Some Hunters of Old

Horowhenua Chronicle, 13 May 1910, Page 4

Some Hunters of Old

0 Wo are not told* very much of tlie hunters of old in those .sporting <t volumes now grooving into almost " priceless relics. Vet it is possible, ' remarks a. writer in the "Live Stuck Journal," to .secure some k idea of the outline of the ideal hunter from a liook issued in the "tllir--1 ties,'' and from which one learns r that: Ho should have a. light head, well put on, with a (inn but not a long j. neck; lengthy, and consequently oblique, shoulders, with a very capacious chest and great depth of girth ; .a long muscular forearm, ~ coining well out of the shoulder, the elbow parallel with tho body, neither inclining inward nor otitJ ward; a short cannon or .shank, with large tendons and .sinews, j forming a flat not a round leg; I au oblique pastern, rather long j. than short, and an open circular j foot: the back of moderate length, with well-developed loins and fillets, j and deep riks. From the loins to the setting of the tail the line should lm carried f ou almost straight, or rounded 011- "■ Iv in a very slight degree. Thus , the haunch will lie almost oblique, ) and will produce a. corresponding , obliquity in the .'thigh hone, which ; formation is peculiarly charactert istic of the well-bred horse. The. dock of the tail should be " large, tho buttocks close together, the thighs muscular and long, [ rather inclining inwards, with large . lean hocks, the points appearing to I stand somewha.t behind tho body, v which will bring tho lower part of . tin l hind leg or shank under it. The shank, fetlock, and pastern ( cl tho bind leg should exactly resemble those of the tore leg, as .also should tho foot. The legs should appear short, , from the great depth of the chest and well-proportioned substance of the body or middle-piece. As nearly perfect to tho fore going type as possible was tho hunt er Ximrod. .Mercury, a hunter, tho property of .Mr K. F. Shawo, Br intingham Hull, won hall' a dozen prizes at the shows of the "forties," crowning his career with a victory at tilt Yorkshire Agricultural Society's Show at Hull, where Slashing Harry, a son of Voltaire, was second to him. Mercury was bred by Sir Tatton Svke.s, and sold to Mr Shawe, who hunted with him for eight years without any accident he-falling him. lu 1810 a writer in tlu> then leading sporting magazine wrote of the Fnglish hunter as the horse for all work. He averred that there was no description of horse which could bo applied to so many purposes as the powerful English hunter. "Setting aside his own peculiar service in the field, he is fit. to c-irrv a man on the road, and in battle, and he answers for evory kind of draught." But the old. writer said oven more. ""We are even inclined to believe that no horse would equal him in ploughing, and as for road, or harness, either slow or fast, nothing would touch him in a car riage adapted to his powers." This is praise indeed, yet not without some measuro of reason for. or merit in, it. A complete hunter is more perfect in his shape than a racer, for the latter will admit of imperfections which would quite disqualify the former. Asembiirv was a favourite hunter of Mr John Apperley. the "Nimrod" of old. Lord Denbigh, a Meltonian, thought Amesbury the neatest horse he ever saw. In every country in which he was seen lie was admired for his shortness of leg, depth of body, and tho oblique position of his shoulders. "Nimrod" knew not this hunter's pedigree. Ho believed him to be an Irish horse, and bought him at the Amesbury Coursing Meeting, when out of condition, for oOgs. He was the second best timber-topper "Nimrod" owned, and his pace was equal to -that of any hound. Then. "Nimrod" tells us; "He ! measures four inches wider across his ga.skins than he does across his hips. This gives such commanding powers to his hinder quarters as almost to preclude .tho necessity of any support from the rider's hand; consequently the easiest sua (lie bridle is all that he requires." Ameslmry was a grey (not quite lob 2in.), dappled on tho 'hinder and fltvibitten 011 the fore quarters. While time lias wrought its inevitable changes, tho hunter of old —as pretty as a picture to the ancients-- would have many adherents to-diay. True, the type has changed—because conditions have. For one thing, hounds are faster than they were, and that demands a. correspondingly speedier hunter. et, after all, the hunter shoulft do something more than merely look pretty. As a. modern writer said, he is wanted to' gallop and jump and carry -his rider through a long, hard day, and hack him home confortably at night. To do this, the horse must be well bred, and well bred on the sire's side, j