Next in order to the thoroughbred comes the hunter. Were I limited to one horse I would, of all others, select the hunter because of his general all-round usefulness. He is thoroughly suitable for park riding, he can be driven, he can be hacked, and his jumping qualities put him in a class by himself.
There are so many different types of hunters that one cannot fairly say that any particular type is the best. All depends on the country to be hunted and whether the horse is wanted for hunting only or for general utility as well.
Thoroughbred Hunter (Sunday Morning)
Probably the best hunters are the Irish. They are up to more weight, they have more substance, greater endurance, and, for their own country, are the safest jumpers in the world. These Irish hunters
have been bred and hunted in Ireland for generations and are natural born jumpers for banks, but in Ireland they do not have fences, such as we know them, nor do they have such high jumps in the hunting-field as we have. So Irish hunters are not suited for hunting in this country until they have been thoroughly trained over our fences. The English and the Canadian hunters are more accustomed to timber and jump higher than the Irish.
Perfect Type of Heavy-weight Thoroughbred Riding Horse (Heartspring)
Hunting in the vicinity of the great cities of the East has changed entirely in this country in the last fifteen years, and the types of horses that were suited to former conditions are not fast enough and do not jump high enough for the pace we have now. The present tendency in the East, since there are no longer wild foxes to be hunted, is to turn hunting into steeple-chasing, and the only horses that will carry their riders fast enough and safely over the courses as they are laid out are thoroughbreds or three-quarter breds.
In other parts of the country, of course, the country is not so stiff and the thoroughbred type is not essential.