hour I rode a well-bred English galloway, on the same day, exactly four times the distance, and without the least distress.'

The gait called the amble, so much in favour with farmers and their wives, although well enough for those who are content to travel only at a certain pace, is an outrage upon nature. The bodies of horses being supported upon four points of support (the four-legs), which form at long square, the easiest manner of moving for them is, to change two of them at once in a diagonal line, in such a manner that the centre of gravity of the animal's body may move but little, and rest always in the direction of the two points which are at rest. In the three natural paces of the horse, namely, the walk, the trot, and the gallop, this rule of motion is always observed, varying only in the times in the movement, which are four in the walk, and two in the trot; but in the amble -in which there are only two times in the movement, as in the trotthe fore-leg rises at the same time with the hind-leg on the same side, which must be contrary to the law of mechanics, and despite its slowness, very fatiguing to the horse, each side of the body being alternately without support, and consequently the equilibrium between them destroyed. Then there is another objection to this pace. It is difficult to urge the ambling horse beyond a certain speed, and as I this day observed in one working in a mail-cart, it is occasionally useless to attempt it. Being forced up to the top of his speed in that pace, however, seemed to have greatly distressed him. Although I have watched the action of these amblers, and notwithstanding they are mechanically compelled to go near to the ground, I have not observed one of them make a false step. I understand they are broken to the pace when young, by their legs being so tied that they can only move those on one side at the same time; and it is asserted, that the produce of ambling horses and mares produce amblers ready made, which I cannot believe to be the case.

But it is not only in France that horses are forbidden to trot, as is the ambler's case; the Arabs only accustom their horses to the walk, the canter, or the gallop.

Conceiving that they would not be used offensively against my country, I have been pleased with the reflection that I may have contributed to the improvement of French horses, by a work I published in the French language, four years back, under the patronage of the Duke of Orleans, on the breeding, rearing, and training the thoroughbred horse, which, by its wide circulation by the government and by individuals, will no doubt have opened the eyes of breeders of horses of every description to the necessity of warmth and good and plentiful food, in not merely increasing the size and power, and forcibly developing the muscles, but in being the best preventives of coarse points, constituting unsightly form. Its effects indeed have already appeared by a letter published in the Journal des Haras (Paris), on the success of the in-door system; and I have reason to believe it will, to a great extent, be adopted in the breeding establishments of France. They will in time learn from experience-the parent of ultimate success in such matters-the truth of the late Mr. Warde's axiom, namely, that half of the goodness of a horse goes in at his mouth.

Touching French race-horses, it is young days with them. There would indeed be a difficulty in defining a French race-horse, beyond

the fact of his being foaled and reared in France; but of such there are at present a larger number than most persons have a conception of, and many of them of the right sort as to blood. That what is called a French-bred race-horse is considered inferior to an English one of equal pretensions in all other respects, is established by the fact of the weight allowed them in the Goodwood cup, won last year by the Duke of Orleans, but with an English-bred horse; but why-which the English trainers in France say, is the case-second class English-bred race-horses should be equal to first class French-bred ones, is what I am not at present able to account for, the system of rearing and training being the same. This point may perhaps be determined should the countries remain at peace. We shall see either the Duke of Orleans or Lord Henry Seymour sending promising two-year-olds to England to prepare them for the next year's Derby or Oaks-a circumstance that would create vast interest on the English turf, and a species of rivalry infinitely preferable to that created by opposing armies on the battlefield.

GERMAN HORSES.

I

THE Germans may be said to have a horse mania. Previous to the importation of English blood for the purposes of racing, they had a good breed of their own for all common purposes; and in Mecklenburgh especially, they have always had a good sort for carriage-work and the saddle. The former are much used in several continental cities, Paris amongst the number; they are apt to have what are called "Roman noses;" but that defect is nearly hidden by the harnessbridle. And independently of our blood, they had a good sort of thoroughbred horse of their own, having the Arab for its source. rode one of this description-a hunter called Adrastus, who had carried the late Count Plessen, who rode very heavy, for fifteen years with his fox-hounds; and an excellent specimen he was, combining great power with very light action, and displaying evident marks of high oriental blood on one side of his head, as the term is. The generality of these horses called thoroughbred, would not bear a scrutiny into their pedigrees; and although attempts were made by some of the breeders of them, in the young days of German horse-racing, to contend with those of English blood, they ended in defeat, with a very few exceptions. Some estimate, however, may be formed of their value by the fact of a horse in training, the produce of one of them being sold, in my presence, for 500 louis-d'or.

SPANISH HORSES.

I HAVE seen but little of Spanish horses. Their peculiarity consists in the width of the jaws, at the setting on of the neck, which renders them especially suitable to the purposes of parade, and slow carriage processions, by reason of their reining in so well. I have seen what is said to be a faithful portrait of the true Andalusian Xeres breed, having this quality to a remarkable degree. He was presented by the Earl of Morton to a gentleman in Forfarshire, N.B.

The Spanish horse is not fast in his paces; but considering how long the Moors possessed the greater part of Spain, is it not surprising that the Barb and Arabian blood has not been more generally and beneficially diffused through the indigenous breed? Probably, as has been the case with other countries, there existed a strong prejudice in favour of the indigenous breed, which retarded its amelioration.

I have always been led to understand that Spanish horses are particularly sure-footed, and the sort of hackney called the jennet, especially so. Who does not remember the description given by Scott of the roan jennet on which King James was mounted in the celebrated hunting adventure in Richmond Park, when Nigel Oliphant so nearly frightened him out of his wits?

My sole experience of the Spanish breed is confined to that of an entire horse that has only lately been drafted from the Calais and Boulogne Telegraph coach, in which he ran as leader for many years. This horse had high blood in his veins, which was apparent from the short and always glossy state of his coat and skin, as likewise from the long time he continued in his work, after he became a mere wreck of himself. Had I been a breeder of horses in this country, I should have specu lated in a cross between him and a good English mare for a hunter.

ENGLISH HORSES.

THAT what is called the English horse-a term which, however Irish it may seem, includes that of Ireland as well as Scotland in the continental horse-market-is, for all purposes of business, profit, and pleasure, the most generally useful and excellent, is a truth no one will dispute; and his good qualities in comparison with those of other countries, have only been called in question on one point, namely, his powers of endurance under long-continued exertions. With one breed, celebrated for stoutness, he was put to the test, and proved victorious. I allude to the match which took place in 1825, between two English and two Cossack horses, over forty-seven miles of groundproposed by the Cossack General, Count Orloff Deneescoff, and others, and accepted by Count Matuszewic, of Melton Mowbray fame, for the sum of 2000Z.

The Cossack party took every precaution to procure the best horses of the breed. Count Orloff Deneescoff indeed went himself to the Don for the purpose; there was not a tribe of the Cossacks but what furnished its quota; and after scanning their merits and performances, two were selected for the match. One was from the stable of Hetman, Count Platoff, and the other from that of Count Kuteinikoff-each celebrated for their studs of the true Cossack blood. The former was rather coarse in his form, but with good essential points and considerable power; the other a very neat horse, and although bred on the Don, said to betray Arabian desert blood.

The English horses were Sharper, by Octavius, dam by Gohanna, bred by the late Earl of Egremont, and Mina, by Orville, dam, Barossa, by Vermin, bred by Lord George Cavendish-both second-rate racers in England, but of what is called stout blood-Sharper especially so, in his renowned sire Orville. The result was this: Mina burst his

coronet from the hardness of the ground, and was pulled up. Platoff's horse gave up before two-thirds of the ground were run over; and Sharper, although by a stirrup-leather breaking, he ran away with his rider for a long distance, and up a severe ascent of ground, was the winner-his competitor in the race being obliged to be hauled along by ropes. Add to this, the English horses carried much extra weight (one report said three stone), for strange as it may appear, no weight was specified; and the losing Cossack, whose rider was changed during the match, carried a mere child at the conclusion of it.

The interest of this match was such, that the present Emperor of Russia and his brother were present, and the road travelled over by the horses was lined by Cossacks of the guards at regular intervals, and some telegraphic movements of their pikes, intelligible only to those initiated, occasioned some brisk betting during the match, for which some of the speculators suffered in the end. Sharper ran the distance in two hours and forty-eight minutes, and would have run it in less time but for his breaking away with his rider.

My experience of Cossack horses is confined to a few. I rode one of Count Hahn's in Germany, and was much struck with his light, corky action, and very wiry appearance. I also saw at Doberan, in the same country, three driven in a droska, belonging to the grand Duke of Mecklenburgh, which I very much admired.

No horse-supposing the beauty of an animal to consist in a perfect adaptation of parts to the purposes required of it-is at all to be compared in regard to appearance with the English race-horse of the present day, when in his best form, and in the highest state of training, when his muscles are fully developed. Even the horse of the desert is deformity to him; and as to any other variety of his species, he cannot stand competition with him. Our hunters and hacks have likewise long borne the bell, and we approach very near to the Americans in our trotters, although the trotting pace, beyond a certain speed, is not essential to the good properties of a hack. But by way of proving what I have said of English trotters, I can state one fact. In her match with the American horse Rattler, over ten miles of ground, between Cambridge and Godmanchester, Miss Turner, the celebrated Welsh mare, although beaten by one minute and two seconds, performed the distance in thirty-one minutes and forty-two seconds, notwithstanding her having broken into a gallop at least twice in the time!

The worst sort of English horse is the black, hairy-legged cart-horse, which may be called the south-country farmer's curse, for he does not exist in the North. Unless fed higher than mere agricultural labour will reimburse, his action is too slow, and his tread too heavy. It is only when very highly fed, as in London, and in public roadwork, that we see these animals stepping out as they should do. In short, their own weight destroys their natural action; and it has become a proverb in reference to some parts of England, that farmers are eaten up by their horses.

Nevertheless, when this huge animal is in his most perfect form and condition, and entire, he must be allowed to be amongst the noblest of all God's creatures; and in the luxuriance of their imagination, he has been the fancied war-horse of most ancient painters. When describing one of this description, bred by the celebrated Bakewell of Leicestershire,

Marshall says, “A man of moderate size seemed to shrink behind his fore-end, which rose so perfectly upright, that his ears stood perpendicularly over his fore-feet.'

This is all very grand, but the most useful sort of English carthorse is one of inferior size, like the Suffolk Punch, who has a thick carcass, a back short and straight, legs short and clean, as strong as a bull, yet as active as a pony, equally suitable for a cart or wagon, or for a still lighter carriage. This horse will always pay for his keep.

THE SCOTCH HORSE.

SCOTCH horses have always been esteemed for their hardiness and quick stepping in their walk, so essential to their use in light singlehorse carts; and it need scarcely be observed, that a heavy cart-horse of the breed I have been speaking, is not to be found in the country. Scotch-bred hunters, also, have ever been in repute for their stoutness in the field. We have also at present several large breeders of racehorses north of Tweed- Lords Eglinton and Kelburne, Sir James Boswell, Mr. Ramsay of Barton, and others.

THE IRISH HORSE.

SINCE the practice has become so general in Ireland of crossing the indigenous breed with pure racing blood, it is no wonder that such excellent hunters are now obtained from Ireland; and fortunate is it that such is the case, inasmuch as without them, English sportsmen would find difficulty in mounting themselves on horses of the best stamp. But the excellence of Irish hunters of the present day may be thus accounted for. From the absence of the heavy cart-horse in Ireland, the general blood of the country is in nowise stained with theirs, as it is in England; and for this reason has the Irish hackney been always much esteemed, being of a sui generis race, which is not the case in England, where in this description of horse, the blood of Black Mamma, has more or less prevailed, unless it be in those of the very best sort. Irish mares, then, when crossed with full blood, would thus naturally soon produce horses of good blood, partaking at the same time with those of the highly-bred racer, the good qualities of their own breed, which are by no means few. The Irish hackney, as I have already said, was always esteemed; and although when I first hunted in Ireland, Irish hunters were chiefly celebrated for their leaping powers, by reason of their want of breeding, and ability to go fast, they are now so far benefited by the acquisition of purer blood, as to give them a high character in the hunting world, as well as to have become a source of great profit to the breeders of them. And yet hunters thus bred are not to be considered equal to those of pure English or Irish blood, whose powers are sufficient for the purposes to which they are put.

As regards Irish race-horses, the improvement has gone progressively on since the days of Mr. Bowes Daly and his contemporaries. The name and fame of Harkaway will never be forgotten in England, and the last Chester cup-the grand prize of the meeting-was won by an Irish-bred horse.