ROADSTERS OR HACKNEYS

New Zealand Mail, 22 January 1902, Page 56

ROADSTERS OR HACKNEYS

In a discussion upon this subject in the “Sydney Stock and Station Journal,’’ Mr 11. Atkinson Price quotes the remarks of an experienced authority in support of the fact that tho roadster or hackney is one of the most useful of all our horses, and may be produced from a well selected sire, of a light draught breed, with as much goodness and strength as possible in a little space. Next to compactness, the inclination cf the shoulder will be regarded, as a stallion with upright shoulders never got a capital hackney. From a horse with this failing nothing can be got except it be a cart horse.

Ho should be well up in the wither, short in tho back, well ribbed up round the barrel, and short in the cannon and flat below the knee, with a sound set of legs, free from splint, spavin or curb, and with a good set of feet. If he have any of these defects, they may be hereditary, in which case they are sure to crop out in the offspring. It is necessary he should have a good rein, arched neck and head well put on, with a kind expression of the eye. He should bo active also, lifting his legs well in his paces, with not too much knee action. His tail should be well set on, as nothing gives a better or gamer appearance to a horso than a tail well carried. A horse of this description is capable, with suitablo mares, of producing a class of horse very suitable 1 for general purposes, and with sufficient bone and substance to undergo a large amount of work—these latter qualities being most essential to counteract the weediness which neglect in breeding lias permitted so many of tho colonial horses to fall into. Tho offspring is likely to be stronger and stouter from a vigorous young horso than from ono very old or which has been worn out at work. It has boon frequently stated by breeders that it is more difficult to select a good marc 10 breed from than a good horse, because sho possesses somewhat opposite qualities. To a horso as above described might bo put a half bred or threequarter bred mare, the younger the bettor, provided she bo fully matured. It is a great mistake to imagine that a hard worked, worn out old mare, unfit for work, will do for breeding. The mare should bo sound, young and with a good constitution; sho should be long and roomy, and with these points should bo compactness of form and shortness of leg, as the whole of tho colonial horses havo a tendency to go to log. I'eof form and constitution will also bo inherited. This is a most important but neglected consideration, for however desirable, or even perfect may havo been tho conformation of the sire, every good point may bo neutralised or lost by tho defective form, or want of blood, of tho mare. It is necessary that the essential points should bo good for both, parents, and that some minor defect in either should be mot and got lid of by excellence, in that particular point, of the other. The unskilful or careless breeder will often so badly pair the animals that the good points of each will bo in a manner lost, the defects of both will he increased, and the produce will bo far inferior to both sire and dam.

The roadster, like the hunter, should possess different degrees of blood, zccording to the nature of the coun.ry and tlio work required of him. When approaching to thoroughbred ho may be a splendid animal, but lie will baldly no fitted for his work; bis legs will be too slender, his feet too small, bis stride too long, and bo will rarely be able to trot. Three parts, or half, and for tlio horse of all work even less than that, will make a good and useful animal. The hackney should he a hunter m miniature, with these, exceptions: h-is height should rarely exceed 15 hands 1 inch; he will be sufficiently strong and more pleasant for general work below that standard; he should be cf more compact form than the hunter, and have more bulk according to his height, for lie has not merely to stand an occasional, although severe, burst, hut a great deal of everyday work. It is essential that the bones beneath the knee should bo deep and flat, and the tendon not tied in. Tiie pastern should be short, and although oblique or slanting, vet far less so than that of the racehorse, and considerably less than that of the hunter. There should be obliquity enough to give pleasant action, but not enough to render the horse incapable of the wear and tear of constant. sometimes bard. work. The carriage horse is a profitable description to hr<v*l. and is to bo produced from the Cleveland mare, put to a horse of sufficient height and quality to produce the animal desired. The carriage horse should be tall, deep chested, well up in the withers, with good slanting shoulders. flat iii the legs, and with sufficient strength for liis work. The knee action and high lifting of the feet in the carriage horse is deemed an excellence, because it adds to the grandeur of his appearance, but it is necessarily accompanied by much wear and tear of the legs and feet, and this becomes very soon apparent.