, 
 they should have their heads given them. Throat- 
 lashing a young horse, wheeler, or leader, shows 
 great want df judgment. Many horses will go per- 
 fectly quiet as leaders, that will never go at the 
 wheel ; the reason is, they will not bear being con- 
 fined to the pole-piece. All horses that will bear it, 
 particularly young ones, should have their sides fre- 
 quently changed. " 
 
 SECTION XXXIII. 
 
 As I have before observed, our coachmen no lono-er 
 "je-whoo" it, as in the olden times, nor tire their 
 arms in the constant use of the whip upon heavy 
 ill- fed, and jaded teams. Even the " Ya-up" of five 
 and thirty years ago, when coachmen met, has been 
 long since extinct, and our gentlemen of the road 
 now salute each other politely with the hand : but 
 our oracle, Nimrod's correspondent, counsels, and I 
 think justly, that horses should have some notice 
 given them to move or to stop, as well as soldiers. — 
 For example, to be started by " a click or whistle," 
 or any mode the driver may choose, and shall have 
 made conventional between himself and his horses, 
 and to be stopped by some similar notice. Nimrod 
 has found "hallooing" to a horse, when he kicks, 
 to have great effect. I have often experienced such 
 effect. Whipping a vicious horse on the ears, cer- 
 tainly helps to cow him ; but the eyes of too many 
 coach horses, free from vice, are shamefully whipped 
 
220 THE HORSE. 
 
 out every year, for us to slight the humane and just 
 observation, that " such punishment should never be 
 inflicted but for vice." 
 
 It always gratifies me to be able to agree with 
 Nimrod. I have stated my frequent observations to 
 different coachmen, on the great risk of putting raw 
 horses to immediate work, the almost universal prac- 
 tice. Nimrod says, " If it can be avoided, a coach- 
 horse should not be broken in a fast coach, as there 
 is no time to try his temper and humour him. Many 
 horses, by being put at first in too quick work, get 
 a habit of cantering, and never settle to trot well 
 afterwards." Again (p. 163), " Coach proprietors, 
 at least all those who do business on a large scale, 
 should be in possession of a break, into which they 
 should put their young horses previous to their 
 going into regular work. The practice of putting a 
 young horse, never accustomed to harness, into a 
 coach laden with passengers, the lives of whom, put- 
 ting their individual selves out of the question, may 
 be most valuable to their families and their coun- 
 try, is most reprehensible ; and one, that when injury 
 is sustained by it, should be visited by the severest 
 penalty the law can inflict." 
 
 The last three or four pages of Nimrod's letter are 
 particularly amusing, and full of good practical stuff. 
 They relate to the wages, perquisites, and profits 
 of coachmen, to travelling dress, and to the meta- 
 phorical slang or lingo of the road, of which he gives 
 a vocabulary. His imposing the denomination of 
 proper humbug on a certain subject will be adverted 
 to in its proper place, when that subject shall come 
 
THE HORSE. 221 
 
 under particular consideration. The wages, it seems, 
 of coachmen of the highest attainments, do not 
 amount to more than eighteen shillings or a pound 
 per week, yet some of them make from two to four 
 hundred pounds a year and upwards. Indeed I have 
 known some few retire from the road with a hand- 
 some independence for the remainder of their lives. 
 One of these, Mr. Mason, the successor of Abram 
 Stragler, who drove the Colchester fast coach, during 
 perhaps nearly thirty years ; and a steadier or more 
 respectable man never sat upon a coachbox. The 
 coachman's fee, and I think, under all circum- 
 stances, no liberal man can travel comfortably with- 
 out giving it, ought, according to Nimrod, to be one 
 shilling under, and two shillings for any distance 
 above thirty miles. This is the common rate, and 
 surely not overdoing the thing, whether in reference 
 to inside or outside passengers ; it is so much the 
 custom for persons of property to take the outside by 
 choice, particularly the box. Nimrod observes very 
 justly, that a coachman cannot drive more than 
 seventy miles a day with safety to his constitution ; 
 and that, to be safe, should be done at two starts. 
 Some few, indeed, and with apparent impunity, have 
 greatly exceeded such daily performance ; and there 
 is now living in Whitechapel, an old Norwich coach- 
 man, keeping a public house, who is supposed to 
 have done more road work, and to have continued it 
 longer than any other man. In the old time, that is 
 to say, in my young time, when I used occasionally 
 to mount the box of the old Ipswich blue coach and 
 six, the postilion, a poor lad of fourteen, was at 
 
222 THE HORSE. 
 
 length taken from his horse to the infirmary, or 
 workhouse, where he died consumptive in a few 
 days. It was said he had stood that service, up 
 and down daily, during two years. 
 
 Road Slang. — The following terms from the vo- 
 cabulary are selected as having something of novelty. 
 A drag, a coach, whence drags-man. The reins, rib- 
 bons. Putting the team to a gallop, springing them. 
 Driving near to a corner, or any object, featheredging 
 it. An empty coach, the mad woman. The whip, a 
 tool. A complete coachman, an artist or workman. 
 Travelling great coats, benjamins, or upper benjamins, 
 and so on. The slang of the road, however, is on a 
 very confined scale compared with the slang of the 
 pugilistic ring; which, comprising much of that of 
 the now so numerous and respectable profession of 
 the abstractors, and retaining most of the favourite 
 flash terms of the old school, has received, and is pe- 
 riodically receiving infinite novel and ingenious ad- 
 ditions. Certain classes have immemorially had their 
 peculiar terms, slang, or flash ; for example, the saints 
 of Butler's days and their successors of the present : 
 the thieves, or abstractors — the gipsys — the ladies 
 of unquestionable reputation — the ring — the road — 
 the field and the turf. Now if there had not been 
 much of wit, and spirit, and attraction, in these 
 " little rum tongues," how has it happened that they 
 have ever been so attractive ? and that there have 
 been so many lexicons published to record and ex- 
 plain their terms ? Even the decorum of the pre- 
 sent day, which has fortunately put down profane 
 swearing, and would not endure the republication of 
 
THE HORSE. 223 
 
 such books as Captain Alexander Smith's Lives of 
 the Highwaymen, or Joe Miller's Jests, formerly in 
 everybody's hands, has not influence or power suffi- 
 cient to put down slang. For much of the cream 
 and wit of this slang, amateurs must undoubtedly 
 acknowledge their obligation to that indispensable 
 class in society which has of late become the object 
 of metropolitan aldermanic persecution. To afford 
 an example or two, though of an old date, one of this 
 class, so seldom apt to give birth, yet is said really 
 to have given birth to the then well known witticism, 
 " had my aunt been properly qualified, she might 
 have been my uncle." And in describing &Jlat, or 
 spooney, the phrase was, " he does not know common 
 sense from dog-fighting." They also, it is probable, 
 discovered the propriety of " taking a stray barber 
 to the green yard." Not to neglect " sea wit," in 
 this beadroll, sailing being one of my earliest hobby- 
 horses : the following specimens, among a great 
 number, I caught in the year of redemption, 1766, 
 whilst crossing the sea to Holland, and they have 
 remained warm in my too generally no memory, to 
 the present moment. A customhouse cutter hails a 
 market boat — "Whence came you, hoy?" "From 
 Cork." " Where are you bound ?" — " To Liver- 
 pool." "What's your lading?" — "Fruit and tim- 
 ber:" anglice, birchen brooms and potatoes. Our 
 cook, now and then, to my infinite satisfaction, 
 would aid the dinner with his favourite dish, a suit 
 of broad cloth, coat, waistcoat, and breeches ; that is 
 to say pancakes, the whole width of the pan; whilst 
 in the forecastle, they had bum-sturgeon, which is 
 a minister's muns (bullock's head) made into soup. 
 
224 THE HORSE. 
 
 SECTION XXXIV.— The Field. 
 
 The fox, hare, and deer, are the chief beasts of 
 venery, or chase, in this country. In a moral view, 
 nothing can be fairly alleged against the use of this 
 sport, however much may be advanced against its 
 abuse ; since from nature and necessity, men were ori- 
 ginally impelled to the chase of wild animals for their 
 subsistence ; nature also having endowed one class of 
 animals, that of the hound especially, with the neces- 
 sary qualifications of scent, and speed, and power of 
 continuance, together with a peculiar and ardent desire 
 for the pursuit. The chase, however, it must be ac- 
 knowledged, is the more appropriate sport of waste 
 and uncultivated, than of countries having a dense 
 population, and thence requiring the far greater part 
 of the soil for the culture of the first necessaries of 
 subsistence ; but in a rich and luxurious country, like 
 ours, where in consequence, diversion and dissipa- 
 tion become necessaries of life, the national waste and 
 damage from hunting is overlooked and tolerated, on 
 the ground of the national ability to sustain the ex- 
 pense. Nevertheless, in the view of the law, accord- 
 ing to the exposition of the late Lord Ellenborough, 
 no man has a right to hunt upon the lands of an- 
 other, without permission. This matter, however, 
 chiefly concerning landlord and tenant, and the te- 
 nantry in general being equally attached to the 
 sport with the lords of the soil, a tacit and implied, 
 or specific convention, is universal between the par- 
 ties. Considerate landlords are in the habit of 
 making compensation to the tenantry, in the case of 
 
THE HORSE. 225 
 
 excessive damage done to their crops by hunting; 
 indeed such is the only indemnity that a tenant can 
 expect, since however the law may appear to be on 
 his side, it is a mode of relief to which, for the most 
 obvious reasons, he must be little inclined to have 
 recourse. 
 
 No countries in the world are so enthusiastically 
 devoted to field sports, merely as sports, and pursued 
 on regular systematic principles, as our three United 
 Kingdoms; and of all our sports, hunting, especi- 
 ally foxhunting, is the most popular. The rage 
 for hunting some animal or other, seems instinct in 
 the breasts of our children, and to grow with their 
 growth, whence it happens that, in our towns even, 
 this hunting mania prevails to the persecution of any 
 and every unfortunate animal that may present ; and 
 to this source may be traced the abominable and 
 dangerous bullock hunting in the streets of the me- 
 tropolis. Thus a practice unobjectionable, and even 
 necessary in itself, and its legitimate exercise, may 
 be liable to very gross abuses, demanding the point- 
 ing out and reprobation of the moralists, and the 
 earnest solicitude of those parents and instructors in 
 whose province it lies to form and regulate the minds 
 of youth. 
 
 Though, according to the opinions and expecta- 
 tions of philosophic or polite authors, field sports 
 ought to decline in proportion to the advance of in- 
 tellectual improvement in a country, their vaticina- 
 tion has at no rate proved genuine with respect to 
 Britain. Instead of a decline, our sports, both of the 
 field and turf, and every kind, have experienced an 
 
 l2 
 
226 THE HORSE. 
 
 increase, greater even in proportion than the increase 
 of population, experiencing also the benefit of im- 
 provement, by being refined in a considerable degree, 
 from the grossness and horrors of ancient barbarism : 
 and could we, in addition to the late act, so justly, 
 wisely, and humanely passed by the legislature, for 
 the protection of brute animals, obtain its needful 
 counterpart for the interdiction of that unnatural 
 and disgraceful indulgence of the vilest passion, that 
 iniquity established by law, baiting of animals, 
 whether bulls, bears, badgers, monkeys, asses (for 
 in my youth, I have seen a poor jackass put up to be 
 baited), or any other animal possessed of life and 
 feeling, we might well rest satisfied with our existing 
 legal aids to a just and good end, and safely confide 
 whatever might remain to the gradual and benign 
 effects of moral improvement. 
 
 Foxhunting, harehunting, coursing, and 
 deerhunting, are universally known as our chief 
 field sports; and of which, foxhunting is equally 
 well known to be the reigning favourite, even some- 
 what to the disparagement of hunting the deer, long 
 since contemptuously styled " calf hunting," by our 
 crack foxhunters. A true Nimrod, of the old En- 
 glish school, said at one of his jovial dinners, " I 
 must hunt, but let it be the fox : calf hunting be 
 d — d !" This opinion gibes very well with my own. 
 In hunting the fox, we pursue a noxious vermin ; 
 a beast of prey and blood, himself a hunter. In 
 hunting the park or domesticated deer, we pursue 
 and harass a large domesticated animal of a totally 
 different nature to the fox ; and in good moral truth 
 
THE HORSE. 227 
 
 and fact, rather deserving of our protection than per- 
 secution. I have noted the largeness of the deer, 
 and I must own, that the tearing down of the deer 
 by a pack of hungry and ravenous hounds, has ever 
 imparted to my mind sensations, the very antipodes 
 to those of exhilaration and delight ; exclusive of the 
 horrible acts of cruelty which I have known to be 
 perpetrated at a certain hunt, by men more savage, 
 barbarous, and stolid than the hounds under their 
 direction. In former days, when an income would go 
 so much farther in procuring the necessaries and 
 luxuries of life than at present, (would such an advan- 
 tage return with our present population, were the 
 national debt reduced to the standard of those times ?) 
 the inferior aristocracy, or upper yeomanry of the 
 country, possessed of a landed estate of a few hun- 
 dred pounds a year, were able to keep packs of ten or 
 twelve couples of hounds, and a stable of hunters, en- 
 tertaining their sporting friends, and being entertained 
 interchangeably, with good solid dinners, washed down 
 with oceans of genuine old port, punch, and powerful 
 well brewed ale. We now live in days of the sign of 
 the case is altered ! To keep hounds at present, and 
 to answer all the concomitant expenses of horses, 
 servants, and company, even granting a system of 
 economy practicable, must put in requisition a rental 
 of considerable w r eight, whence every young man 
 succeeding to his estate, ought to look well before 
 him, previously to taking that jump. This gives oc- 
 casion to subscription hunts, in parts of the country 
 where are no private packs. There have been imme- 
 morially packs of foxhounds kept within a short 
 distance, little more than a convenient ride of the 
 
228 THE HORSE. 
 
 metropolis, of which the sportsmen of London have 
 ever availed themselves. Of these packs, the Surrey 
 and Kent have been most distinguished ; and the train- 
 ing stables for them are at Barrows Hedges, Smitham 
 Bottom, and Croydon. 
 
 But Leicestershire has long been the national head- 
 quarters of the foxhunt. It is said, that during the 
 last season, upwards of six hundred hunters were 
 kept at the different establishments in that county ; 
 and, estimating the annual expense of each horse at 
 601. the large sum of 36,000/. is, through this mean, 
 expended in the county, independent of the additional 
 sums which must necessarily be expended by the 
 proprietors. 
 
 Mortal man is continually flitting off the scene, 
 giving place to his successors ; and nothing can be a 
 fairer sequence than, as men change, as all things 
 change — opinions, modes, customs, must of necessity 
 change likewise, and that with improvement, if there 
 be any virtue in experience. In this respect, our 
 field sports, foxhunting essentially, have been at no 
 rate behind other national affairs. We have dis- 
 carded the heavy, cumbrous, and slow, in all things 
 appertaining to the hunt ; whether as to customs, 
 animals, furniture, and toggery, costume for the field, 
 adopting every measure in almost an opposite ex- 
 treme. The morning hour for reaching the covert is 
 now ten, or perhaps eleven o'clock ; and as we have 
 ceased to be early risers, a good speedy covert hack 
 is an acquisition of some consequence. Indeed I 
 never could enter into that spirit of hardihood in our 
 forefathers, which seems to have experienced such su- 
 preme delight in being roused from their warm beds, 
 
THE HORSE. 229 
 
 and from their Chords' sides, at four or five o'clock 
 in a winter's morning, to a breakfast by candlelight, 
 in order to a party of pleasure in the dark fog and 
 mist, over wet and poachy lands, amidst all the hor- 
 rors and chills of a late autumnal or winter's morn- 
 ing. Methinks, I have before my eyes the vision of 
 a field of these mighty hunters ! sitting upon their 
 horses, awaiting the huntsman's " halloo!" or at a 
 check, blowing their glove fingers, striking their 
 hands against their sides, and on the whole, look- 
 ing wondrous wise. These things certainly go off 
 better by a good light, in itself of no slight conse- 
 quence to the sport and to safety ; the later morning 
 giving a better chance for the clearing off the fogs, 
 and the improvement of the. weather. 
 
 The old English hunter, according to concur- 
 ring tradition, was a strong half bred horse, many of 
 these belonging to the yeomanry, being bred between 
 the racer and the lighter kind of cart mare. The 
 hounds being heavy eared and slow, in course, speed 
 was not the prime qualification required in the horse. 
 It must have been upwards of seventy or eighty 
 years since this slow system of hunting was universal 
 in England ; subsequently to which, it began gra- 
 dually and partially to give way, actual improve- 
 ment, even to the top standard of the present day, 
 having taken place though to a limited extent, more 
 than half a century past. At that period, the genuine 
 old English hunter, a breed destined in a few years 
 to become extinct, was seldom seen but in those ob- 
 scure parts of the country, which fashion had not 
 thitherto pervaded ; not but that in the comparative 
 few great breeding studs of ancient times, when they 
 
230 , THE HORSE. 
 
 had their bell courses and hunting matches, foreign, 
 English well bred, and thorough bred horses had 
 been ridden in the field, as we learn from the old 
 writers. To recur fifty or sixty years back, no emi- 
 nent hunt was at that period without its share of 
 thorough bred, seven eights and three part bred horses, 
 much indeed, as we find them at present, excepting 
 that they were not equally numerous. About that time 
 also commenced the definitive change in the breed of 
 foxhounds, then generally the southern heavy eared, 
 loud tongued, bony, slow hound. The ear of these 
 was reduced, the bone and bulk lightened, the waist 
 increased in length, and some addition made to the 
 stature ; in fine, an intire new foxhound was raised 
 through the medium and instrumentality of the 
 breeder's and improver's art, no doubt after an inde- 
 fatigable perseverance in experiment : the successful 
 result was much the same kind of hound, that we see 
 in the clipping packs of the present time. Thus the 
 incipient fashionable mania for speed in the field, was 
 enabled to gratify itself, and the new and improved 
 breed of foxhounds, through which the harriers were 
 also improved, spread itself by degrees, until in a 
 score or two of years, the old southern hound became 
 neglected in all the capital packs, and of late years, 
 that breed, in its purity at any rate, is to be found in 
 very few parts of the country, perhaps yet in Sussex 
 if any where. Some packs, however, are at present 
 seen with ears heavy beyond the usual standard, 
 which may have happened from a recross with the 
 old hound. 
 
 It was not possible, in the nature of things, or 
 rather of men, that a canine revolution like this could 
 
THE HORSE. 231 
 
 pass with general approbation. Indeed, it did not ; 
 many struggled for the old leaven, with which them- 
 selves, their sires, and grandsires, had leavened their 
 daily bread of hunting ; insisting, that the acquisition 
 of mere speed was literally Irish, and gaining a loss — 
 that hunting ought not to be racing — that the confu- 
 sion and hurry of spirits, or temporary madness, in- 
 duced by flying, instead of fairly galloping over the 
 country, entirely neutralized all the legitimate plea- 
 sures of the chace — that the melodious and deep toned 
 or cheering harmony of the old hunt was lost, in 
 riding to a pack of dumb hounds, which, even did 
 they possess tongue, from their excessive speed, 
 would have no time to use it: lastly, it was the 
 opinion of these dissentients, that one of the chief 
 qualifications of this new and speedy breed of hounds 
 was their superior ability to run horses to death in 
 the field. 
 
 Whilst writing a book, some few years since, inti- 
 tled the " Sportsman's Repository," in which there 
 are excellent engravings by the late Scott, I endea- 
 voured to trace the origin and breed of most of our 
 sporting dogs, and should have been extremely glad 
 to have obtained information as to the precise date of 
 the improvement of the hound to which I have just 
 adverted, and also of the names of the sportsmen who 
 worked the improvement ; but I could obtain nothing 
 definite or satisfactory, even from Colonel Thornton, 
 which leads me to conjecture that it may have occur- 
 red earlier than I have stated. It, however, most 
 probably originated in the sporting days of that 
 prince, among British Nimrods, Hugo Meynell, 
 with equal probability under his direction ; since the 
 
232 THE HORSE. 
 
 improved hounds tried at Newmarket, the first trial 
 of the new breed, I take it for granted, which had 
 taken place, were the property of him and Mr. Barry. 
 This trial of their speed resulted from the following 
 match between those two gentlemen, the particulars 
 of which I extract from my " British Field Sports," 
 where I omitted, however, to give the date, not finding 
 it in my countryman, Mr. Daniel's "Rural Sports." 
 Mr. Meynell matched two foxhounds, Richmond 
 and a bitch, against Mr. Barry's Bluecap and Wan- 
 ton, to run over the Beacon Course at Newmarket, 
 for five hundred guineas. Mr. Barry's hounds were 
 trained on Tiptree Heath, Essex, by the well known 
 Will Crane the huntsman, of Rivenhall Inn in that 
 neighbourhood. Their mode of training, was to run 
 a fox-drag three times a week upon turf, length of 
 the drag from eight to ten miles. They were kept to 
 their exercise from August 1st to September 28th, 
 and fed upon oatmeal and milk, and sheeps' trotters. 
 Mr. Meynell's hounds during their exercise were fed 
 entirely upon legs of mutton. On September the 
 30th the match was run by making the accustomed 
 drag from the rubbing house at Newmarket town end, 
 to the rubbing house at the starting post of the Bea- 
 con Course ; the four hounds being immediately laid 
 on the scent. Mr. Barry's Bluecap came in first, and 
 Wanton, very close to him, second ; the Beacon 
 Course, upwards of four miles, being run over by 
 these hounds, in a few seconds above eight minutes ; 
 the same time which an ordinary plate horse will 
 take to perform it in, with eight stone, or eight stone 
 seven pounds on his back ; and within which time, 
 Eclipse was said to have performed four miles at 
 
THE HORSE. 233 
 
 York, carrying twelve stone, which he probably 
 might do, although it really was not ascertained. 
 Mr. Meynell's Richmond was beaten by upwards of 
 one hundred yards, and the bitch did not run her 
 course through. Three score horsemen started with 
 the hounds, of whom, Cooper, Mr. Barry's hunts- 
 man, was first at the ending post, having rode the 
 mare that carried him quite blind ! — a stupid piece of 
 cruelty, in all probability arising from the weight the 
 mare carried, joined perhaps to want. of blood in her ; 
 speed after the rate of thirty miles per hour, continued 
 for four miles, appertaining only to racers and racing 
 weights, a fact of which sportsmen ought to have been 
 aware. Twelve horses only, out of the sixty, were 
 able to run in with the hounds, and indeed it is ex- 
 traordinary that twelve were found able so to do. 
 Will Crane mounted upon a King's Plate horse, 
 called Rib, being the twelfth. The odds before start- 
 ing, were seven to four in favour of Mr. MeynelL 
 The subsequent performance of Merkin, a foxhound 
 bitch, bred by Colonel Thornton, was far superior to 
 the above, granting, we might depend on the fidelity 
 of the account published, which went the length of 
 asserting, that she actually ran a trial of four miles in 
 seven minutes and half a second. Correct or other- 
 wise as such an extraordinary account might be, 
 Merkin was sold in 1795, for four hogsheads of claret, 
 the seller to be intitled to two couple of her whelps. 
 With deference, I submit to our gentlemen of the 
 crack hunts, and of the turf, whether a match or 
 sweepstakes of the elite of their foxhounds, over the 
 Beacon Course, would not at this time, be productive 
 of much sporting interest. 
 
234 THE HORSE. 
 
 The chief instrument made use of to lighten the 
 old southern hound was always understood to have 
 been the stallion greyhound, with perhaps a further 
 single cross of the pointer. Certainly, the improved 
 hounds which came under my early notice, seemed 
 plainly to indicate a greyhound cross. It ought to 
 have been stated above, that an earlier and partial 
 improvement had taken place in the hound, whence 
 arose the old distinction of the southern and the 
 northern hound. The pointer, originally a coarse, 
 bony, and ill formed animal imported from Spain, 
 has been also gradually improved to that lightness, 
 activity, and symmetry, which we now witness in the 
 breed. 
 
 But it behoves me to bear in memory, that my 
 business is with the horse, rather than with dogs 
 or hunting specifically. The hunter then, for the 
 modern field, in any part of this country, ought to be 
 at least, three parts bred ; and for whatever pack, 
 even that of Melton Mowbray, seven eights, for a 
 variety of reasons, is probably more eligible than full 
 blood. The former can race as has been sufficiently 
 often, and signally proved, should a fair field for 
 racing occur. He is not usually so high upon the leg 
 as the full bred horse, nor so great and inconvenient 
 a strider, and is easier to be found of a true hunting- 
 form ; he should be of a size and height adequate to 
 a sufficient command and cover in his fencing, with 
 ample substance in his shoulders, loins, and fillets, to 
 endure without flinching, the strain and jar of that 
 weight which they must necessarily sustain in land- 
 ing on the other side the fence. Tough and strong 
 feet are obviously necessary for flinty and hilly coun- 
 
THE HORSE. 235 
 
 tries, and it is equally obvious, that long pasterned 
 horses are not the best adapted to the chase in any 
 country. It may be pronounced a sine qua non that 
 a hunter should go clear of all his legs, and not brush 
 a hair. A good feeder with a firm constitution is 
 the horse, his exertions being beyond all others ex- 
 hausting ; his height not under fifteen hands one 
 inch, nor possibly above fifteen three, that the neces- 
 sity of a pocket ladder may be eschewed. A high 
 forehand is both useful and showy in the field, into 
 which no unfortunate nag in need of a crupper 
 should ever enter. The hunter should have a natural 
 instinctive desire to withhold himself from the em- 
 braces of his mother earth, which too many of the 
 species are so eager to court. He must have an innate 
 skill in picking his way over rough and broken, or 
 poachy grounds, and a facility to acquire the neces- 
 sary qualification of galloping adroitly, smoothly, and 
 safely over ridge and furrow; he must be temperate, 
 void of passion, or the penchant for breaking his own 
 or his rider's neck ; pleasant action in the long gallop, 
 that does not inordinately fatigue, and a good mouth, 
 are indispensable to the complete English hunter. 
 With respect to the last item, the true " snaffle-bridle 
 horse" is plainly indicated. Supposing that an un- 
 initiated reader should say to me — " But where am I 
 to find such a horse?" the best reply I can make, is 
 to refer him to Messrs. Tattersall, whose skill and 
 practice in the field go hand in hand with their pro- 
 vince of providing the public with horses calculated 
 to excel in that service. 
 
 To be carried pleasantly in the field, especially so 
 in a long day, is an object of no slight consequence. 
 
236 THE HORSE. 
 
 I once had a hunter of rare qualifications, enthusiasti- 
 cally attached to the sport, safe, knowing at all points 
 of the business, a rare flying fencer, equal to the 
 longest day, but though nearly thorough bred, such 
 a rough and jarring galloper as to neutralize all others, 
 though the highest qualities. The fondness and eager- 
 ness for the sport of hunting, equalling that of the 
 hounds themselves, evinced by some horses, is a 
 remarkable and long remarked trait in the character 
 of the horse; and it partakes of the nature of the 
 same passion in man, not in that, evidently of the 
 hounds. I may have related the following instance 
 elsewhere, but if so, I now claim the privilege of aged 
 garrulity. When I was about nine years of age, a 
 grandaughter of old Sampson, and of the highest re- 
 pute in her county as a hunter, the property of a near 
 relative of mine, being in her paddock, heard the cry 
 of the hounds ; in a moment she pricked up her ears, 
 snorted, and galloping towards the sound, took a jump 
 of most extraordinary altitude and danger, there being 
 a well with railing on the other side, and joined the 
 hunt. The gentlemen knowing the mare, were so 
 pleased and gratified with their new associate, that 
 no attempt was made to stop or catch her, and she 
 ran with them a considerable number of miles, till 
 they killed ; when one of the grooms secured her and 
 took her home. A still more extraordinary account 
 appeared in the newspapers a few months since. 
 Three of the horses of the Brighton coach chanced 
 to have finished their stage, and to have been stand- 
 ing unharnessed at the instant Lord Derby's stag- 
 hounds passed in full cry ; the horses started off and 
 joined the hunt con amore, and had the gratification 
 
THE HORSE. 237 
 
 of a run of some length, until the hounds were whip- 
 ped off; after which, even, they followed the stag 
 till they got up to his haunches, and then chased 
 him three miles on the hio;h road, when the stao- 
 taking a high fence, left them snorting on the wrong 
 side, to be secured by those in quest of them. 
 
 SECTION XXXV. 
 
 Riding in the field, requires very few peculiar in- 
 structions : the most essential that I have to give 
 after a tyro shall have acquired a good seat on horse- 
 back, and enabled himself to sit firmly and with 
 presence of mind and circumspection upon his horse 
 in a jump, and without shutting his eyes in passing 
 a fence, to which habit an old friend of mine was 
 accustomed, is to select the steadiest and best reputed 
 rider in the field, and to follow his course in all res- 
 pects, as nearly as a fresh man shall be able so to do. 
 The hunting seat on horseback partakes of both those 
 of the road and the turf, having little or nothing 
 peculiar, a long gallop or a canter in the field, requir- 
 ing the same form as on the road ; perhaps the late 
 Sam Chifney's seat, who rested more on his haunches, 
 than was the general custom with jockeys, may be the 
 most easy and convenient for the field. Some sports- 
 men ride a hole longer in the field than 6n the road ; 
 others ride with their feet as if slipping through the 
 stirrups, their toes thrust point blank towards the 
 earth, and to enhance the joke, choose to beportraited 
 in such style. As to jumping, initiatory practice may 
 be had at the bar, at school, or at any fences which 
 
238 THE HOKSE. 
 
 may present. The rules for sitting a horse in his 
 jump, are precisely the same as those which refer to 
 him when unquiet and he alternately rears and kicks: 
 if flying, sit fast, give your nag his head, and have 
 your wits about you. It may be often necessary 
 touch your horse with the spur or whip towards 
 the finish of his leap, in order to make him clear 
 his hinder legs; to the horse much ought, indeed 
 must be confided in this affair. If seasoned, and a 
 staunch fencer, it is a perilous thing to drive him at 
 a jump that he, most assuredly the best and safest 
 judge, has refused ; and I recollect several fatal acci- 
 dents from that vainglorious, but jay pated practice. 
 Nor is it always successful to drive a raw horse, by 
 the force of whip and spur, at a fence that has alarmed 
 him, it may render him habitually desperate and care- 
 less. The way to make a horse a steady, prompt, 
 and safe fencer, is to suffer him to take to it by de- 
 grees and spontaneously ; some very excellent hedge 
 fencers are naturally shy of timber, in particular 
 palings, and hurdles; such horses cannot be safely 
 put to those of any considerable height. Hunting 
 being the most delightful and favoured of all sports, 
 surely our enthusiasts might say to themselves before 
 taking a desperate or dangerous step — hold hard ! I 
 should like to enjoy another day's hunt, and there 
 may be no hunting in the other world. 
 
 The old wild goose chase, or modern steeple 
 hunt, are naturally enough consecutive on the above 
 remarks. The latter chase, however, sufficiently op- 
 pressive and ruinous to the horse, is a tender mercy 
 compared with the former, in which the beaten horse 
 
THE HORSE. 239 
 
 was flogged home by the whole company of barbaric 
 maniacs ! I have before said my say, on this precious 
 topic, in " British Field Sports," and elsewhere, un- 
 availably I too well know, but to myself, in discharge 
 of my conscience and my duty. Thus, having nothing 
 novel to adduce, and no hope, a bare notice may suf- 
 fice. In my juvenile days, we were accustomed to 
 characterise a certain class of men, as having more 
 of something else than of brains ; suppose then, in 
 conformity, we describe these modern wild goose 
 steeple hunters, as being endowed with more mettle 
 than wit, prob. est, I shall cast no blame in a public 
 view, on heroes, so prodigal of life and limb, on their 
 own proper account, since whatever may befall, such 
 a miss must be trifling indeed from our multitudinous 
 population ; but I do regret the cruelty of driving 
 brave, and generous, and useful animals into useless 
 and unprofitable dangers and hardships, from which 
 they can scarcely escape with impunity and sound- 
 ness, and through which, so many have been rendered 
 miserable cripples ever after, to be consigned to the 
 tender mercies of the road, there to be whipped sound. 
 Whilst writing, I heard of a poor unfortunate animal 
 having several horrnble falls in a steeple chase, from 
 the effects of which, apparent or latent, it is scarcely 
 possible he dan ever recover ; surely their legitimate 
 and indispensable services are sufficiently oppressive. 
 I have not heard that our famous Nimrod ever rode 
 to a steeple, and I confidently opine that he never will. 
 If he ever has done the trick, as Lord Chesterfield 
 said on another occasion, I crave his pardon. There 
 is another practice not very reconcilable with fellow 
 
240 THE HORSE. 
 
 feeling in the notable practitioners, which I appre- 
 hend may be of novel date, since in my day, I never 
 heard of such a tour; I allude to creeping, which 
 being interpreted from the Welsh, signifies driving a 
 horse a considerable length through brakes, thorns, 
 and briars; the impression of these upon the horse's 
 skin and flesh, aided by that of the spurs, no doubt 
 vigorously given, must leave the animal in a most 
 comfortable plight, and his skin in a rare state for the 
 subsequent application of the currycomb and brush, 
 more especially should he be high bred, and thin 
 skinned. These gentlemen creepers should ride the 
 old English thick hided hunter, of that party who 
 never stabled or dressed him, by such means furnish- 
 ing him with a coat impenetrable to wet and cold in 
 the field. 
 
 SECTION XXXVI. 
 
 The slang of the field has, in course, and confor- 
 mity, undergone its revolution. In former days we 
 rode after hounds, now we ride to them — we then 
 leaped, now we jump. We formerly leaped hedge, 
 ditch, and gate, now we jxxmip fence and timber. We 
 were proud of a good standing leaper, such a qualifi- 
 cation is now scarcely heard of, &Jiying jumper is the 
 mark, a good fencer, high and wide, and so forth. 
 With these various and peculiar slangs, I have al- 
 ready declared myself well satisfied ; not so with cer- 
 tain late fastidious and delicate, or cockney intro- 
 ductions, e. g. the tautology, entire horse (from the 
 French, cheval entier) — a huntress — a female poney, 
 
THE HORSE. 241 
 
 and so on. These savour too strongly of Cheapside, 
 nor is it probable we shall ever find preferable sub- 
 stitutes for the old terms, 'a hunting mare, and a 
 mare poney.' But an overstrained and spurious deli- 
 cacy and refinement of language has long been creep- 
 ing in upon us. I remember, many years since, a 
 strong push was made by Col. , the first maca- 
 roni (dandy) of the day, to sport for general use, 
 waitcher, instead of the stale pronunciation, waiter. 
 In Mr. Pitt's days, in the House of Commons, when 
 I took great delight in attending the gallery (as pre- 
 viously, in the days of his father and of Lord North), 
 it was attempted to render the not then very long- 
 adopted word, police, more liquid, by pronouncing it 
 polyeece. It was then also said, that a certain mem- 
 ber of the Hackney College had decided on the pro- 
 priety of pronouncing the word cctf/i'-e-dral, instead 
 of ca-the-dral, according to established custom, out 
 of due complaisance to the Greek, from which it is a 
 derivative. A universal rule of this kind would in- 
 duce a real Babylonish confusion of tongues among 
 us. Then again we must reject, as vulgar and illite- 
 rate, the old abbreviations, and articulate preciselv 
 every syllable, a pleasant instance of which occurred 
 to me formerly. I dined at the Old Blue Posts, at 
 Witham, in Essex, and chancing to introduce the 
 name of the town of Cocksall, as we in the old time 
 pronounced it, the waiter, a young man of the improved 
 class, though the schoolmaster had not then been 
 abroad, drawing himself up with infinite self appro- 
 bation observed — " I presume, Sir, you mean Cog- 
 ges-hall." But in this case we fail to do things even 
 
 M 
 
242 THE HORSE. 
 
 by halves, we leave so much undone. We do not 
 yet call the noble Earl Chol-mond-eley, nor do we 
 talk of going to Car-shal-ton, but, in the old style, we 
 still go to Case-horton. It would not be doing justice 
 to the modish refinement of the Rev. Dr. Cursham, 
 of Mansfield, to omit his late communication to a 
 London journal, that his female dog had littered four- 
 teen pups ! 
 
 But for hunting, and sporting slang of every de- 
 scription, and, indeed, for every species of informa- 
 tion relative to our national sports, with their regular 
 chronology, I refer the aspirant and the curious stu- 
 dent to that most popular periodical work, which I 
 have already so often quoted, the Sporting Maga- 
 zine. They will in that find a grammar and a text 
 book, affording them the most ample satisfaction. 
 This periodical has long enjoyed a most extensive 
 circulation, not only throughout Britain and Ireland, 
 but on the continent, in America, the East and AVest 
 Indies, indeed, wherever the English language is 
 known. 
 
 Having been a contributor to this Magazine some 
 seven and thirty years, originally a volunteer, I am 
 enabled to say a few words on its origin and history. 
 It was started about forty years since, by Mr. Cooke, 
 an engraver, who, unable to turn it to any use, whether 
 to himself or the public, gave the bag to hold to the 
 late Mr. Wheble. This latter proprietor continued the 
 publication during six or seven years, with little better 
 success ; but, being also the proprietor and publisher 
 of two weekly newspapers, he was enabled to publish 
 the Magazine on better terms than his predecessor, 
 
THE HORSE. 243 
 
 and if with no concomitant profit, at least, with little 
 or no loss. Yet the sporting world would not receive 
 the Sporting Magazine. At this period, Mr. Wheble, 
 personally a stranger to me, having made consider- 
 able use of my book on horses, then recent, desired 
 that we might have a conference on the best mode of 
 circulating the Magazine. In conformity, and judg- 
 ing it to be the best mean, I made application on 
 the subject to an old sporting friend, who very kindly 
 and liberally using his extensive influence, the Maga- 
 zine obtained a footing on the Turf; and gradually, 
 in the course of years, arrived at a very considerable 
 and profitable sale as a sporting and miscellaneous 
 publication. 
 
 Many years however passed on, with but slender 
 encouragement from the field, a most important 
 deficit in a sporting work, considering that hunting 
 is the most popular of all our sports. On this account 
 I was again applied to, both by Mr. Wheble and 
 the late Mr. Pittman, his successor, with the request 
 that I would endeavour to engage some gentleman 
 foxhunter, au fait, and tarn Mer curio quam Diana, 
 to correspond with the Magazine, and to give a regu- 
 lar account of his campaigns, with occasional essays 
 on the theory and pratique of the sport. I met with 
 no success whatever, that which I did meet with was, 
 shrugs and reluctance at the labour and ennui which 
 must necessarily result from such an undertaking. 
 In the year 1821, however, Mr. Pittman himself was 
 more successful, and one morning he agreeably sur- 
 prised me with the information that a gentleman, 
 eminently qualified, had offered his assistance. This 
 
244 THE HORSE. 
 
 • 
 
 was the since celebrated Nimrod, who has, in very 
 deed, turned up a trump, and of whom we may justly 
 say — a greater than Beckford is here. He has regu- 
 larly continued his valuable communications from 
 that period, and has been also the means of encou- 
 raging other gentlemen, of high qualifications and 
 ability, to contribute their quota towards rendering 
 the Sporting Magazine a complete history of the 
 annual transactions of the field. 
 
 My late controversy with Nimrod, and Co., on 
 " summering the hunter" is well known to all readers 
 of the Sporting Magazine, and, as I had not altoge- 
 ther fair play in those pages, I shall take some 
 further notice of the subject in the present. Nimrod, 
 in his earliest communications, introduced his fa- 
 vourite plan of summering the hunter in the stable. 
 Convinced, from long experience, and from the supe- 
 rior experience of a vast majority of the keepers of 
 hunters in these kingdoms, of the obvious preference 
 due to the established and contrary practice, I, with- 
 out hesitation, or the slightest suspicion that I should 
 thereby give offence, addressed a letter to the Maga- 
 zine, stating my sentiments in the premises. In 
 consequence I was very shortly afterwards attacked, 
 in no very measured or complacent terms, by Nimrod, 
 backed by, I conceive, a warm-headed band of juve- 
 nile sportsmen (Nimrod himself, indeed, no chicken), 
 aniong whom was the late unfortunate and lamented 
 Lord Harley, who attacked me Hudibrastically, in 
 
 " Words far bitterer than wormwood, 
 That would in Job, or Grizel stir mood." 
 
THE HORSE. 245 
 
 However, I have no right to complain, nor do I, 
 since, laying aside my natural and habitual gravity, I 
 fired upon the assailants with shot of no very dissi- 
 milar composition. The affair, and particularly one 
 very gross and ridiculous portion of it, occasioned 
 various grave meetings between Pittman and me, 
 which, with whatever gravity they might commence, 
 generally concluded with a mutual hearty laugh, and 
 a promise from him that the editorial scales should 
 in future, be held with more even handed justice. 
 
 For my arguments, and those of other correspon- 
 dents in favour of summering the hunter abroad, 
 more majorum, and according to the practice of a 
 great majority of our modern sportsmen, I refer the 
 reader to the pages of the Sporting Magazine, be- 
 tween the years 1822 and 1827. It remains for me to 
 say something on the earlier history of this contro- 
 versy, for which end I have had recourse to my re- 
 collections, and to the pages of our old writers. The 
 fact has thence resulted that summer stabling, a very 
 ancient practice abroad, was attempted to be intro- 
 duced, as it should seem, by continental marechales 
 and grooms, in those days, chiefly employed by our 
 great sporting gentlemen and breeders. These 
 foreigners, natives of a country where the grass is 
 burnt up during the summer solstice, and the soil as 
 hard as a turnpike road, unaware of the virtues of the 
 English summer herbage, and of the benefits to be 
 derived to the limbs and constitution of the horse, from 
 the air and the salubrious moisture of the sod, had 
 no opinion of the practice of summer pasture. Then, 
 as now, however, they were able to prevail with very 
 
246 THE HORSE. 
 
 few proprietors, against a practice, no doubt equally 
 ancient in Britain as breeding the horse himself, and 
 essentially with the keepers of hunters. Hear what 
 the learned Michaell Baret says, in his " Hipponome, 
 or Vineyard of Horsemanship." 
 
 "The first ordering of a hunting horse. 
 Then you may (for his better increase of courage and 
 strength) if it please you, put him to grasse, and so 
 let him runne all summer, from middle May to Bar- 
 tholomew tide, or, at least, from the midst of sum- 
 mer to that time, for then the weather is too hot to 
 give him such exercise as he should have, which, 
 if it be otherwise (being rightly considered), it doth 
 more hurt than good, and so better he be idle than 
 ill imploied, although some loue to be practising, 
 albeit be without knowledge or reason ; but the fruit 
 they reape thereby is answerable, being as good neuer 
 a whit as neuer a deale the better, nay oftentimes the 
 worse, in regard of the errors that come through 
 neglect." Some years since I published, in the 
 Sporting Magazine, a regular and operose mathema- 
 tical diagram of this author, to the prove the slowest 
 horse (stoutest and most lasting), in reality, the spee- 
 diest: I suppose as having the longest duration of 
 speed in a given distance. 
 
 Attempts to introduce this continental summer 
 practice with the hunter into general use, have been 
 ever since periodical, but ever, as now, abortive. 
 Mr. Beckford quotes it in his day, but without his 
 countenance. He demands, can standing in a hot 
 stable (during the summer) do a hunter any good ? 
 I thus spoke of the practice in one of my books, and 
 
THE HORSE. 247 
 
 I still retain my opinion without change or reserve. 
 " Nothing can come in competition with the sound- 
 ness of the horse's legs and feet, and the refrigeration, 
 and, as we may say, reanimation, after months of 
 excessive labour and straining, and confinement to a 
 solid, heating, and constipating diet. There is no 
 equal remedy in the case to that best of all coolers 
 and alterants, the spring grass, the purifying, elastic 
 external air, and the dew of heaven. What can a 
 horse possibly lose by rational and natural treatment 
 like this, excepting in the mere imagination of his 
 owner ? The fineness of his skin is easily recoverable, 
 and, with respect to good order (condition), that, one 
 would suppose, must rather consist in renovated 
 vigour, and augmented powers of action, than in ap- 
 pearance, or any presumed virtue of custom. The 
 holyday of a month or two out of the twelve, is a 
 kindness we owe to the horse which so dearly earns 
 it, whilst it contributes to lengthen, and to render his 
 services of more worth." The grass of this country 
 has made horses, why not mend them ? 
 
 I am aware we have our gentlemen condition-hun- 
 ters, those preux chevaliers, who decide, sur le champ, 
 by the imposition of hands, and we formerly had our 
 land-tasters ; but the proof of the pudding is in the 
 eating ; and what hunter summered abroad, and sub- 
 sequently trained with judgment, has ever been 
 known to fail in consequence of such practice ? Ask 
 the noble Lords Derby and Petre, Mr. Farquharson, 
 and Mr. Maberly, I should rather say, ask the majo- 
 rity of the keepers of hunters throughout Britain. 
 In that famous run of forty miles by Mr. Farquhar- 
 
248 THE HORSE. 
 
 son's hounds in Dorset, about three years since, when 
 out of a held of seventy horses, five only were in with 
 the hounds when they ran the fox to earth, these five 
 had been summered abroad. A hunter become very 
 stale in his limbs, from work, may be stripped and 
 turned off early and fed abroad, the spring grass not 
 being ready. In the fly season, convenience admit- 
 ting, he may be sheltered by day, should that appear 
 necessary. A horse, indeed, must have an inclosure 
 to himself, but the geldings and mares used in the 
 field, I apprehend form a great majority. Suppose 
 the hunter taken up on the first of August, he 
 will have a month to get through his physic, and 
 two months' exercise, since there is seldom much 
 doing in the field until the beginning of November, 
 excepting, perhaps a little cub hunting ; and the 
 commencement of the season frequently proves to be 
 nothing more than good training for the hunter ; 
 but even should a severe run then occur, he would 
 not be caught unprepared after two months' constant 
 and regular exercise. Or a hunter turned off in 
 March, and fed, may be taken up at Midsummer. 
 The old notion of a horse loosing his " hard meat," 
 accumulated in the stable, from the purgative effects 
 of the grass, takes no credit here, as invariable expe- 
 rience has shown. So liable is the horse to be stuffed 
 and confined in his intestines, while at dry and hard 
 food, that the change appears to be generally benefi- 
 cial ; and I hold that, after such thorough cleansing, 
 two or three months of hard meat will impart equal 
 •strength and superior activity and energy, to any 
 length of previous stable keep. The late advocates 
 
THE HORSE. 249 
 
 of summer stabling have got up deep and alarming 
 tragedies of raw head and bloody bone accidents, 
 probable to occur in the pastures. No doubt acci- 
 dents may occur there as elsewhere, nor can any 
 system of absolute safety and perfection be disco- 
 vered ; but, with respect to myself, I have been so 
 fortunate as to escape such accidents, nor do I hear 
 of much lamentation on that score, saving and ex- 
 cepting from the gentlemen alarmists above men- 
 tioned. To close the dissection of this limb of the 
 subject with the intelligence I obtained last year — 
 inquiring in several counties, who summered their 
 hunters in the stable? I got quizzed and joked. I 
 could not hear of a single hunt wherein it was prac- 
 tised. It was observed to me that, in the opinion of 
 my informants, the persons who kept their hunters in 
 the stable, were those who had occasion to ride them 
 hackney in the summer season ; and my informants, 
 moreover, thought it would be derogatory from the 
 high degree of liberality and feeling which distin- 
 guished the true British sportsman, to treat the noble 
 and generous horse, the minister and companion of 
 one of their highest gratifications, with such coldness 
 and neglect. The considerable saving of expense, by 
 summering hunters abroad, forms no item, in course, 
 with the liberal sportsman, his motive is superior. 
 
 But every proposition, or question, is bi-lateral, of 
 necessity having two sides, and it is scarcely a sup- 
 posable thing that I can be either ignorant or un- 
 mindful of the accidents which may happen to a 
 hunter at summer grass. In the first place, the 
 quality of the pasture is to be considered in any sea- 
 
 m 2 
 
250 THE HORSE. 
 
 son ; and should the season be droughty, the herbage 
 burnt up, and the ground hard, under which circum- 
 stances the flies are most annoying, a horse cannot 
 feed in the day time, but will be harassed and driven 
 up and down, and, instead of receiving the expected 
 benefit to his limbs and feet, will at a certainty, ex- 
 perience an increase of their maladies, and the con- 
 dition of the horse will be much reduced. Again, to 
 turn hunters into grounds with a numerous rabble of 
 horses, is the readiest possible mode to get them 
 kicked, lamed, and subjected to every variety of acci- 
 dent. But what proprietor of hunters, a real sports- 
 man, could be guilty of such an extravagance ? Be- 
 yond all question, in such a season, and pastures of 
 better condition and sheltered being unattainable, it 
 would be no part of common prudence to expose 
 hunters, or, indeed, any horses, to such useless risks, 
 from which they might be exempt and safe at home. 
 But this argument is valid only against the abuse of 
 a most useful practice. As to engaging safe and 
 proper runs at grass, for hunters, expense is quite out 
 of question; such horses are not kept for a trifle, 
 whether within doors or without. On the necessity of 
 their constant inspection whilst abroad, I have already 
 dilated. Home, or near pastures are a great conve- 
 nience, not only as the horses are then constantly 
 under the groom's eye, but that, in great heats, they 
 may be taken in during the day time. I have now 
 the letter of a gentleman before me, of the date of 
 February, 1827, proprietor of a celebrated pack of 
 foxhounds, and a stud of hunters of high repute. 
 This gentleman rode a hunter which, during the pre- 
 
THE HORSE. 251 
 
 vious spring and summer, that is to say, until the 
 first week in August, had been kept on hay only, 
 (why corn was not allowed not stated) in an open 
 loose stable, with a yard well littered down, in which 
 to exercise himself at will. After his exercise he 
 appeared in condition fully equal to any horse in 
 the field, and proved equally stout. It is the prac- 
 tice, in this stud, to allow the hunters corn a week 
 or two before they are taken up from grass. 
 
 SECTION XXXVII. 
 
 As to the method of training the hunter, after he shall 
 be well through his two or three purges, that must 
 be left to general custom and the experienced train- 
 ing groom. The horse should go out lightly clothed 
 to take his gallops, as often as possible, twice a 
 day, the distance being increased as his condition 
 improves. I really conceive there can seldom be 
 occasion for sweating the hunter, though I have 
 generally known it practised by some sportsmen. 
 Sweating, even if not overdone, too often the case, 
 may take something out of the horse of which he 
 may stand in need during a long run in the field, 
 where his business is not mere speed throughout, 
 and where he wants the sound use of his limbs and 
 full constitutional powers, not at all promoted by the 
 laborious exertion of running a long sweat with a 
 heavy weight upon his back. Walking exercise, 
 alternated with the modern favourite substitute of 
 the jog trot, will contribute, with his gallops, to 
 keep under superfluous flesh. As to feeding the 
 
252 THE HORSE. 
 
 hunter, it is a topic which may be dispatched in a 
 few words. The quantity of solid corn allowed to 
 the racer, the hunter, and the stage horse, must in 
 general be measured solely by their appetite and 
 digestion; with respect to hay, regular grooms are 
 not usually prone to overfill their horses' stomachs 
 with it, and some of them, like their grandsires, are 
 niggards of water. The occasional use of the muzzle 
 is indispensable to foul feeders, that will not only fill 
 themselves to blowing with hay, but with their litter. 
 Beside this real use of the muzzle, however, the 
 ancient jockeys assigned to it a very important ima- 
 ginary one, that of promoting the horse's wind, by 
 occasionally confining it, and forcing him to breath 
 with difficulty. Upon a similar principle they trained 
 the racer in such as were styled " shoes of advan- 
 tage," namely, very heavy ones, that they might 
 acquire an access of speed in their race, from the 
 change to the lightness of their plates ! The hunter 
 is fed four or five times a day, that is to say, at each 
 stable hour. 
 
 The following important observations are to be 
 found in one of the early letters of the thoroughly 
 experienced Nimrod. " The one (racer) is not more 
 than a few minutes in completing his task, whereas, 
 the other (hunter) is often ten or twelve hours about 
 his; the preparation therefore must be different — the 
 training groom (of the running stables) would be apt 
 to draw his horses too fine for the continued fatigue 
 they (hunters) have to go through. Good flesh as I 
 before observed is strength ; and in the preparation 
 of a hunter, particularly if he have to carry a heavy 
 
THE HORSE. 253 
 
 man, to get him high in flesh and strong in work, is 
 the perfection of the art of grooming." The reader 
 will have observed, that Nimrod gave a similar 
 opinion respecting the condition of fast coachhorses. 
 In this I most cordially agree ; good firm flesh is 
 indeed strength, but it has ever been too much the 
 custom of trainers, whether of horses or men, to 
 make too free with this good flesh, and to lay the 
 bones too bare. I could give a long list of cases, in 
 which the fact is but too apparent, at the tail of 
 which might be adduced a late very prominent ex- 
 ample in the pugilistic (we must not say boxing) 
 ring. Sound logic will not result from arguing in 
 extremis. There may, for ought I know, be horses 
 which require sweats, in order to bring them into 
 condition for the field ; but I well know, there is no 
 general necessity, nor has it been the general prac- 
 tice ; and the instances are innumerable, of horses 
 never having had a sweat, brought to the covert side 
 in the highest condition, whether internal or external, 
 of which they directly, sur le champ, afforded the most 
 satisfactory proof in the field. But crack trainers say, 
 and most correctly, a l horse cannot run fat.' There 
 is, however, an item in this case not generally ad- 
 verted to. Oats and beans are not only good, but 
 indispensable things, and too many, both proprietors 
 and trainers there are, who entertain the notion, that 
 a horse cannot have too much of a good thing, un- 
 mindful of that corrective which ought to accompany 
 the old saying — too much, even of a good thing, is 
 good for nothing. All horses intended for excessive 
 exertions, must be fed to the utmost calibre of their 
 
254 THE HORSE. 
 
 appetite and digestion ; but if these be over marked 
 in a craving horse,, the surplus nourishment, instead 
 of imparting strength and powers of activity and ex- 
 ertion, will rather tend to line him with fat, in the 
 proper style of a bullock or a hog : then go the heavy 
 sweaters to work, to fuse and drain off in copious 
 streams, that material which has been so uselessly 
 and mischievously accumulated ; but this is not 
 always done with impunity, and may soon be done 
 once too often, both for the limbs and constitution of 
 the horse. The digestive powers of horses vary very 
 much, and it is a point of great and needful skill in a 
 groom, to learn critically, the daily quantum of solid 
 corn that the stomach of his horse is able to convert 
 to real and effective nourishment. Racers indeed, 
 must be sweated, but the practice is not now, at New- 
 market at least, carried to the excess of former days. 
 As to the hunter, with two or three months' regular 
 training after physic, and if above himself, frequent 
 rather long, and sometimes brushing gallops over 
 ploughed grounds, not too heavy, he will appear in 
 the season, not rough, but ready, and with a due por- 
 tion upon him, of that good Nimrodian flesh above 
 quoted, and none other. Strong work, and sweating 
 a horse the day before he hunts, I look upon to be the 
 most irrational and worst part of the practice ; nor can 
 I agree with some from whom I have heard the asser- 
 tion, that an unsound horse may shift very well in the 
 field ; such may full soon prove a dangerous shift. 
 
 For the reasons above stated, the unfitness of the 
 soil on the continent for summering horses abroad, it 
 is natural and rational enough for continental pro- 
 
THE HORSE. 255 
 
 prietors to concur in advocating the opposite prac- 
 tice ; and the same rule operates with regard to our 
 countrymen in India, where both the soil and climate, 
 not to forget the incessant torture inflicted by myriads 
 of insects, must absolutely interdict the old British 
 practice ; I have never been upon our northern con- 
 tinent in the summer, but have always understood, 
 that in every part, the fly alone is an effectual bar to 
 the exposure of horses abroad in that season. It must, 
 however, not be forgotten in our summering, that our 
 sixteenersy and lofty shouldered horses are necessarily 
 bad grazers, and must not be turned upon a sheep 
 pasture, but upon a full ox-bite of sweet and whole- 
 some, not rank and coarse herbage j and if needful, 
 grass, natural or artificial, lucerne or melilot, should 
 be cut, and placed in racks in the field. A reserve of 
 carrots also, for hunters out of work, and waiting for 
 the spring grass, is an excellent resource ; they are, as 
 has been said, nutritious, at the same time, alterative, 
 cooling, and diuretic. The general stable routine, 
 as to essentials among our superior and sporting pro- 
 prietors of horses, is much the same, whether for 
 racers, hunters, or hacks. The hunter on going out, 
 should on no account, be denied a reasonable quan- 
 tity of water, which may be his whole day's supply ; 
 nor should he, especially if he have a long walk to 
 covert, be too empty. There were in former days, 
 when it was the rule to starve horses such a number 
 of hours before hand, dreadful instances of debility 
 from inanition, est modus in rebus. After a hard 
 day's work, and especially should the horse be mate- 
 rially affected by it, every regular groom knows the 
 use and efficacy of mashes with oats or malt, and 
 
256 THE HORSE. 
 
 gruel, with locks of the sweetest and finest hay ; and 
 also the cheering; and invigorating effect of the cor- 
 dial ball (compounded of genuine and proper ingre- 
 dients), when no contra indications are apparent from 
 inflammation. But in the presence or suspicion of 
 inflammatory symptoms, cordials should certainly be 
 omitted ; and as for the ball sometimes prescribed in 
 the case, half nitre, and half cordial ball, it is a 
 mawkish and sickening mess, in the old Suffolk far- 
 rier's opinion, ' a kind of a heater, and a kind of a 
 cooler/ but very unfit for the deranged and debilitated 
 stomach of the horse. The heated and swollen legs 
 of the horse are cooled by water as warm as he can 
 bear it, and are then bandaged with flannel rollers, 
 the legs and feet having been previously and carefully 
 examined for thorns, bruises, over-reach, or wounds, 
 to the risk of which, the legs of hunters must be so 
 unavoidably exposed. In a dangerous case, when 
 from the inflammatory symptoms the abstraction of 
 blood must be resorted to, the presence of an able 
 veterinary surgeon is necessary. 
 
 SECTION XXXVIII. 
 
 Being no sycophant either of individuals or bodies 
 of men, however elevated in the world's opinion, but 
 simply and sincerely the humble advocate of their 
 honour and their interest, and having already made 
 free with the rising favourite, but not very defensible 
 amusement of hunting the steeples of holy mother 
 church, I proceed to that other noble and exalted 
 sportive gratification of riding to death in the field, 
 the most willing, generous, and meritorious of brute 
 
THE HORSE. 257 
 
 animals and slaves. To that man, however, of whom 
 it has been nobly boasted, that, " he has sent more 
 horses to the nackers than any other man in Eng- 
 land," — -to such, I have not one single word to say. 
 About as much to the hero, who has the rare hardi- 
 hood and ambition to risk the breaking of his neck 
 for fun, and by way of " a lark." I could give an 
 affecting anecdote of this kind, which occurred many 
 years since; and of another, in crossing a piece of 
 waste ground broken up by rabbits, and of which I 
 was an eye witness, but I forbear out of respect to the 
 feelings of still surviving relatives. It however, may 
 with truth be said, that such part of riding to hounds 
 is more dangerous and difficult to be guarded against 
 than any fence, whether hedge or timber, that may 
 present; because in this latter case, both man and 
 horse have their eyes and judgment to which they 
 may appeal. Now, as to a horse failing in the field, 
 such accident fairly resulting from his own and the 
 headlong enthusiasm of his rider, nothing can be 
 urged which would not equally militate against the 
 principle itself of hunting, against which I have 
 nothing to allege ; and thus much may be said in favour 
 of this princely sport, conducted on the principles of 
 our common sense and common humanity, nothing 
 contributes more powerfully to mental exhilaration, 
 to hardihood, and the encounter of fair personal risks; 
 and we live in a world where it is obligatory upon us to 
 dare and encounter such. But the driving a horse to 
 death in the chace, by the brute force of whip and 
 spur, presents a very different action to our view, in 
 truth, an act of gross and abominable cruelty and in- 
 
258 THE HORSE. 
 
 justice, for which, insanity and the fanaticism of the 
 field alone, can be urged as the apology. I congra- 
 tulate myself, that I can never again witness, for I 
 have witnessed, the dying groans and sobs, and sight- 
 less eyes, and ears bedewed with the sweat of death, 
 and blood issuing from the nose and mouth of the 
 fallen and heart-broken hunter ! What a spectacle to 
 be coupled with ideas of sport, exultation, and enjoy- 
 ment ! So far as my observation has reached, these 
 distressing and fatal accidents have in general, mighty 
 little to do with condition ; for whatever may be the 
 nag's condition, and whether he may have been sum- 
 mer stabled or grazed, his powers cannot be urged 
 with impunity, beyond the boundaries of nature ; and 
 the keen sportsman would do well to consider, that 
 with his horse's ability or inability, his sport, his 
 heart's delight, must flourish, or fade and be utterly 
 extinguished. It is a beautiful and saving reflection 
 for a Nimrod, or for any man in whatever way he may 
 be engaged — nullum numen abest, si sit prudentia. 
 
 By general suffrage, Melton Mowbray is, and 
 has long been the head quarters, the Newmarket of 
 foxhunting. There, are to be found the highest bred 
 and highest reputed hunters, with the most crack 
 riders to hounds, and every kind of practice and dis- 
 cipline relative to the stable or the field, at the sum- 
 mit of that perfection which the sport has hitherto 
 attained. As a signal specimen of the powers and 
 spring of the horse, and worthy of record, Lord 
 Alvanley's hunter Chesterfield, about the beginning 
 of the present year, at Melton, covered in a single 
 bound, the space of eleven yards, three inches, thereby 
 
THE HORSE. 259 
 
 outdoing the recorded famous spring of Flying Chil- 
 clers. Before I quit the field, let me acknowledge 
 that, I have made very free, in the probable estimation 
 of some, too free, with certain favourite opinions and 
 practices; my plea is, that I have acted from a mere 
 simple conviction of rectitude, and far enough from 
 any idea of dogmatising, or the anile and prejudiced 
 desire of propping up old usages, or defending im- 
 practicable theories. I am a true pro-catholic, and 
 neither quarrel with, nor hate any man, on the score 
 of his opinions, demanding however, the equal am- 
 nesty for my own ; at the same time, I am not mad and 
 silly enough to expect, that the motion of this feeble 
 pen shall assimilate to itself all opinions, in accord with 
 the expectation entertained by the mathematicians of 
 Butler's days, from their universal standard of mea- 
 sure, the vibration of the pendulum, which was to — 
 
 " Make all tailors' yards of one 
 Unanimous opinion." 
 
 Sporting readers, gentle and ungentle, I beseech 
 ye, in the bowels of common sense and common free- 
 dom, to entertain no angry feelings against me. 
 
 Let me adduce at least one sporting authority, an 
 old one indeed, to keep me in countenance with that 
 which will be deemed my old fashioned sentimenta- 
 lity. It is the moral and considerate Baret, whom I 
 have so often and variously quoted. I have modern- 
 ised the orthography. " But because the wild-goose 
 chase is such an unmerciful and unreasonable toil, 
 as the name itself doth import, without any medio- 
 crity or order, I will pass over it as an exercise not 
 
260 THE HORSE. 
 
 worthy of the time, because it is the hazard of the 
 spoil and ruin of such excellent creatures ; for if two 
 good horses be met, the match cannot be tried, till 
 one of them be half spoiled, if not both : nay, some- 
 times they are both brought so weak, that they are 
 neither of them able to go, and then when they are, 
 so Turkishly tormented, the match is fain to be 
 drawn, and so (their owners) depart as wise as at the 
 term of their exercise. 
 
 "Through which unmerciful delight, they abuse 
 the liberty of their sovereignty, and turn it to rigour, 
 as a tyrannous king, contrary to the commandment 
 of God, for we should be merciful as our Father is 
 merciful; which is not only extended in his promise, 
 but also in his providence, which preserveth as well 
 the unreasonable, as the reasonable creatures ; and, 
 therefore, they should be used to the ends for which 
 they were ordained, for the use, service, and delight 
 of man, and have a care over them, being for our 
 profit : and I pray you, what care or pity is there 
 shown towards them, when they are so cruelly per- 
 secuted, and wilfully spoiled by such extreme la- 
 bour? 
 
 "Therefore, seeing it is oftentimes the subversion 
 of such excellent creatures, he is not worthy to have 
 a good horse, that maketh no more account of him, 
 but to rack his goodness upon such unreasonable 
 and unmerciful tenters (although there may be 
 shown much horsemanship), seeing there may be trial 
 enough had, both of the goodness of the horse, and 
 skill of the man in train-scents." — Hunting Matches, 
 chap. 14, p. 52. 
 
THE HORSE. 261 
 
 SECTION XXXIX.— The Turf. 
 
 The Sport of the Turf, or witnessing the contention 
 between horses for superiority of speed and endur- 
 ance, is of high classical antiquity, forming the grand 
 object of the Olympian and Pythian Games of an- 
 cient Greece. These games were annually celebrated 
 in all the Grecian cities, with a splendour and mag- 
 nificence of which no modern era has exhibited an 
 example. Their objects were more extensive than 
 those of any later period, or of ours at the present 
 time. They were chiefly directed to warlike pur- 
 poses ; and the races with war-chariots seem to have 
 obtained the paramount consideration. In both their 
 chariot and horse races, the jockeys, consisted of the 
 nobles and first men of the country ; in the latter, 
 they rode without either saddle or stirrups, whilst 
 even " crossing and jostling" were allowed ! A pretty 
 lesson this would be for our modern Buckles, Chif- 
 neys, and Goodisons. The ancient course, or Hippo- 
 drome, moreover, in direct opposition to the carefully 
 regulated state of the modern, was purposely ren- 
 dered irregular and uneven with various obstruc- 
 tions interspersed. They ran heats, both in the cha- 
 riot and horse races, the distance upwards of four 
 miles to a heat ; and as the grand view was to in- 
 spire the charioteers and riders with the utmost 
 hardihood and contempt of personal danger, as well 
 as to enable them to acquire the highest degree of 
 skill and dexterity of management, it was contrived 
 that they should have to pass a very sharp angle or 
 
262 THE HORSE. 
 
 turn. The course was straight ; and at the end of 
 two miles stood a pillar, around which the racers 
 turned, running home again to the starting post, in 
 order to complete the four miles. But the cream of 
 all this remains to be skimmed. At some distance 
 beyond the pillar, or sharp turn just passed, another 
 trial presented itself for the skill of the riders or 
 drivers. It was no less than the terrific and scare- 
 crow figure of the god, Taraxippus, the alarmer of 
 horses, placed in full view of the racers as they passed, 
 in order to frighten, and cause them to run out of 
 the course, as an additional test of the skill and 
 prowess of the charioteers and jockeys. 
 
 During the Eastern empire, Constantine the Great 
 and his successors ardently pursued the racing sys- 
 tem, upon a scale of the highest magnificence ; and, 
 in the reign of those princes, the principle of justice 
 and compassion towards animals, was well under- 
 stood and acted upon. The horse was placed under 
 the protection of the law, and the humanity of the 
 government was signal towards those faithful ser- 
 vants, the old racers, which had won laurels by their 
 labours in the circus : those were maintained at tlieir 
 ease during the remainder of their lives, as pen- 
 sioners on the public treasury. Readers who desire 
 to go farther into this branch of the subject, are re- 
 ferred to the "History of the Horse," where I have 
 oiven two modern examples of a very different com- 
 plexion, in Bosphorus and Shaftoe's Squirrel. When 
 I first heard of Old Squirrel being condemned to end 
 his former brilliant career in a fish-cart, the recollec- 
 
THE HORSE. 263 
 
 tion rushed upon my mind, of having seen him in his 
 loose stable at Egham in all his glory ! — In the lani 
 guage of the poet, 
 
 " As great a fall as that of kings from thrones." 
 
 Squirrel was one of our high formed racers, both for 
 speed and over the course ; and, I think, the shortest 
 leaped bred horse that I have ever seen. Some stal- 
 lions of that form might contribute to improve the 
 leggy race of the present day. 
 
 I have said a few words in the earliest pages on 
 the origin of racing in this country. It may be traced 
 to the eleventh century. The following circumstance 
 occurred in the fourteenth century : in an inquisition 
 taken at Oswestry in Shropshire, on the attainder of 
 Richard, Earl of Arundel, the original of which is de- 
 posited in the Tower of London, there were found in 
 the castle of Oswestry, one young racehorse, called 
 Young Sorell, price 13/. 6s. Sd. and one white stallion, 
 price 10/. beside about fifty other horses, of various 
 kinds. The 10/. value of the white stallion, accord- 
 ing to usual computation, would be 250/. of our pre- 
 sent money. Racing, however, seems to have con- 
 sisted entirely of private matches, and not to have 
 assumed any regulated and stated form of public 
 meetings, until the reign of James the First, since 
 none of the writers, at least that I have seen, of the 
 days of Elizabeth, or even the early days of James, 
 make mention of Newmarket, or of any place where 
 public races were held. This circumstance yet ap- 
 pears inconsistent and uncertain, on the consideration, 
 that racing had been generally in vogue, during some 
 
264 THE HORSE. 
 
 previous centuries. It may, however, be safely 
 averred, that the foundations of the regular racing 
 system were laid between the reigns of James the 
 First and Charles the Second, Newmarket, at some 
 part of that period, becoming, as it still continues, its 
 head quarters. The species of horse used in Great 
 Britain, for the purpose of racing, was from the be- 
 ginning, the silken haired courser of South Eastern 
 Europe, the origin of which was African, either Ara- 
 bian or Barb ; and this apparently without any, save 
 fortuitous and accidental admixtures with the indi- 
 genous breeds of this country. The late Dr. Parry 
 and others have been misled on the supposition of 
 such mixture, for the purpose of increasing the size 
 and substance of the foreign horses ; but that advan- 
 tage has resulted purely from the incrassating and 
 improving nature of our gramineous soil, our superior 
 and more nourishing food and systematic attention. 
 
 Most of the breeds of the Levant, from the origin 
 above stated, were by nature coursers or racers, in 
 our common phrase, blood horses, namely, the Turk- 
 ish, Cappadocian, Phrygian, or Syrian, Egyptian, and 
 also the Persian breeds. Our horsecourses, during 
 the reign of the Stuarts, imported those breeds, and 
 some few of the Spanish, which in those days, under 
 the name of jennets, were Barbs bred in Spain and 
 preserved pure from any northern European crosses. 
 The superiority of the original, a horse of the Desert, 
 Arabian, or Barb, seems to have been a more modern 
 discovery ; in probability, not apprehended, until the 
 arrival and trial as a stallion, of Mr. Darley's Ara- 
 bian, in the reign of Anne. Indeed previously, some 
 
THE HORSE. 265 
 
 prejudice seems to have existed against the Arabians ; 
 perhaps derived from the ill success of an individual 
 of that country, both as a racer and a stallion, for 
 which James the First paid 500/. At that period, 
 the curious fact was not so well known, but as it has 
 long since been proved, that no foreign horses can 
 compete with the descendants of their own blood, 
 bred in this country. Dismal may seem somewhat 
 like an exception to this general rule, being of entire 
 foreign blood, but then he was bred in this country. 
 He was got by the Godolphin Arabian, his dam by 
 the Alcock Arabian, grandam by the Curwen bay 
 Barb, out of a natural Barb mare. He ran at New- 
 market with the first horses of his day, and was 
 never beat ; but was not equally successful as a stal- 
 lion. I knew some fine hunting-like horses of his get. 
 Early in the last reign, the experiment was made of 
 training foreign horses, and there was an Arabian plate 
 run for at Newmarket, but the horses ran in so me- 
 diocre a style, having little speed and less game, that 
 the plan was immediately abandoned. But the case 
 of these horses, from which our unparalleled breed of 
 thorough bred stock has been derived, as referable to 
 the breeding stud, is still more singular, in truth, not 
 easily explicable. Of the immense numbers imported 
 since the Godolphin Arabian, under the guise of be- 
 ing real mountain Arabians and Barbs, selected, at a 
 vast price, very few, compared with those of earlier 
 periods have got racers, whence arose half a century 
 since, a nominal distinction between the old and new 
 blood. Does this arise from the improvement and 
 superiority of our modern racers, from a deteriora- 
 
 N 
 
266 THE HORSE. 
 
 tion of the Eastern breeds, or the increased difficulty 
 of obtaining the superior? True enough there is 
 much uncertainty in the whole racing system. An 
 extensive breeder from the highest reputed stock, 
 may have the chance to breed very few horses worth 
 training, and a capital racer shall prove a very unpro- 
 fitable stallion. The inferiority of the new blood, in- 
 tending that of the horses imported since the Godol- 
 phin Arabian, was becoming gradually more and more 
 apparent, about the period above referred to ; in latter 
 days it has become almost literally useless, since 
 scarcely any breeder will send his mares to an Ara- 
 bian, the general term now for an Eastern horse. In 
 the days of Eclipse and Highflyer, there were gene- 
 rally half a score foreign stallions in the annual 
 list; of late years, seldom above one or two. The 
 Sporting Magazine for June, the present year, an- 
 nounces three pure Arabians to cover, of which por- 
 traits will be given in the next successive numbers of 
 the Magazine. Their names, Paragon — the milk- 
 white Arabian, Signal, the property of the Hon. 
 Arthur Cole — and Buckfoot, a silver grey Arabian. 
 The price of them about five guineas a mare. Cer- 
 tainly, by way of experiment, it ought to be an ob- 
 ject with our gentlemen trainers, to send some of 
 their best bred mares to these foreigners. In our 
 Indian empire (which, there exists a sanguine hope 
 that the light of the present times will shortly redeem 
 from the inveterate and blighting curse of monopoly), 
 as might be expected, racing has become very exten- 
 sive; and the horses imported from England, main- 
 tain their superiority on the course; but it is said, 
 
THE HORSE. 267 
 
 not so in the stud, where the natural Arabs prove 
 superior ; probably from the debilitating effect of a 
 tropical climate upon the constitutions of northern 
 horses. 
 
 SECTION XL. 
 
 The terms applicable to blood horses, have been al- 
 ready explained. The racer's maximum of speed has 
 been determined conventionally, to be equal to gallop- 
 ins; over a mile of ground in one minute of time. This 
 indeed has never been actually proved, yet is not 
 only probable, but on calculation, comparatively cer- 
 tain. No horse, great however his powers, can run 
 the whole distance of a mile, at the very summit of 
 his speed, he must have some bursts superior to the 
 average. These bursts determine at least, that his 
 abstract speed is equal to the stated rate, since the 
 mile has been run at Newmarket, according to an 
 accurate timing with the stop watch, in one minute 
 four and a half seconds. This was performed, many 
 years since, by Firetail, beating Pumpkin. As the 
 superior speed of Flying Childers and Eclipse remain 
 unquestionable, no doubt it should then seem, need be 
 entertained of the ability of those paragons to run the 
 mile in a minute of time, had the task been imposed 
 upon them. In 1755, Matchem, beating Trajan at 
 Newmarket, ran the B. C. with eight stone seven 
 pounds, in seven minutes, twenty seconds. Flying 
 Childers, with nine stone two pounds, ran over the 
 R. C. at Newmarket, in six minutes forty seconds. 
 The Beacon Course, in length, is four miles, one 
 
268 THE HORSE. 
 
 furlong, one hundred thirty-eight yards. The Round 
 Course, three miles, six furlongs, ninety-three yards. 
 Childers also ran over the B. C. in seven minutes, 
 thirty seconds, but the weight he carried is not 
 known : at any rate, the comparison proves Matchem 
 to have been indeed a capital runner. 
 
 Timing, of racers does not often taken place, but I 
 think it did somewhat unusually so, in the North, two 
 or three years since. In fact it can answer no pur- 
 pose generally, since the horses only make their play 
 on particular parts of the course, and at the run in. 
 The case is different when circumstances lead to the 
 expectation that the race will be run out and out, 
 and that the horses will be urged to the utmost of 
 their ability. 
 
 In the Section on Hunting, I boasted the correct- 
 ness of my vaticination, in days long past. I have 
 now a right to repeat that boast in respect of the 
 Turf. Racing has increased in a full ratio with the 
 increase of national prosperity and human intelli- 
 gence. A disheartening consideration however it is, 
 to the reflecting moralist, that such a monstrous and 
 appalling extent of human misery, and its conse- 
 quent human depravity, should subsist with such an 
 unparalleled degree of national opulence. Is this 
 the necessary result of commercial greatness and 
 luxury 1 or does it emanate from the radical vice of 
 our political system ? The case well and fearfully 
 demands the most profound consideration of our in- 
 fluential and patriotic politicians. 
 
 Opening Pond's " Sporting Calendar" for the year 
 1753, I find its subscribers amounted to 478; the 
 
THE HORSE. 269 
 
 number of public racecourses in Britain, to 70. — 
 Weatherby's Racing Calendar for 1786, gives 1051 
 subscribers, and 83 racecourses. The present year 
 exhibits a vast addition. We find the name of the 
 first Weatherby, as publisher of the Racing Calendar, 
 in 1772. 
 
 The South Eastern horse, bred and nurtured in 
 all-improving Britain, however sleek, and fine, and 
 delicate, is beyond comparison the most useful of the 
 species. This is not the mere declamation of affec- 
 tion and prejudice, it is pure matter of experimented 
 fact. Bred horses are applicable to a greater variety 
 of useful purposes than any other, excelling in nearly 
 all. They have greater strength in proportion, from 
 the superior toughness of substance in their tendons, 
 muscles, and ligaments, and solidity of their bones. 
 They are able to carry greater weights, and with su- 
 perior speed. Proof of the first instance was appa- 
 rent in that not very merciful experimental match, in 
 which Mr. Vernon's Amelia beat the miller's horse, 
 at his own play, loading his back with sacks of flour. 
 I remember to have seen Bullock, the brewer, riding 
 twenty stones, cantering over the London pavement, 
 upon a little bred horse not much above fourteen 
 hands. We breed them up to a great size, and some 
 of the sons of the Godolphin Arabian and of Eclipse, 
 would have done honour, in point of size and power, 
 to the shafts of a dray. It is no doubt however, ques- 
 tionable, whether in point of form and of goodness, 
 we have not receded some points below the standard 
 of fifty and sixty years past, the days of Eclipse 
 and Highflyer, and a long contemporary list of ce- 
 lebrated runners; whether we have not bred our 
 
270 THE HORSE. 
 
 racers too lofty, too high upon the leg, and conse- 
 quently, with too little regard to substance. Ob- 
 servator, in the Sporting Magazine, that keen observer, 
 amusing and honest writer (I do not give his real name, 
 as he has chosen not to name) is annually reminding 
 us of the vast numbers of mere leather platers brought 
 to the post at Newmarket. Nor can I suppose, that 
 the racers from thirty years past, or of the present 
 day, will enjoy that rank with posterity, acquired by 
 those of former eras : Sir Charles Bunbury, a far 
 more experienced judge, used to laugh at me for 
 these notions, and would have it that, his Sorcerer 
 and Smolensko were equal over the course, to Gold- 
 finder, Shark, Mambrino, Highflyer, or the best of that 
 splendid list of former days. Dr. Syntax reminded 
 me of Old Damper, not indeed in the regard of form 
 and beauty, but of their similar success in winning 
 country plates. 
 
 Perhaps the desuetude of the custom for horses to 
 cover whilst in training is not warranted by any solid 
 objections. The sooner the quality of a racer's stock 
 is known surely the better. The old Vintner mare 
 was taken into training from the breeding stud and 
 was never beat. Hobgoblin was trained after having 
 covered two years. Babram won several plates dur- 
 ing a season in which he served fifty-three mares. 
 In those days and afterwards the custom was not in- 
 frequent. Dorimant covered a mare or two before lie 
 was out of training. It has not been explained to 
 me that, the practice in moderation could interfere 
 injuriously, with the racing powers of a quiet horse; 
 but the experiment, I understand, has only been made 
 in one or two instances within the last thirty years. 
 
THE HORSE. 271 
 
 To advert to the course, I would not forget the false 
 starts which have been so frequent of late years, be- 
 yond my old experience. These are too often ma- 
 noeuvres of jockeyship; and when that is the case, 
 they are embarrassing and unfair, and some remedy 
 is required. Suppose our Turf parliament, the Jockey 
 Club, were to enact that, three starts should be final. 
 It would be equally fair for the whole that started. 
 Would it not be practicable and useful, to accustom 
 the young stock to start together while in training I 
 So many fatal accidents have occurred at different 
 periods from the company under the influence and 
 exaltation of the animal spirits, breaking in upon 
 and crossing the course, that it is of the utmost 
 importance for the stewards of every race to appoint 
 a strict and efficient police, I recommended this 
 strongly some years since, with certain precautionary 
 measures, in the Magazine, in consequence of an ac- 
 cident which (I think) happened at Oxford. The 
 measures of racing police have been this year in 
 particular, most exemplary and efficient at Epsom, 
 the course multitudinously attended ; and as a 
 curious and most laudable example, it was stated 
 in the newspapers, that the Royal Duke of Sussex 
 and an honourable Baronet were stopped in their 
 attempt to cross the course during the race, and 
 requested to turn back, with which they complied 
 in the most affable and considerate manner. Ascot 
 is another eminent example, and these precautions, 
 considering their great importance to life and limb, 
 it may be hoped, will be followed throughout all 
 our courses. 
 
 In the Calendar, for the year 1777, a memorable 
 
272 THE HORSE. 
 
 year to me in the racing way, I observe a caution ad- 
 dressed to clerks of courses relative to the posts. 
 These had previously been large and immovable, 
 whence they were very dangerous in the case of a 
 horse being driven against them. A change was re- 
 commended to posts " round, of a light brittle wood, 
 not above three inches in diameter, and two feet higher 
 than usual." This improvement was the result of a 
 fatal accident, which some time previously had hap- 
 pened at Newmarket, to poor " little Wicked," the 
 favourite lad of Lord Ossory, the boy being dashed 
 to pieces against one of the old immovable posts, in 
 riding a match. I was assured by one present, that 
 the p-ood natured Lord " cried like a child at this un- 
 fortunate event." Doubtless this improvement, with 
 respect to posts on racecourses, must have since taken 
 place universally. I further recollect a curious occur- 
 rence in the above year, at Newmarket second Spring 
 Meeting. In a B. C. great colt stakes, fifty-six sub- 
 scribers, one hundred guineas each, in which were 
 three or four of the best of the year, the race was 
 won by a colt by Gimcrack, certainly not within a 
 stone over the course, of the first raters. It hap- 
 pened thus. The leading horses, afraid one of the 
 other, waited, while the rider of the Gimcrack colt, 
 whose name I have forgotten, unheeded and neglected 
 by the rest, with his wits about him and a good 
 judgment, went away making all possible play, and 
 succeeded in gaining so much ground, that neither 
 Dictator, Potatoes, Tremamondo, nor Rasselas could 
 overtake him. The Lords Egremont and Derby will 
 remember this. I had left Newmarket the previous 
 day, but the circumstance was related to me by 
 
THE HORSE. 273 
 
 Roger Rush, the then clerk of the course, and 
 Goodisson. 
 
 A great addition has been made since the above 
 period, to the number of racecourses in this country, 
 and horseracing is making its way upon the continent, 
 although France does not appear, at present, to im- 
 prove so much from our example as in former days, 
 under the patronage of the profligate Due d'Orleans. 
 In Pope's language, " Newmarket shines complete," 
 and Epsom, Ascot, Doncaster and York, in all the 
 glory of an accumulation of racing business, the 
 number of horses and trainers, and of buildings both 
 magnificent and useful. We did not augur at the 
 first establishment of the St. Ledger, that great cele- 
 brity which it has since attained. The magnificent 
 and princely stand, this year erected at Epsom, does 
 great honour to those gentlemen with whom the im- 
 provement originated, among whom Mr. Maberly is 
 entitled to especial mention, and by whose exer- 
 tions it was carried into execution. It is worthy of 
 the reign of our veteran sporting Sovereign, George 
 the Fourth. The number of courses has been in- 
 creased at Newmarket of late years, considerably 
 beyond the old — Beacon, Round, and Duke's Courses, 
 Ditch in, the Rowley, Bunbury, Ancaster, and Abing- 
 don miles. Short races are now most frequent, I 
 believe originally, at the suggestion of the late Sir 
 Charles Bunbury, who used to say, that a race over 
 the course was only such to the jockeys, excepting 
 merely at the run in. It is beside, more favourable 
 to the horses, and we have yet a sufficient repetition 
 of two and four mile races to try their game. Racing 
 
 n2 
 
274 THE HORSE. 
 
 of cocktails is somewhat of a novelty, and that of 
 hunters has multiplied greatly. In the old ftme, 
 however, we had (at least during several years) half 
 and quarter mile races at Newmarket, at which a 
 great three part bred gelding, Rocket by Rocket, the 
 property of Lord March (late Duke of Queensbury), 
 was the winner, whatever weight he gave, in every 
 quarter mile race but one, in which he was beaten by 
 old Peggy (Masquerade). I believe he was once 
 beat half a mile. The Duke tried him from the 
 Ditch in and two miles, but he had not blood enough 
 by a single dip, to carry him through successfully, 
 though he saved his distance. The Duke and his 
 prime minister and jockey, Mr. Goodisson, must 
 have been aware of this, and, if there was any money 
 betted upon him, it must have turned to account, as 
 backing the field against him was a certainty. We 
 used to enjoy seeing Hell Fire Dick (Goodisson) 
 start this gelding for a short race. The horse held 
 sidewise, curvetting and rearing, Dick with his eagle 
 and hawk's eyes, holding him fast in that position, 
 watching the word — at the start, off flew Rocket, with 
 a velocity which demonstrated that he had not his 
 name for nothing. Never was jockey better calcu- 
 lated than Goodisson, to ride a horse of this descrip- 
 tion. About this period he rode a Juniper filly of 
 mine for the Queen's hundred, at Chelmsford ; she 
 ran a stout and good mare, and Goodisson, according 
 to the usual advice of jockeys and trainers, recom- 
 mended keeping her on, assuring me she would train 
 on, having had only three months' work. But, from 
 a previous trial of her, she appeared to me one of old 
 
THE HORSE. 275 
 
 Frampton's " slow good ones," of which I inherited 
 his opinion. This by way of advice to fresh men. 
 The only use of this sort is adverted to above, with 
 those that also fail to win, but from the opposite cause. 
 Subsequently, quarter and half mile races became 
 somewhat frequent at Newmarket ; and there had 
 been, during some years previous, a two year old 
 course, to which afterwards, a yearling course was 
 added, with also the practice, of late years and at 
 present, so common, of training and racing the young 
 stock. Remarkable examples of attachment to long- 
 races and the B. C. were constantly exhibited at 
 Newmarket in old times. 
 
 SECTION XLL 
 
 • 
 
 My next topic is a disheartening one; it is the hor- 
 rible, and I have some right to know, as a i bit of a 
 jockey/ useless and needless practice of butchering 
 and cutting up racehorses alive, with the whip and 
 spur ! In aggravation and countenance of this bar- 
 barism the spectators of the run in, even ladies, seem 
 delighted with it, as the very marrow and cream of 
 the sport ; and we often witness, in the accounts of 
 races, the columns of newspapers sullied with such 
 filth as — " a slashing race, what whipping, cutting, 
 and spurring!" Certainly there are stout and slug- 
 gish horses which require to be reminded by the 
 whip and spur, but even those, running against others, 
 their natural emulation is stimulated, and they will 
 do their utmost with moderate excitement, and all 
 the whipping and spurring that could be used, even 
 by that butcher on horseback, old Jack Oakley, must 
 
276 THE HORSE. 
 
 fail to obtain more. As to free horses, indeed the 
 generality, they need little or no driving, and often 
 are rather cowed, embarrassed, and retarded by it. 
 There are, also, high stomached horses, that, being 
 severely whipped when all abroad and at their best, 
 of which they are well aware, will instantly slacken 
 instead of endeavouring to increase their speed. I 
 once experienced a remarkable instance of this, 
 among others, in riding a trial upon a true and stout 
 runner, and it is a circumstance well known to 
 jockeys. Common humanity and compassion require 
 a moderation of this absurd custom, which modera- 
 tion, if general, would operate equally and fairly on 
 all proprietors of racers. Perhaps the chief objection 
 to the proposed change, subsists in the case of the 
 jockeys, who, not having cut half way to their horse's 
 entrails, may thence have been supposed to have em- 
 ployed only half their powers to win. But there are 
 other equally sufficient tests of this, always well 
 known on the course. Cutting up horses, known to 
 be incapable of winning, and those, though capable, 
 which do not run to win, is surely gratuitous cruelty. 
 There is, finally, a strong and valid distinction be- 
 tween use and utility ; and when a horse has won by 
 a head or neck, both proprietors and jockeys, in 
 attributing their success to the extreme use of whip- 
 cord and cold iron, may, as is so perpetually the case 
 in other affairs, have assigned the effect to a wrong 
 cause, to one, perhaps, which may have, in degree, 
 operated unfavourably. When a horse is at all that 
 he can do, what the devil more can you have of him, 
 but to keep him up to the mark ? which surely, en- 
 couragement and moderation will most successfully 
 
THE HORSE. 277 
 
 effect ; but if the vain attempt be made to drive him 
 beyond that point, his next effort must naturally be 
 to throw up his fore quarters and fight the air, whence 
 he must shorten his stride, and lose ground. Surely 
 the flourish of the whips, without the wanton and 
 useless torture, together with the graceful action, and 
 skilful exertions of the jockeys at the run in, ought 
 to afford a superior and sufficient gratification to 
 British spectators, male and female. 
 
 It may be necessary to repeat here, from my. old 
 books, the execrable and loathsome tragedy of the 
 poor, fleabitten grey gelding, engaged to run twenty- 
 two miles in one hour, over the Surrey roads, which 
 he had once previously performed. On it being 
 found, towards the end of the second attempt, that 
 he was failing, he was whipped and spurred with 
 such unmerciful fury and continuance, that his en- 
 trails were let out, and he galloped with them trailing 
 on the ground, the last stroke of the whip accom- 
 panying his dying groan, on which he fell heart 
 broken and dead ! Some time subsequently, I dined 
 in a company of sporting people, when a relation of 
 this horrid business was received with smiles, grins, 
 and shrugs ! It spoiled my dinner. I related also, 
 as above, the deplorable case of a game little horse, 
 called Hussar, by Snap, the property. of that sleek, 
 smooth-tongued, fat-witted humbug Hull, the horse- 
 dealer. I met the horse on the road, coming to town 
 from Epsom, where he had run. He was lacerated 
 and cut up alive, from shoulder to flank, his sheath 
 torn to ribbons, and his testes sorely and dangerously 
 wounded. Arrived at Epsom, I met Billy Barnes, 
 
278 THE HORSE. 
 
 then a young jockey of merit, who came open mouthed 
 to me, to inform me that he had been the unfortunate 
 executioner in the case, for which he had hated him- 
 self ever since ; swearing, to use his own words, that 
 " if that rascal, Hull, would give him all he was 
 worth; nay, he would even perish for want, rather 
 than repeat such an act of blasted infamy." He had 
 ridden the horse before, unsuccessfully, though the 
 poor little fellow ran every yard of three four mile 
 heats stoutly and honestly, as he did in the second 
 race, without flinching under all the severity that 
 was inflicted. Previously to the last race, Hull chided 
 his jockey for too great tenderness towards the horse, 
 and, though he was about to meet the same compe- 
 titors, with 'others of yet higher form, and Barnes 
 assured him of the impossibility of winning, this mis- 
 creant's orders were — " Make him win or cut his 
 bloody entrails out — mark — if you don't give him his 
 bellyfull of whip, you never ride again for me. Til 
 find horse if you'll find whip and spur." 
 
 I have yet some addition to make to what I have 
 said in my former books, on old Frampton's affair, the 
 particulars of which I defer ; the sum of them, how- 
 ever is, that the fact must be received as unquestion- 
 able, the attempted invalidation of it being grounded 
 in certain peculiar and not very rational motives. 
 But a truce with these horrors, of which I have yet 
 too, too many in store. And now let me address 
 myself, with all humility, to that high bred, generous, 
 and highly intellectual class, our sporting aristocracy, 
 beseeching them to take this matter into their serious 
 and benevolent consideration, and to use their influ- 
 
THE HORSE. 279 
 
 ence as such considerations may direct. The long 
 continued success, in the plan which I advocate, of 
 the late Sir Charles Bunbury, whom I knew in his 
 youth, and with whose confidence I was honoured 
 during many years, is well known at Newmarket, 
 indeed by all who have any concern with the Turf. 
 Let me also address that respectable body of men, the 
 jockeys of Newmarket, who ought to be thoroughly 
 competent to the subject. I call upon the veteran 
 and renowned Buckle, Mr. Goodisson, Mr. Robinson, 
 Mr. Chifney, to turn this affair over in their minds ear- 
 nestly, sedately, and fairly, since their opinions must 
 necessarily be deemed of great weight. As to Mr. 
 Chifney, I well knew that his father loved the horse, 
 and had a heart within his breast not made of marble, 
 and I trust this runs in the blood. Should a jockey 
 chance to awaken from his balmy and comfortable 
 sleep during the night after a race, and a vision be 
 presented to him of the dreadful, restless, sore, and 
 torturing situation of the horse which he had cut up 
 alive the day before, thence incapable of lying down, 
 or of a moment's rest, what must be his reflections 
 and feelings, if reflect and feel he can ? 
 
 SECTION XLII.— Pedigree. 
 
 The Helmsly Turk of the Duke of Buckingham, 
 either in the latter end of the reign of James the 
 First, or the beginning of that of Charles, seems to 
 have been the earliest stallion noted in our racing 
 pedigrees. I am driven again over, with me, very 
 old ground, by the curious enthusiasm of certain 
 
280 THE HORSE. 
 
 writers a few years past and present, in the Sporting 
 Magazine, for the immaculate integrity of pedigree, 
 the faith of which, according to a late writer, Mr. 
 Frewen — " should be preserved unsullied and suspi- 
 cionless, as the honour of Caesar's wife." Never 
 having submitted to implicit faith on any question, 
 my watch words on all, being audi alteram partem, no 
 wonder that my faith is not sufficiently pliable on the 
 present, though such, surely rational conduct, has 
 brought me ill will. It will certainly amuse many 
 experienced persons, to observe this gentleman placing 
 an unreserved dependence on the, no doubt, pure and 
 virgin scrupulosity with which all matters relative to 
 the Turf, must needs be, and ever are conducted. His 
 enthusiasm, however, being a little cooled by inquiry 
 and further reflection, he will probably see just cause 
 for some change of opinion on that point ; and as he 
 appears to have adopted my sentiments on other rela- 
 tive points, I should not be surprised at his ultimately 
 agreeing with me in those at present at issue. 
 
 But as a preface to this branch of the subject, it 
 becomes me to acknowledge a very prominent error, 
 into which nothing could have led me but that hu- 
 mana incuria, from which, fortuitously, no human 
 being can be exempt. I allude to my mistatement in 
 the first volume of my Treatise on Horses, respecting 
 the pedigree, that is, the want of it, in the famous 
 racer Bay Bolton. No racer could have a more per- 
 fect pedigree. I can account for my egregious blunder 
 no otherwise than, that I mistook Partner for Bay 
 Bolton, it depending on memory, in the print which 
 I saw at Dulwich. As to the famous Partner, there 
 
THE HORSE. 281 
 
 never was any certainty respecting the integrity of 
 his pedigree, although there may be this presumption 
 in its favour, that a stallion defective in blood is not 
 so probable to get a racer, as a mare in the similar pre- 
 dicament is to produce one. All that was known of 
 the pedigree of Partner's sire, Jigg, was, that he was 
 got by the Byerley Turk, his dam by old Spanker, 
 but whether that dam was a thorough bred daughter 
 of Spanker or not, is unknown ; had it been known, 
 little doubt but it would have been published. In 
 the mean time, this Jigg was, according to Pick, a 
 common country stallion in Lincolnshire, and his time 
 tallies with that of the large horse called, " the farmer's 
 horse," which according to old report, attended mar- 
 kets and covered at five shillings, until he got a 
 racer. The famous racer and stallion, Bloody But- 
 tocks had no pedigree. 
 
 Nobody yet ever did, or ever could assert positively, 
 that Jigg was not thorough bred, but the case is very 
 different with respect to Sampson ; since nobody 
 in the sporting world, either of past or present days, 
 ever supposed him so. Nor was the said world at 
 all surprised at Robinson's people furnishing their 
 stallion with a good and true pedigree, a thing so 
 much to their advantage. A bolder stroke still, was 
 aimed by the publisher of the third volume of Pick's 
 Turf Register, in the flashy portrait prefixed, of that 
 grave and sober animal the Darley Arabian, obviously 
 worked up from that of Highflier. Having formerly 
 taken great pains to obtain a copy for publication, of 
 the only original portrait in existence of the Darley 
 Arabian, I noticed the above eyetrap, when it first 
 
282 THE HORSE. 
 
 appeared ; and in a late advertisement of the book, 
 I observe, the said portrait is not mentioned. Having 
 seen a number of Sampson's immediate get, those in 
 the Lord Marquis of Rockingham's stud and others, 
 and all of them, Malton perhaps less than any other, 
 in their heads, size and form, having the appearance 
 of being a degree or two deficient in racing blood, I 
 was convinced, that the then universal opinion on that 
 point was well grounded. I was (in 1778) an enthu- 
 siast, collecting materials for a book on the horse ; 
 it happened, that I wanted a trusty and steady man 
 for a particular service, and opportunely for the mat- 
 ter now under discussion, a Yorkshireman about 
 threescore years of age, was recommended to me, 
 who had been recently employed in certain stables. 
 I soon found that his early life had been spent in the 
 running stables of the north, and that he had known 
 Sampson, whence he was always afterwards named by 
 us, ' Old Sampson ;' he was very intelligent on the 
 subject of racing stock, and his report was as follows. 
 He took the mare to Blaze, for the cover which pro- 
 duced Sampson ; helped to bit and break the colt, 
 rode him exercise, and afterwards took him to Malton 
 for his first start, where, before the race, he was ridi- 
 culed for bringing a great coachhorse to contend 
 against racers. On the sale of Sampson, this man 
 left the service of James Preston, Esq. and went with 
 the colt, into that of Mr. Robinson. His account of 
 Sampson's dam, was, that she appeared about three 
 parts bred, a hunting figure, and by report, a daughter 
 of Hip, which, however, could not be authenticated ; 
 and that such fact was then notorious and not dis- 
 
. THE HORSE. 283 
 
 puted in the Yorkshire stables. I do not remember 
 the mare being described to me as black, but how 
 else could Sampson have assumed that colour, seeing 
 that Blaze his sire and both the Hips were bay; 
 unless he inherited it from the black Barb, grandsire 
 of Blaze. Sampson was one of the truest four mile 
 horses that our Turf has produced, beating all the best 
 racers of his time, and was but once beaten, or even 
 whipped, until in his last race, his eyes and constitu- 
 tion failed him, when he was beat by Thwackum, 
 which he had before beaten. Sampson also proved a 
 capital stallion, and though it was the fashion at 
 Newmarket, to blame Lord Rockingham for breeding 
 from such a horse, his Lordship had a string of fine 
 and powerful horses, and among the most successful. 
 The mares of Engineer, a son of Sampson, were at one 
 period, in great request for the stud, and that blood 
 runs through many of our best pedigrees. Mr. Tat- 
 tersall lately showed me a portrait of Sampson in his 
 flesh, in which his defect of blood appears far more 
 obvious than in one which I had of him, galloping. 
 I have been thus particular to demonstrate by the 
 most striking fact known, that the miss of a single 
 dip of true blood does not mar the racer, stallion or 
 mare. The last, or Carter's Driver, winner of so 
 many country plates, was generally known not to 
 have been thorough bred, and I was told by a groom 
 who knew the horse, that he appeared only three 
 parts bred, a thing scarcely to be credited. 
 
 The disputed pedigree of Eclipse, not indeed from 
 defect of blood, of which he had the maximum, has 
 been of late revived, with the usual ludicrous irritabi- 
 
284 
 
 THE HORSE. 
 
 lity against those who controvert the opinion estab- 
 lished grammatically by custom ; it is indeed lo?tg by 
 custom, but may be parsed into short, or at least 
 indifferent by revision. Another circumstance full as 
 ludicrous, is the affectation now and then afloat of 
 undervaluing and sneering at the vast powers of 
 Eclipse, with the supposition of being able to post 
 his equal in speed, since ; for one example, in a little 
 nag at Newmarket, some ten or fifteen years past, 
 named Donkey. But facts are incorrigibly stubborn 
 and restive. Where have we ever found before or 
 since, a racer which at will, not only beat, but dis- 
 tanced all his competitors, and that never met one 
 able to live by his side, the space of fifty yards ? He 
 was further distinguished by other and high qualifi- 
 cations ; in fact, as a racer, had the ' universal tool' — 
 speed, vast spring as well as stride, stoutness, honesty, 
 freedom from vice, ability to carry the highest weight, 
 a certain and capital foal getter. He, however, well 
 deserved the epithet I once bestowed upon him — i the 
 capricious Eclipse/ Though free from ill nature, his 
 play was somewhat rough, and Sam Lamer his groom, 
 would not trust me alone with him in his box. In 
 a race, he would for a while, stride along at his rate, 
 when suddenly, his jockey, or the opposing horses 
 having nothing to do in the affair, he would make a 
 tremendous burst, during which, no man living could 
 hold him, Oakley once making the experiment, which, 
 however, was altogether needless, since the horse 
 voluntarily and knowingly, pulled himself up at the 
 ending post; once getting the joke against O 'Kelly 
 at York, for providing a posse comitatus at the ending 
 
THE HORSE. 285 
 
 post to stop his runaway kill devil. Eclipse was his 
 own jockey, his rider having nothing more to do than 
 to sit fast, and hold hard. He was about fifteen hands 
 one half in height, his vast strength lying in his loins 
 and shoulders, and his muscular fulness. When in 
 flesh, the top of his forehand was a table, and his 
 hinder train being elevated, he carried a saddle for- 
 ward, but fast. He looked a true English bred horse ; 
 Marske his reputed sire, appeared all over, wild and 
 foreign. Garrick, the reputed full brother to Eclipse, 
 which I saw when the property of Mr. Tattersall, 
 had no family resemblance whatever to Eclipse. The 
 bone under Eclipse's knee was not large, and his feet 
 when I last saw them were not bad, but subsequently 
 neglected, O 'Kelly, like many other sportsmen, know- 
 ing far more about betting upon horses, than of the 
 horses. There was no difficulty in training him, his 
 constitution was good ; in his sweats, he ' puffed and 
 blowed like an otter,' and galloped l as wide behind 
 as a barn door.' His not being raced until five years 
 old, it may be presumed, was in conformity with the 
 old and well grounded maxim, that time should be 
 allowed for the racer's joints to knit. I never heard 
 that he cut a hair in his paces. 
 
 The total eclipse of the sun in 1761, on the morn- 
 ing when this horse was foaled and thence named, 
 was ominous of his future glory and immortality in 
 the deathless annals of the English Turf. I well re- 
 member that midnight morning, when the cocks and 
 hens hied to roost, and also our glasses and great 
 brewing tub in the garden filled with water, the sur- 
 face partly covered, for viewing the eclipsed planet. 
 
286 THE HORSE. 
 
 I was then under the care of one of those parsons 
 made by that truly Rt. Hon. Richard Rigby, with 
 his twenty wives. It is not the least curious and 
 remarkable circumstance attending this celebrated 
 horse, that the stud groom, Bernard Smith, or some 
 one in the stables of the royal Duke, made a true 
 prognosis of his future superiority, whilst he was yet 
 a foal, and that Wildman should get scent of it, 
 which appears by his posting to the Duke's sale, for 
 the sole purpose of obtaining this yearling ; but being 
 too late, or rather that the sale had begun a few 
 minutes too early for the given notice, he insisted on 
 the colt's being put up again, when he became the 
 purchaser at a trifle beyond one hundred pounds. 
 If the high opinion of this colt arose from Marske 
 his presumed sire, it must be by virtue of his blood, 
 certainly not of either his performances as a racer, or 
 his then reputation as a stallion; it probably rather 
 arose from the form and apparent powers of the colt. 
 Always, so far as I was informed, previous to Mr. 
 Wildman, the sheep salesman becoming possessed of 
 Marske, it was admitted without dispute, that Eclipse's 
 dam, as is the common custom in racing studs, mis- 
 sing to Marske, was subsequently covered by Shake- 
 speare, which horse had at that period, left the north, 
 and was either in Norfolk or the vicinity of New- 
 market ; but the mare came to Marske's time, a cir- 
 cumstance, however, of such known uncertainty, as to 
 merit no dependence. The fact of this double cover 
 seems never to have been disputed, until Eclipse be- 
 came so celebrated, and that Wildman had got hold 
 of Marske, when doubtless it was a powerful interest 
 
THE HORSE. 287 
 
 with him, to insist on the paternity of his racer for 
 his own stallion, and to endeavour to invalidate the 
 fact of Eclipse's dam having been covered by Shake- 
 speare. Nempe, that is to say, for I pretend to nothing 
 further, so it appeared to others and to me. In a con- 
 versation on the matter, with Sam Lamer, Eclipse's 
 groom, he remarked, " now they say the mare was 
 not covered by Shakespeare;" others also, of the 
 initiated, introduced the self-same enigmatical now ; 
 and beyond all this, ' little Wildman knew what's 
 
 what,' — 
 
 and that's as high, 
 
 As (money getting) wit can fly. 
 
 Thus the new version passed current, and in a late 
 defence of it, are brought forward Mr. Goodisson's 
 authority, and that of Mr. Sandiver the sporting 
 surgeon of Newmarket, from whom I have letters 
 enough to make a little pamphlet ; but I verily be- 
 lieve, neither of them knew ought of the matter. The 
 oath sported, l that Eclipse ivas got hy Marsh,' is some- 
 thing like a joke. I should greatly prefer the mare's 
 oath of affiliation, had she been capable of giving it in 
 verbis dictis. This oath by Bernard Smith, as stated, 
 merely shows the stud groom's opinion ; had he indeed 
 sworn, that to the best of his knowledge, and he must 
 have known, that the mare was not covered by Shake- 
 speare, it would have been definitive. The report was 
 current, that exclusive of his opinion, he had other 
 reasons in support of his oath ; the silence of the 
 keeper of the match book in this affair, may be well 
 matched with the same silence in the affair of Samp- 
 son. But all this fuss made by Wildman, excited no 
 
288 THE HORSE. 
 
 interest on the Turf ; all was apathy about the matter 
 there. It never made the difference between five to 
 four, and six to four, — i who got who, so many years 
 ago.' In the Duke of Cumberland's sale at Tatter- 
 salPs, Marske was sold for about ten pounds, and 
 covered on the New Forest, at half a guinea. He af- 
 terwards passed into the hands of a farmer of Dorset- 
 shire or that vicinity ; and so soon as Eclipse's worth 
 became known, Wild man, whose native talent never 
 lagged, galloped away to this farmer, who thought 
 himself well quit, at the price of twenty pounds, of 
 such a burden as the inferior and low priced stallion, 
 Marske ; which, however, in due time, and being the 
 property of Lord Abingdon, was put up to cover at 
 two hundred guineas a mare. 
 
 Neither Eclipse, nor any of his stock so far as I 
 have seen or heard, at all resembled the Marskes, 
 either in colour or indeed in any other respect. 
 Marskes stock were generally like their sire, brown, 
 or of a chesnut, distinct from that colour in those of 
 Eclipse and his get. Marske, so called from the 
 place where bred, in Yorkshire, was a deep brown, 
 with no white but a strip around the coronary ring of 
 his near hinder hoof; short backed, and legged, large 
 and high crested, and of great power ; his head, coun- 
 tenance, and muzzle were remarkably coarse, resem- 
 bling the Sampsons, and his ears short like those of 
 a carthorse. Eclipse was long backed like his dam 
 (Spilletta by Regulus), with a remarkable fine head 
 and muzzle ; and the only point in which he resem- 
 bled Marske was being high behind. I frequently 
 saw his dam, bay, about fifteen hands high, bony, 
 
THE HORSE. 289 
 
 with the Regulus blaze in her face. Being informed 
 many years since, that a man of the name of Tyndal, 
 living at Kingston, had formerly been in O 'Kelly's 
 service, and looked after and ridden Eclipse exercise, 
 I last year called upon him ; he was indeed in that 
 service, but did not look after, or ride Eclipse, but 
 Milksop, which stood in the same stable. He agreed 
 with me generally respecting Eclipse, remarking that 
 he was master of any weight. The Eclipse stock 
 in general resembled Shakespeare and his stock, in 
 colour, whiting, temper, and so generally indeed, as to 
 make a near consanguinity very obvious or probable ; 
 as to colour, it appeared so to me in viewing Pincher, 
 Diana, Falstaff, and others. There was beside, a 
 considerable likeness to Eclipse in Pincher, with re- 
 gard to temper and qualification, so far as that went. 
 The reader is referred to the History of the Horse, for 
 the portraits of Shakespeare and Eclipse confronted 
 in the same plate. As to pedigree and performance, 
 probably the palm must be conceded to Shakespeare, 
 assuredly for the latter. Both horses had the blood 
 of Bartlett's Childers in them, Shakespeare an addi- 
 tional dip, through Aleppo, of the Darley Arabian, 
 with two mares in his pedigree of the highest repute 
 in racing annals, his dam, being the little Hartley 
 mare, (dam also of Blank, and such. a number of 
 capital racers), grandam the famous Flying Whig. 
 I regret that I cannot assign to my greatest favourite 
 of his time, Marsk, the sireship of the renowned 
 Eclipse ; but the whole of this is a matter of the 
 most trifling consequence, about which to waste use- 
 fid ink and paper, in fact well merits that ridicule 
 
 o 
 
290 THE HORSE. 
 
 which it will no doubt encounter ; surely, however, it 
 is the most windy speculation of the two, to contend 
 velis et remisy omnibus nervis for the sireship of Marsk, 
 when every particle of private interest has been so 
 long defunct, and no public concern exists, or ever 
 did exist ; the thing then cannot be better illustrated 
 and matched, than by tipping a stave from the old 
 elegant and tuneful melody of Yanky Doodle, a 
 temerarious quotation indeed, I allow, in these days 
 of chivalrous purity ; but I trust, the example of 
 Matthews will be my apology, if not my defence; 
 and I am sure my old and good friend Adolphus 
 will laugh, and also Nimrod and Co. 
 
 Dolly Bushel let a , 
 
 Jenny Wathen found it, 
 
 And she carried it to mill 
 
 Where Doctor Warren ground it. 
 
 I sing Doodle Dandy. 
 
 SECTION XLII. 
 
 There can be no doubt, that Eclipse derived much 
 of his vast powers from the advantage of having to 
 undergo no debilitating; labour until he had attained 
 his full strength, his bones had become consolidated, 
 and his sinews endowed with their utmost tenseness 
 and vigour. Would not then, an occasional recourse 
 to the old maxim of not starting till five years old, a 
 colt or filly of the purest blood, and of high promise, 
 be a rational speculation ? It is to purchase a ticket 
 in the lottery of the Turf, for the chance of drawing 
 a Childers or an Eclipse. Such must yet be drawn, 
 
THE HORSE. 291 
 
 for it cannot be supposed, that mother nature has 
 cast away the mould from which she formed those 
 rare specimens. The vast importance of the weight 
 carried by a horse, with respect to the speed and con- 
 tinuance he may be able to exert, is quite level with 
 common sense aided by reflection. The ancient 
 writers on matching horses, seemed to think very 
 lightly of the difference which could be made by 
 seven pounds ; but horses being equally matched and 
 jockeyed, three or four pounds, or probably even less, 
 may turn the scale, more especially with young ones. 
 Every trainer knows the great disadvantage to a 
 horse, that from the lightness of his rider, has to 
 carry dead weight, an item that should be present to 
 the mind in making a match. The circumstance, 
 however, that in our racing regulations, weights are 
 always settled according to age, without regard to 
 size, or ability to carry weight, seems to militate 
 against the known general principle in that respect; 
 this must arise from the difficulty of the case, and 
 the uncertainty of handy capping, which I have ob- 
 served, does not always give general satisfaction. 
 Another not uncommon occurrence, has beyond all, 
 imprest me with ideas of anomaly and difficulty in 
 this affair of weight. A small, but capital racer, not 
 apparently master perhaps of more than ien or twelve 
 stone, shall beat over the course, at even weights, 
 one of the same age, able to carry fifteen or sixteen 
 stone, and yet a known good runner. This seems to 
 show the superiority of speed over the effect of 
 weight, and to sanction the general racing regula- 
 tions." I have already adverted to the- barbarous rule 
 
292 THE HORSE. 
 
 of the old Turf, crossing and jostling, perhaps the most 
 famous example of which, upon record, was the race 
 over the course, by Pyrrhus and Mambrino. Until 
 within some twenty years past, crossing was under- 
 stood in every match, unless specifically interdicted 
 in the article, by the words ' no crossing.'' This rule 
 has been abolished, and the utmost care has been 
 taken by the Jockey Club, to prevent any collision of 
 the kind ; as it has been made obligatory on the 
 jockies in a race, not to change their ground within 
 three lengths one of the other, whether leading or 
 following ; and in every match, they toss up at the 
 starting post, for the whip hand ; thus the former 
 practice in the case is completely reversed, since now, 
 should a crossing match be made, it could not be run 
 without its being declared such before starting ; in 
 short, every thing in our general system, which 
 regards the training and racing the horses, is con- 
 ducted upon the most liberal, considerate, and fair 
 principles, with one only exception, that of the ex- 
 treme severity used towards the racers at the run in. 
 I have often heard and read of a comparison between 
 the racers of past and present times. It did not 
 originate with me. Now to bring it to a point, can 
 either Zinganee, Cadland, or Mameluke, or a better 
 horse than either, if a better can be found, run a 
 mile at Newmarket, with eight stone seven pounds, 
 in one minute four seconds and a half, or over the 
 Beacon Course with the same weight, in seven 
 minutes twenty seconds? These performances actu- 
 ally took place, and the horses which were timed to 
 them, were afterwards beat against their will, and as 
 
THE HORSE. 293 
 
 it appeared by their running, there were certain 
 horses, perhaps half a score, exclusive of Eclipse, 
 between 1770 and 1780, able to exceed considerably 
 the above performance ; but these things are for- 
 gotten or rather generally unknown. It is sloio and 
 tiresome, to look into the long back ground of the 
 past. Antiquity and novelty have changed hands, 
 and that which is the oldest is now the novelty. As 
 a productive racer, Shark by Marsk, stood first of all 
 that had preceded, and perhaps of all that have suc- 
 ceeded him. He never left Newmarket, where he 
 had thirty-six engagements, starting twenty-nine 
 times, of which he won nineteen, at all distances, 
 from a quarter and half a mile to four, but chiefly 
 the latter. His winnings in four years, amounted to 
 sixteen thousand and fifty-seven guineas, exclusive of 
 the Clermont cup, one hundred and twenty guineas, 
 eleven hhds. of Claret, and the whip. Deducting 
 his losses and forfeits, the balance in his favour, 
 amounted to twelve thousand one hundred and eighty 
 seven guineas. He was injured by too early and 
 constant work, thence his legs were apt to swell ; had 
 he been more favoured, probably no horse of his day 
 would have beaten him. Shark Piggot, born to be 
 wrongheaded and unfortunate, refused the great price 
 offered by Lord Grosvenor, (according to then report 
 ten thousand guineas) for this horse immediately on 
 his being taken out of training. 
 
 Never before was Newmarket so well attended, or 
 the town so full at a first meeting, as at the late Craven 
 Meeting. The old story — ' things run taper at New- 
 market,' was no longer, indeed had long since ceased 
 
294 THE HORSE. 
 
 to be applicable. Money for every sporting purpose 
 was current in a flowing tide, no interruption from the 
 political dispute on gold and paper. As to Epsom and 
 Ascot, the chosen few only could see the races ; the 
 majority journeyed only to behold enormous assemblies 
 of population. It is discouraging, that notwithstand- 
 ing all the solicitude and care actually taken, an acci- 
 dent happened at Ascot, on the Thursday, almost im- 
 mediately on the horses starting for the Royal Stakes. 
 Dockeray upon Lord Exeter's Ada, having the inside 
 ground, seeing a man on horseback exactly in his 
 way, pulled aside to avoid him, when the fellow from 
 stupidity or affright, got still more into the way, and 
 Ada coming in contact with his horse, fell, and rolled 
 over his rider, who luckily escaped with a few bruises. 
 Robinson upon Sycorax, had a very narrow escape, 
 clearing the intruder by about half a foot. To take 
 this matter into serious consideration, the life and 
 limbs of the riders, the safety of the horses, perhaps 
 of a horse of high worth, upon the safety and success 
 of which, vast sums may be depending, surely no 
 precautions can be too great, or too minute and par- 
 ticular. In country courses populously attended, and 
 where so many Johnny Raws, flushed with the sports, 
 exhibit their freedom from all thought and all care, 
 it would not even be too much to rail in the course 
 for a mile ; or sufficiently, both at the starting place 
 and ending ; the expense could form no object. 
 
 The nominations for the Derby at Epsom, Don- 
 caster, and York, for the present year, and there for 
 years to come, are numerous beyond all precedent; 
 the sums in sweepstakes are heavier than ever, but 
 
THE HORSE. 295 
 
 probably it has not of late been customary to make 
 matches for so large sums as formerly, for example, 
 of a thousand, or several thousand guineas. 
 
 If I venture to say a few words on the customary 
 morality of the Turf, I must agree, that the nature of 
 the case will not admit of its being too straight laced 
 in certain particulars. It seems there necessarily 
 must be manoeuvre and stratagem in horse racing. I 
 allude chiefly to a horse l running to win/ or not, at 
 the option, and according to the interest of his pro- 
 prietor; the general understanding of this, is or 
 ought to be the security of the betters. They are, 
 however, now and then had at this lock, and do not 
 fail to make loud complaints, until fortune offer to 
 themselves the opportunity of advantageously play- 
 ing the same game. This stratagem has yet been too 
 often practised indefensibly, of which I remember a 
 very palpable instance. ' A capital horse was matched 
 against one of very inferior form, over the Beacon 
 Course. The odds in betting were very high on the 
 former, and ten to one against the latter which proved 
 the winner ; nobody doubted of the match being a 
 partnership concern. Certainly, trying horses will 
 never be entirely laid aside, but it is by no means so 
 frequent and regular as formerly, when old racers 
 earned considerable sums as trial horses. The late 
 Sir Charles Bunbury said to me on a particular oc- 
 casion — f I have no notion of trying my horses for 
 other people's information/ Many horses have been 
 killed in trials ; for example, Spanking Roger of old, 
 and Sailor of late years, both at Newmarket. A few 
 more words may not be thrown away here, on the 
 
296 THE HORSE* 
 
 ticklish business of commencing; an engagement on 
 the Turf. No doubt the breeding and training two 
 or three colts and fillies, may be a pleasant way of 
 losing money, but there cannot be much rational 
 expectation of winning, from an attempt on so small 
 a scale, when in the most numerous and extensive 
 studs, so few horses are bred that are really worth 
 training. The safest mode of proceeding for a begin- 
 ner, granting the term safety can be any way applied 
 to so precarious an undertaking, is to watch the 
 opportunity of purchasing at a moderate price, a 
 reputed or known runner which has not become too 
 stale from work ; such opportunities are of frequent 
 occurrence, more especially towards the end of the 
 season. The profession of betting without any con- 
 cern in training, is certainly a pleasant one ; and one, 
 which in my early youth, I had an ardent desire to 
 have adopted ; when, mirabile dictu, I had the wit 
 to discover that I was too slow to be worth training ; 
 in short, utterly unqualified for so arduous an attempt. 
 I should never, like a late commission man in the 
 betting line, have profited sufficiently to be able to 
 furnish my kitchen with solid plate saucepans and 
 gridirons. In this case particularly, the nosce teip- 
 sum is of wonderful importance. 
 
 The late Mr. Cline, the surgeon, of the highest 
 repute in his profession, and whom I knew, in the 
 commencement of his professional career, at Guy's 
 Hospital, published some years since, a small tract 
 on breeding horses, upon which, at the time, I pub- 
 lished a few remarks. It has been the custom 
 among the periodicals, to introduce, occasionally, 
 
THE HORSE. 297 
 
 this gentleman's maxims. But, however plausible 
 his theory may be, there is one irreparable defect 
 in it, that of practical experience. The groundwork 
 of his theory is, the union of a large mare w T ith a 
 small horse. Now our unequalled and unquestion- 
 able improvements have not originated in any such 
 practice. A large, roomy mare, indeed, is usually a 
 prize in the stud, but we generally choose to match 
 her with a still larger horse. On the racing stud, 
 and on training the racer, I would warmly and ear- 
 nestly recommend Mr. DarvilPs book, published by 
 Ridgeway. Never before was such a book written in 
 any language, so replete with those minute but indis- 
 pensable particulars of practice, without a thorough 
 skill in which, no groom, or trainer, can be complete 
 in his business, and by a writer who has person- 
 ally performed his part throughout the whole of the 
 practice. This is the true book of reference for every 
 stud and training groom, and every jockey. The 
 ancient trainers kept their nags going to some tune, 
 if by breathings we are to understand sweats. Mark- 
 ham, in his Cavalarice, says they took their racers 
 out twice a day to exercise, and breathed them twice 
 a week. But, perhaps, by their breathings we are to 
 understand only brushing gallops. 
 
 According to report on the Turf, the prices of our 
 highest reputed racers have varied between two and 
 four thousand guineas, which last sum was the price 
 given for the Colonel and Mameluke. Zinganee was 
 originally sold for three thousand guineas, but on 
 the morning of the race, previously to his beating- 
 Mameluke, the Colonel, and Cadland, for the gold 
 
 o 2 
 
298 THE HORSE. 
 
 cup, at Ascot, Lord Chesterfield purchased him of Mr. 
 Chifney. The race was won in a high form, and the 
 noble Lord is now the proprietor of the best horse in 
 England ; and, as is supposed, the best that has ap- 
 peared upon the Turf during some years. According 
 to newspaper authority, as to the authenticity of which 
 I know nothing, Lord Chesterfield gave for Zinganee 
 two thousand five hundred guineas, a contingent 
 five hundred to be allowed to Chifney, as jockey, in 
 case of his winning ; Lord Chesterfield to keep the 
 cup and Chifney the stakes. This precipitate mea- 
 sure is said to have been his Lordship's only chance 
 of escape from the consequences of his betting book, 
 and Chifney's best incitement to winning the race. 
 Lord Chesterfield is understood to have made no 
 money by his bargain. The price of a good known 
 racer, fit for the general business of the course, may 
 be stated as between five hundred and one thousand 
 guineas. 
 
 The races gi devant of Lilly Hoo, have been lately 
 revived and dignified with the name of St. Albans ; 
 and as his Grace of St. Albans resides in the county, 
 and, moreover, has royal racing blood in his veins, 
 we residents in Middlesex would fain hope that the 
 noble Duke will send a winning; horse to St. Albans 
 next season. In looking over Pick's Turf Register, 
 I was much surprised to find no account of Crofts* 
 Brilliant, one of the best, if not the best horse of his 
 day, since he beat Matchem against his will, over 
 the course at Newmarket. Mr. Crofts was Sir Charles 
 Bunbury's turf preceptor. At the same time I was 
 amused by the account of King Herod and Ascham, 
 
THE HORSE. 299 
 
 both aged, and I believe strong horses, running over 
 the course at Newmarket for a thousand guineas, at 
 five stone seven pounds and six stone. In the first 
 Spring Meeting of the present year, the very extra- 
 ordinary occurrence took place of a dead heat with 
 three racers, and the race was run over again. I 
 never before heard of, during my time, nor do I 
 recollect ever reading of such an occurrence. 
 
 For Turf reference Books, the following are in 
 constant request and use; Weatherby's Racing 
 Calendar, published annually, containing accounts 
 of all the races in Britain and Ireland, and of the 
 transactions of the Cock-pit; also abstracts of the 
 Acts of Parliament relative to horse-racing; King's 
 Plate articles ; the form of a Certificate of winning ; 
 Give and Take weights; description of a Post and 
 Handy Cap match ; Rules and Orders of the Jockey 
 Club, and concerning Racing in general ; the Colours 
 worn by the Riders of the chief sporting Noblemen 
 and Gentlemen ; the number and lengths of the 
 various courses at Newmarket ; Stallions to cover 
 during the following season, with a variety of other 
 relative particulars. Weatherby's General Stud 
 Book, containing the Pedigrees of Race Horses from 
 the earliest accounts. This book was first published 
 in 1791, and is continued periodically. Pick's Turf 
 Register, in three volumes, the last published a 
 few years since, gives a history, in many cases a very 
 particular and interesting one, of all known racers 
 from the commencement of the regular Turf system 
 in England, their races, winnings, purchase, sales, 
 with the dates of their death. There is also a Racing 
 
300 THE HORSE. 
 
 Calendar published annually at York. But here, 
 in the South, Mr. Weatherby's books, like Aaron's 
 rod, swallow up all the rest. Race horses take their 
 ages from Mayday. A distance consists of two 
 hundred and forty yards. 
 
 The following abbreviations are peculiar to the 
 Turf — h. horse — g. gelding — m. mare — c. colt — f. filly 
 ■ — p. pony — b. bay — bl. black — br. brown — gr. grey 
 — ch. chestnut — ro. roan — d. dun — yrs. years — gs. 
 guineas — so v. sovereigns — h. ft. half forfeit — h. forfeit 
 — pd. paid — p. p. play or pay — dr. drawn — dis. dis- 
 tanced — y. young. 
 
 Of the twelve Courses in present use at New- 
 market — B. C. Beacon Course — R. C. Round Course 
 — Y. C. Yearling Course — Ab. M. Abingdon Mile — 
 An. M. Ancaster Mile— B. M. Bunbury Mile— R. M. 
 Rowley Mile—D. I. Ditch in.— D. M. Ditch Mile— 
 T. M. M. the Two Middle Miles of B. C— A. F. Across 
 the Flat— T. Y. C. the Two Year Old Course. 
 
 The King's Chair on the top of the hill, New- 
 market heath, upon which ' the merry monarch/ 
 Charles the Second, used to enjoy a view of the horses 
 taking their exercise, has been, I understand, many 
 years removed. It was formerly a favourite custom 
 with persons attached to the Turf, to visit this part 
 of the heath annually, on a certain day in the Spring, 
 for the purpose of seeing the horses, both they and 
 the lads being in their new clothes, take their gallop 
 up to the King's Chair. 
 
THE HORSE. 301 
 
 SECTION XLIII.— The Animal Question. 
 
 My first essay on the duties of man towards those 
 animals committed by nature to his charge, was at 
 the early age of fifteen years; and though in the 
 heat of youth, and during the hurry of the affairs of 
 the world, I regret to have made too many breaches 
 of practice, I have yet cherished the innate principle 
 throughout life, and feel myself urged to pursue my 
 destiny to the end, in however great a degree, ungra- 
 cious and unpopular the theme. From my first con- 
 tributions to the periodical press, I have embraced as 
 many opportunities as were within my power, of 
 introducing the subject, and have never written any 
 book on the care and management of animals, wherein 
 that important branch has been neglected. In my 
 two volumes on the Horse, originally published in 
 1796, together with the additions to the third edition, 
 I have enlarged more than in any other of my pub- 
 lications. Certain critics made themselves merry 
 with the phrase, ' rights of beasts/ the ancient jus 
 animalium ; but it is scarcely possible they could be 
 seriously unaware that, I could intend nothing further 
 than those natural claims which the brute creation 
 has on the justice and compassion of rational man. 
 
 Mr. Erskine, subsequently Lord firskine, some- 
 what upwards of twenty years since, brought a bill 
 into parliament, for the purpose of completing the 
 social and moral system, by giving legislative protec- 
 tion to animals, which, in their unprotected and 
 helpless state, were left exposed to the most wanton 
 and cruel inflictions, even under the idea of sport, 
 
302 THE HORSE. 
 
 not only from the naturally insensible, and from 
 inclination actively barbarous, but from that great 
 majority of mankind, the unthinking and the un- 
 reflecting, and prejudiced followers of custom ! Not- 
 withstanding the force, eloquence, and pathos of 
 Mr. Erskine's address, and the utter insignificance of 
 those arguments, whether logical or practical, which 
 were brought to bear upon him, his bill was thrown 
 out. Ridicule seems to have constituted the ground 
 of the chief argument used against the bill, a too 
 plain indication of that kind of principle with which 
 it was desired to imbue the vulgar and uninformed 
 mind. In spite of the ill success of Mr. Erskine's 
 bill, the attempt conferred infinite moral benefits on 
 the country. From that period men began to think, 
 and the grosser sports and trespasses on the feelings 
 of animals became somewhat on the decline. Many 
 of those dens of torture and horror, in which that 
 -minion of cruelty, the bearish and surly Broughton 
 and his myrmidons, had used to officiate, under the 
 highest patronage, were shut up and deserted; al- 
 though we have yet too many of our modern pits, 
 where the rising generation are initiated in that kind 
 of morality. About the same time also, the abomi- 
 nation of throwing at cocks in Shrovetide, with several 
 other antique national barbarisms and fooleries, began 
 to be discontinued, and, it may be hoped, are now 
 nearly forgotten.. 
 
 In the year 1822, arose another humane and consi- 
 derate advocate for the claims of animals on our 
 national justice, in the person of Richard Martin, 
 Esq. of Galway, M. P. From the favourable change 
 
 
THE HORSE. 303 
 
 which had, to a certain degree, supervened, inducing 
 a somewhat milder tone of national sentiment, Mr. 
 Martin succeeded in obtaining the enactment of a 
 law, which invested animals with rights under the 
 social contract. He enjoys the honour with his 
 contemporary philanthropists (for the love of human 
 and brute nature is a congenial sentiment,) and will 
 stand recorded to the latest posterity, as having 
 arduously laboured for, and first succeeded in that 
 extraordinary change in our legislation ; but the bill, 
 as might be expected on such a subject, and in the 
 face of so much opposition, was necessarily imperfect ; 
 however, still great and important the advantage 
 obtained, a considerable number of animals were 
 placed under legal protection, whilst others, having 
 equal claims from their feelings, and even greater 
 liability to abuse, were entirely and indefensibly ex- 
 cluded from the pale of mercy. Mr. Martin previ- 
 ously 10 his second attempt, did me the honour to 
 call on, and consult me, and my unreserved opinion 
 was, that nothing further could be required of the 
 legislature with reason or effect, than a general pro- 
 tection for animals, and the absolute prohibition and 
 putting down of all baiting and torture, whether of 
 bulls, badgers, bears, or any other beasts. But con- 
 trary to my expectations, the enthusiasm of this 
 philanthropist got the better of him, and he became 
 disposed to expect much more than the legislature 
 could, scarcely even with possibility, grant. 
 
 The clergy of the church of England have exerted 
 themselves most particularly and most meritoriously 
 in this sacred cause. A great number of tracts have 
 
304 THE HORSE. 
 
 been periodically published by them, since that ex- 
 cellent one, (Primatt's Duty of Mercy to Brute 
 Animals,) which has been lately republished, with 
 notes and illustrations, by the Rev. A. Broome. 
 This gentleman is the humane and zealous founder 
 of the present Society for the Protection of Animals, 
 towards the duties of which, no one has contributed 
 with greater zeal, enthusiasm, and assiduity, than 
 the honorary secretary, Lewis Gompertz, Esq. The 
 society has the patronage and countenance of noble- 
 men, ladies, and gentlemen, of high rank and influ- 
 ence in the country, among whom may be reckoned 
 some of acknowledged first-rate talent. The recent 
 bill brought into parliament by C. N. Palmier, Esq. 
 M. P. for Surrey, and a worthy patron of the Animal 
 Society, for the purpose of remedying a defect in Mr. 
 Martin's Act, was thrown out by too large a majority 
 to allow of any present hope. The bill was in course 
 advocated by that constant and never failing friend of 
 liberty and humanity, Mr. William Smith. The 
 adverse arguments were of the usual tenour. The 
 old bugbear abstraction, and the insuperable diffi- 
 culty of line-draiving, formed the burden of the 
 logical fund. But a late great and since deeply 
 regretted statesman, a late convert however, declared 
 in his place in parliament, that all governments ought 
 to be conducted on abstract principles ; there is no 
 doubt of this, as the ground work and foundation of 
 all that is just and right in human affairs ; at the 
 same time, every experienced political moralist is 
 aware of that discrimination, of those compromises 
 and allowances, independently of which, the affairs 
 
THE HORSE. 305 
 
 of the world could not proceed. But we are not 
 thence to take it for granted, that abstraction may be 
 lawfully concreted for the benefit of private interest, 
 of fraud, of monopoly ; far less for such a purpose, 
 which surely cannot be intended, as that of pandering 
 to the horrible, unnatural, and barbarous propensities 
 of the dregs and scum of human society. The abstract 
 principle of right, in order to its practicability and 
 preservation, must be left to moderate itself, which it 
 will invariably effect by its own natural, or the legiti- 
 mate necessity of the case, to which all men must 
 submit. 
 
 Est modus in rebus ; sunt certi denique fines, 
 Quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum. 
 
 But having formerly and elsewhere dilated to a 
 considerable extent, as above said, I must now con- 
 fine myself to a few strictures on the rationale, the 
 religious or binding part, and the morality of the sub- 
 ject. Is justice a simple and indivisible principle, 
 and equally due to animals burdened with the same 
 wants as ourselves, and endowed with similar feelings 
 and affections, as it is from rational man to his fellow 
 man ? is there any force or obligation in the beautiful 
 old Hebrew text, ' the merciful man is merciful to his 
 beast V It is probable that no one of the present day 
 will be hardy or hardened enough, to answer these 
 questions in the negative ; nevertheless, too many 
 there are in this great and glorious country, even of 
 the superior and educated classes, and amidst the 
 highest religious pretensions, who take a strange and 
 unnatural delight in witnessing the affrights and 
 
306 THE HORSE. 
 
 alarms of helpless and devoted animals, and in the 
 horrid spectacle of their bodies torn to pieces, and 
 their lives worn out by slow and lingering tortures ! 
 Such are the ecstatic pleasures enjoyed in our pits, 
 and at our bull rings; this may be even said to 
 compose a great part of the education of our youth, 
 as having a tendency to endow them with hardihood 
 and courage, and is defended in the senate, and even 
 enjoined as a duty by an act of the legislature ! It 
 has been said, that the law ought not to interfere, 
 but in case of a breach of the peace. Does it then 
 follow, that the grossest and most horrible atrocities 
 may be perpetrated under the pretence of sport, 
 granting it be done snugly and covertly, and no 
 breach of the peace be made ? What ideas are here 
 held forth, wherewith to imbue the vulgar mind ; 
 thus, when any favourite interest is in view, a dispen- 
 sation is at hand for the greatest enormities. If 
 brute animals be comprehended within the scheme of 
 general justice, if they are objects of legislative pro- 
 tection, they thence derive a legal, in addition to 
 their natural right, to be secured from unjust and 
 wanton aggression, from being baited, or staked down 
 to the torture. Such treatment is the abuse, not the 
 fair and honest use of them, and he or they, who 
 have committed that abuse, have committed a crime, 
 a fraud. A man may take the life, such is the com- 
 pulsive plan of nature and of reason, but no man can 
 have a property in the torture of his beast. The plea 
 for retaining this ancient barbarism of baiting animals 
 to death by way of amusement, is, that it is an act 
 of complacence and condescension to the labouring 
 
THE HORSE. 307 
 
 classes, who ought, as well as their superiors, to be 
 indulged in their recreative sports : this certainly 
 wears too much the appearance of a sham plea ; in- 
 dicating but too plainly, that an attachment to cruel 
 sports, grounded on ancient prejudice, is by no means 
 confined to the lower people. There seems, however, 
 no danger apprehended, or hesitation used, in res- 
 training those in their harmless pastimes, by inter- 
 dicting skittles, this or that game ; the whole dread 
 and apprehension subsists in withholding from them 
 the indispensable gratification of dipping their hands 
 in blood, and the exercise of the most fiendish and 
 diabolical barbarity. This surely must afford a rare 
 moral lesson to a population, unfortunately become 
 the most immoral and profligate in Europe. But in 
 fact, the labouring classes of this country are not so 
 needy and deficient in sports and amusements, how- 
 ever they may be in the solid and serious means of 
 subsistence, as to be unable to spare one single item 
 from the list ; and if I know any thing of their habits 
 and manners, they are not the class who would most 
 regret the loss of animal baiting, they would still 
 have remaining, a superabundant variety of sportive 
 exercises (would that those employments by which 
 their daily bread must be earned, were also abundant) 
 and might be induced to abandon baiting with little 
 opposition and few murmurs ; and with the aid of so 
 salutary a lesson, and by the instructions of those 
 whose duty it is to watch over the public morals, 
 they might be brought to concede to poor beasts that 
 fair play, which they have been taught to allow to 
 each other in their pugilistic contests. As to the fair 
 
308 THE HORSE. 
 
 contests of men or beasts, whether in the race or 
 combat, I apprehend there is no considerable party 
 in this country, disposed to call for a legal prohibition 
 of them. Excesses, indeed, may occasionally arise, 
 which the law at present in force, is, or may be ren- 
 dered fully competent to repress ; and there can be 
 no greater difficulty in ' drawing the line' in this, 
 
 than occurs in such a variety of other human con- 
 cerns. 
 
 The following picture of a bull bait, celebrated 
 last autumn at Smithwick, was drawn by a surgeon, 
 an inhabitant of that town, and an eyewitness. " The 
 bull was brought to the stake on Monday, and very 
 early in the contest, about three inches were torn off 
 his tongue, that he could afterwards neither eat nor 
 drink, nor retain the spirit to defend himself ; yet he 
 was again brought to the stake on Tuesday, and again 
 on Wednesday ; and on the Wednesday evening he 
 was seen creeping towards the slaughterhouse, with 
 his poor mangled remains of life, after the rate of a 
 quarter of a mile an hour, attended and goaded on 
 by an infuriated rabble of human demons, there to be 
 slaughtered for human food." I may venture to say, 
 that throughout the long course of years, in which I 
 have known or seen accounts of bull baiting, there 
 has not one passed, in which similar or greater atro- 
 cities have not been perpetrated ; but those tortures 
 which are inflicted on the tame and mild spirited 
 beast, in order to excite his passion and resistance, 
 are absolutely too horrible and damnable for recital ! 
 The fautors of this sport boast of its wonderful effi- 
 cacy in teaching men courage and contempt of dan- 
 
THE HORSE. 309 
 
 ger ; but surely it is but a theoretical and second 
 hand mode of acquiring courage, whilst the aspirants 
 themselves are in perfect security and freedom from 
 suffering or danger, witnessing only a poor and help- 
 less beast exposed. The ancient combats between 
 men and beasts must have been a more spirit-stirring 
 spectacle, fellow men being engaged. St. Paul tells 
 us, ' thrice have I fought with beasts at Ephesus' — 
 now if a number of our most dashing and emulous 
 bull baiters could be induced each patriotically to 
 take a bull's place, the example would be great and 
 glorious, and must have a miraculous effect on our 
 national courage. 
 
 The noble Earl Grosvenor lately presented a peti- 
 tion to the House of Lords against bull baiting, and 
 the friends of humanity will be sure of the noble 
 Lord's powerful assistance, whenever a prospect shall 
 arise of favourable legislation on the case, or of eras- 
 ing from our statute books a law which is a national 
 disgrace, the existence of which ought to crimson the 
 cheeks of every Briton with shame. Two of the 
 judges have decided, that balls were not intituled to 
 the benefit of Mr. Martin's act, notwithstanding the 
 comprehensive phrase ' all other cattle,' is explicitly 
 and unreservedly used. A similar legal absurdity in 
 France, referring to the terms sheep and rams, has 
 lately promoted the escape of a felon from justice. 
 This is no doubt a legal profundity which neither I, 
 nor many thousands more of wiser men, are profound 
 enough to bring within the pale of common sense, or 
 possible legal use or necessity, otherwise than in the 
 furtherance of chicane and fraud. But doctors of 
 
310 THE HORSE, 
 
 law, as well as of physic, differ ; two barristers have 
 given an opinion favourable to the bull, and some 
 future judge and jury may probably entertain a simi- 
 lar opinion. I wish to see the case subject to the 
 decision of an independent, intelligent, and warm- 
 hearted English jury j in the mean time, the affair is 
 obviously in the hands of the reflecting, enlightened, 
 and humane part of the people of England, undoubt- 
 edly a most numerous body, and would they make it 
 a common cause, testifying as much by the number 
 of their petitions, parliament could no longer refuse 
 the prayer. The establishment of societies for animal 
 protection in our large provincial towns and cities, 
 would have the best moral effects; and as to the 
 London Society, the names engaged in it are our 
 guarantee, leaving us no apprehension for the con- 
 tinuance of that zeal, and assiduity which they have 
 hitherto shown, and of that reasonable share of suc- 
 cess which they have experienced. Nihil est tarn 
 difficile aut durum, quod rum solertia vincat. 
 
 Tho' this my life has unsuccessful been, 
 
 For who can this Augean stable clean ? 
 
 My generous end I will pursue in death, 
 
 And at (hard hearts) rail with my parting breath. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Law of wagers. — A wager on a race-horse is legal, 
 provided the race which is the subject of the bet, 
 be run for fifty pounds or upwards, or twenty-five 
 pounds deposited by each party; but horse races 
 against time on a high-way, or for a stake of less than 
 fifty pounds are illegal. A wager upon an indifferent 
 matter, which has no tendency to produce any public 
 mischief, or individual inconvenience is legal ; but to 
 make the wager legal, the subject matter of it must 
 be perfectly innocent, and have no tendency to im- 
 policy or immorality. A wager between the voters 
 on the event of an election, or concerning the produce 
 of the revenue, or tending to inconvenience or degrade 
 the courts of justice, or concerning an abstract ques- 
 tion of law, or legal practice in which the parties 
 have no interest, is illegal and void. A cock-match, 
 or wager upon it, is illegal — so a wager prejudicial to 
 the interest or feelings of a third person, as on the 
 sex of a person, is illegal. A wager whether an un- 
 married woman had borne a child, was held void. A 
 wager tending to restrain marriage is void. A person 
 may lay a wager on his own age, and there is no 
 illegality in betting a rump and dozen. — Notes of a 
 Lawyer. 
 
 Extract from the Transactions of the Society 
 
312 APPENDIX. 
 
 for Preventing Cruelty to Animals, in their 
 annual meeting at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, 
 on Tuesday 2nd June, 1829, Sir George Duckett 
 Bart, in the Chair : " After many instances brought 
 forward of cruelty to horses, the speakers congratu- 
 lated the meeting, that the coach proprietors were 
 cooperating with them in their exertions, and had 
 formed themselves into a committee, so that passen- 
 gers witnessing cruelty on the part of any coachman, 
 if they laid the case before this Committee, the 
 coachman would most assuredly meet with that pun- 
 ishment which his conduct deserved, for it was the 
 wish, as well as the interest of the coach proprietors, 
 to put an end to that system of cruelty which at one 
 time existed— at the same time, such cruelty was 
 now, they were happy to say, not frequently wit- 
 nessed. " This, no doubt, is an advance; the society 
 further stands in need of some allies among the 
 respectable horse dealers and butchers, classes, in 
 which, as well as in all others, there must necessarily 
 be men of intelligence and humanity : Mr. Protheroe 
 is a striking example of this. 
 
 Smithfield. — This infernal den of cruelty, im- 
 policy, national waste and disgrace, still remains in 
 statu quo, from the old influence of corporation 
 interests and unconquerable prejudice. About twenty 
 years since, at the suggestion of Lord Somerville, I 
 concerted a plan with the late Mr. Edmund Cotterill, 
 then largely concerned in the provision trade, for 
 the removal of Smithfield market to a considerable 
 distance north of the metropolis, and for the estab- 
 lishment of other cattle markets in the south and 
 
APPENDIX. 313 
 
 west, all slaughtering of cattle to be restricted, as in 
 France, to the outskirts of the town. Mr. Cotterill, 
 whom I had known many years, then in the Commis- 
 sion of the peace, used his utmost influence among 
 his friends, and the plan was laid before the govern- 
 ing parties in the city, but without the slightest hope 
 of success. It no doubt presented a variety of diffi- 
 culties. Another plan, however, which was unat- 
 tended with any other difficulty than the redoubtable 
 bravery of the butchers, failed equally of success ; 
 one which Lord Somerville had much at heart. This 
 was to substitute the continental practice of laying 
 or pithing cattle, for the old English one of knocking 
 them down. Mr. Cotterill saw, among a number of 
 other examples, a bull seg receive seventeen blows with 
 the pole axe, before the miserable beast received his 
 quietus, in the mean time bellowing in a most piteous 
 and horrible manner ! the fellow all the while, most 
 courageously brandishing the axe in the face of the 
 fast bound, affrighted, and tortured animal ! Lord 
 Somerville's man laid or pithed with the knife, in 
 the neck between the horns, twelve oxen in a few 
 minutes, the beasts dropping down instantaneously, 
 as if shot. Proper pithing knives were sent to the 
 Victualing Office, but none of the butchers would 
 make use of them : this favourable and most conve- 
 nient practice however, is said to have been intro- 
 duced of late years, into Lincolnshire and the adjoin- 
 ing counties. 
 
 The Sock and leathern sole Shoe. Shoeing 
 horses in this mode, has of late become somewhat 
 frequent in the metropolis ; yet strange as it may 
 
 OPOin TOITT f\T f llAcn tyi/-vc<4- infflrnofort 11-1 if iirL /-* + !-» All +r» T> 
 
314 THE HORSE. 
 
 riers or keepers of horses, can give any account of it, 
 by whom, or at what period, it was introduced. I 
 have been informed generally, that it may have been 
 in use about two or three years. I sent an account 
 of it, which was inserted in the July Sporting Maga- 
 zine, to the following purport. " The sock is com- 
 posed of prepared hair, first immersed in a mixture 
 which imparts to it perpetual moisture, affording a 
 regular and even pressure on every part of the under 
 surface of the hoof. The sock, or padding, is placed 
 next the sole ; the leather sole upon the sock exactly 
 fitting the whole foot, filling up the cavities between 
 the bars and frog, so completely, it is warranted, that 
 it is impossible for the smallest quantity of grit to 
 work in between the sole and the leather." Mr Tat- 
 tersall has lately made trial of this method, and I 
 spoke with a gentleman at Haynes's livery stables, 
 near Regent Street, then j ust mounting his hack so 
 shod, with which it had succeeded perfectly well. 
 In the common practice, however, I understand, the 
 sock, or padding, is nothing more than a piece of 
 sheep's skin with the wool, or a quantity of tow. 
 The prepared and immersed hair, as above, is said 
 to be the discovery of Mr. D. Woodin, who has 
 a forge at Upper Park Place, Regent's Park; in 
 Gloucester Mews, King Street Portman Square; and 
 George Yard, Long Acre ; and who has the greatest 
 share, in London, of this kind of practice. There 
 seems rather a general inclination, in the veterinary 
 faculty to depreciate, or make light of this improve- 
 ment, as possibly beneficial only to thin soled and 
 tender footed horses, but of no use whatever in case 
 of injury to the internal structure of the foot. But 
 
THE HORSE. 315 
 
 surely the former must be a most important benefit 
 which will enable a tender footed horse, previously- 
 wincing and afraid to put his feet upon the ground, 
 to set them down boldly upon the pavement, or the 
 hardest roads, without fear, and without pain. Many 
 years ago I should indeed, have thought myself for- 
 tunate in the knowledge of such a method of shoeing ; 
 and, I conceive, our brains in those days must have 
 been dreadfully wool gathering, that the analogy of 
 the human leather soled shoe could not influence 
 them, and that our wits could not point out the ob- 
 vious use of a little wool. I remember, at New- 
 market, it was the custom to nail a piece of old hat 
 or leather, between the crust and shoe, which I 
 adopted, but it was soon laid aside as useless. The 
 objection, that this method cannot be remedial in 
 case of internal defect in the feet, is neither quite 
 candid, nor altogether true ; for surely a horse, with 
 internal lameness in those parts, has the greater need 
 for a cushion to tread upon, which may be so '•far 
 remedial, as it may assuage pain and prevent irri- 
 tation. 
 
 In the Section on Shoeing, Swedish iron is recom- 
 mended, but it may be remarked that, of late years, 
 on account of some fiscal addition, little or no iron 
 has arrived from that country. The most solid and 
 best English iron must then be preferred. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 C. Whittiugham, looks Court, Chaucery Lane. 
 
Chief of the Agricultural, Veterinary, and 
 Sporting Works of 
 
 JOHN LAWRENCE. 
 
 A PHILOSOPHICAL and PRACTICAL TREA- 
 TISE on HORSES, and on the MORAL DUTIES of 
 MAN towards the BRUTE CREATION. Account of 
 former Writers — Management and Medicine — Shoeing — 
 Purchase and Sale, &c. Two Volumes, Octavo. Third 
 Edition with Additions. 
 
 The NEW FARMER'S CALENDAR. Practical 
 Husbandry — the Row Culture — Diseases of Vegetables 
 — Live Stock — Poultry, &c. Fifth Edition. Additions. 
 
 The MODERN LAND STEWARD. Second 
 
 Edition. Additions. 
 
 A GENERAL TREATISE on CATTLE— the 
 
 Ox, the Sheep, and the Swine — Management — Breeding, 
 and Medicine. Second Edition. Additions. 
 
 A HISTORY of the HORSE and DELINEA- 
 TION of the RACE HORSE. The Breeding Stud- 
 Breaking — Training, &c. Quarto. Plates. 
 
 A TREATISE ON DOMESTIC POULTRY, 
 PHEASANTS, PIGEONS, RABBITS, SWINE, DAIRY 
 COWS, BEES, and the PRIVATE BREWERY. Fifth 
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 assumed name of " Moubray." 
 
 BRITISH FIELD SPORTS. Game Laws- 
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 W. H. Scott. New Edition. 
 
 The SPORTSMAN'S REPOSITORY. History, 
 Descriptions, and Instructions relative to Horses and Dogs. 
 Also under the name of W. H. Scott. 
 
 The DESCRIPTIONS of ALKIN'S (folio) 
 SPORTING PLATES, with a French Translation. Se- 
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