The race of genuine covert hacks is, I am sorry to say, apparently fast dying out. Go, for instance, to any ordinary meet of hounds in almost any hunting country—you will see votaries of the chase arriving in every variety of vehicle: in phaetons, dogcarts, waggonettes, on drags and in broughams, on the backs of horses that they mean to hunt, on “general utility” animals, on fine park hacks, brought out to be admired and then cantered home again along the roadside grasses, or hand-galloped through the fields where convenient gates abound—but the number of real covert hacks will be very small indeed. I suppose the reason is, that in this troublous age, few (in Ireland at all events) can afford to indulge in luxuries, and a good hack is one, in the very fullest sense of the term.
I do not believe, although many do, that it spoils a saddle horse to put him in harness. Were I rich enough to possess a number of hunters, I should drive them in a four-horse drag during the summer months, and I believe it would do them an immensity of good. A covert hack of the useful sort makes an excellent trapper, or one of a pair in a brougham or waggonette—nor does he lose any of his saddle qualities by being so made use of.
I may here say that, for country or covert riding, I do not at all approve of the ordinary half-bred cobs, which so many sportsmen, and some sporting ladies also, are prone to affect. No doubt they are strong: it is their only recommendation; but even this very strength is in one way an objection to them, for it is in many instances derived from a close connection with cart-horse blood, and on this account they very soon tire when trotting, and begin to step short, which occasions them to trip, and very often to come down. Besides, it is almost a matter of course that their shoulders are straight, and their fore-feet carried too far under them. In every way, therefore, I object to these animals for saddle use—especially where ladies are concerned.
Scarce as riding horses of endurance are in this country, there is no doubt whatever that we have the breed, and that it only requires careful cultivation—by which I mean select—in distant Colonies, where our road and rail luxuries are not, for love or money, to be obtained. In Southern Africa and distant Australia this has been proved, as also in the crosses of our horses with Continental ones, in Italy, Germany, and Spain.
I now come to speak about hunters. In choosing these, do not go in for outward beauty of form, for it will not stand you in any stead. I am compelled to impress this upon ladies—especially very young ones—because they usually select their horses (as they do their husbands!) for appearance more than for genuine worth. It is such a perfectly natural weakness that nobody can be blamed for it. Everybody likes “something to look at,” but there is more than this to be desired in many respects. I remember either reading somewhere, or hearing somebody say, that a hunter that combined high courage with so fine a temper that he would stand while his owner opened gates or remounted him after a fall—one that liked his trade, cried “Ha, ha!” at the sound of the huntsman’s horn, went generously at his fences as if he relished them, picked his places sensibly, had a good constitution, drank his gruel freely after the day’s work was over, would stand two ordinary days a week, and three good ones along with them in the course of a fortnight—was a treasure, even though he might have an ugly head, a ridiculous tail, an unfashionable colour, corns at times, and many skin-deep blemishes. In addition to all this, I may add that if he is a fairly good hack, and can trot or jog his ten or twelve miles home to his stable after a hardish day, he is simply an invaluable acquisition, especially to those who love sport, yet have not the good fortune to possess a sporting income.
It is rarely, however, that one is lucky enough to meet with so entirely desirable an animal, and when found he certainly ought to be prized.
The essential points for a hunter are these: a good constitution, so that he may bear hardships and hard knocks; good powers of endurance, to enable him to stand long and tiresome days, and frequently to travel lengthy distances homewards; good shoulders, and strong healthy legs and feet. Further good points are, a back powerful enough to bear any weight that he is meant to carry; hind quarters with propelling powers to land him safely over his fences; a good chest, with lungs inside of it sufficiently sound to allow of his galloping without showing signs of distress; and good eyes to enable him to see where he is going.
STRAIGHT FORE LEGS.
