gallop, and should like to see what the hounds could do when brought to their noses; but there is little chance of that; the field prefer galloping to hunting, and the Master, we suppose, knowing the taste he has to cater for, indulges in a wide and ineffectual cast, and then proceeds to draw again-a proceeding that makes the pack not a little wild and flashy when another hare is found; while Phillips, always a fast one, on the ex-racer Satanella, does not much mend matters by galloping forward and continually viewing the game. Cold winds now sweep over, and the scent becomes worse and worse, so that gradually the crowd drop off, and the hounds are left to finish a somewhat cheerless day by themselves, or pretty nearly so, and we have to wait for another occasion ere we see what this exceedingly smart pack is really capable of. It comes in time, on a warm, sunny afternoon, when the majority of the field have gone home to luncheon, and there is no one to override them; when they find in a country amidst hills and plantations, where it is not so easy to interfere, and they are left to fight out the battle with their game pretty much on their own account. Then, although the scent is not particularly good, how they swarm and drive to head! how, when checked and spread like a rocket, if a hound makes a hit they fly to him, like soldiers to their ranks at the trumpet's call ! How patiently when they work out every maze and double, and how cheerily their notes ring up to us as we sit on the hill above them, so that we can scarcely believe it is the same pack that we have seen at times so wild; and when they have fairly hunted their hare down, and run into her in the open, how strongly comes Beckford's maxim to our minds, that a huntsman to harriers should be a very Grizzle for patience. If this was true in his day, when harriers were really harriers, how much more so is it in the present, when high-bred foxhounds like these are used? Hounds that we know will stoop, and hunt as low a scent as anything breathing, if left alone and made to hunt, but their ardent, eager nature will stand taking no liberties with; and every one who knows anything of foxhounds knows that, once get their heads up, it takes a long time to get them down again, and until that is accomplished, you may hunt yourself, as far as they are concerned. Thus we think, with the very high-bred hounds Mr. Dewè has to handle, his field might with advantage give him a little more room, and the chance of more time in making his ground good before it becomes foiled with horses, instead of, as is sometimes the case, forcing him to make a wide forward cast, or go almost at once to find a fresh hare. As we have heard both he and others say, a few post and rail fences run across the downs would materially relieve pressure; but there is not much chance of getting them. Well, we suppose the Brighton people go out for a gallop; and there is no doubt but that, nine days out of ten, they get it; and if they are satisfied, outsiders certainly have no cause to complain. We have had many merry, pleasant days with them, and hope to have many more; so, kind reader, we will, with your permission, turn our horses' heads homewards, and, having had a lunch at Mutton's, stroll up the King's

the

Road and see some of those who were with us in the morning airing their dignity therein-some, be it said, in turn-outs that would do credit to the Park; while others patronise the Brighton fly, drawn by the most leg-weary of steeds, whose life is certainly a hard one, plodding on as he does from morning to night, day after day, until he can scarcely move one foot before the other, and into whose case it would do credit to Mr. Colam and his society to look, although his hirers (the horses') for the time being do sit so complacently behind him. N.

MR. THOMAS COLEMAN ON BREEDING AND

TRAINING.

We trust that the readers of Baily' are not yet tired of the sayings and doings of Mr. Coleman, for we were so struck, while talking over other matters, of the soundness of his views on the important matters of breeding and training, that we determined to have a special chat with him on the subject when time would allow, and lay the results thereof before them, feeling that, though it may be thought training could well be left to owners of racehorses and those in whose care they are placed, the system pursued has such an effect on the constitution of the animal, and, through both sire and dam, on that of the offspring, the subject is one of national importance. As regards breeding, we make no apology for introducing it, seeing that the present demand for good and sound horses and the inadequate supply must make the science interesting to every one who wishes either to ride or drive, not to mention the uneasiness which has for some time past pervaded the public on the question of mounting our cavalry should the time come when their services will be required. Even those who may differ from Mr. Coleman in the views here put forward, must admit that something like seventy years spent entirely amongst horses, not in an amateur, dilettante fashion, but in a thorough study of the constitutions, wants, and requirements as a business matter, and that the result of that study has been a well-earned and well-deserved competence, render those views deserving of the highest consideration and respect; and we venture to assert that what has been so successful in Mr. Coleman's case, if followed out with the same discrimination and judgment, may be found of national benefit if applied to our horses generally. But now, as heretofore, we intend to let Mr. Coleman speak for himself:

You want to breed sound, useful horses,' said he, for all purposes; well, there is only one way to do it. People may stand C up and talk as they like, in the House or out, but few know anything about the matter. They send all sorts of mares and weeds to thoroughbred horses, and breed weeds again, and unsound weeds; 'for our horses are taken up and shod so young that their feet never come into a natural state. Moreover, they are confined in hot

stables, dried up and wasted, to the ruin of their constitution. A 'tight roller is buckled round a colt, and never removed except to 'clean him and to put on the saddle, with still tighter girths; the 'heart and lungs are compressed and have never free room to play, and from this cause such a large number of horses in the present day become roarers. Formerly we never heard of a roarer' (we have seen this stated by another authority), now one out of every 'three seems to make a noise, especially the big, overgrown ones. 'From the time I commenced with horses in 1809, I never, to my ' recollection, heard of a roarer until about 1825. This treatment begins ( at twelve months old, and they are never in a natural state after'wards; whereas horses formerly were often not broken until three years old, and many of them reached even the age of four before 'they were handled, and of course their limbs and frames had time 'to develop and become furnished before the strain was put upon Not only this, but from the constant state of irritation and 'excitement they are kept in, their tempers are ruined, and many turn irritable, some savage; yet these are the sires and dams from 'which you expect to breed sound, useful horses.

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'There is only one way to remedy this, and that is to go back to the cart-horse, either in sire or dam, and the horse you must select 'is, not a coarse, lopsided, hairy-legged brute, but a short-legged, trussy one with good quick action, and you must be particular about his head being neat and small; send blood or well-bred mares to him, and you will get what you want for general purposes and ( cavalry work. The cart stallion will, if well selected, give sound open feet, short legs, a vigorous constitution, and docile temper. You will get courage, blood, and freedom from the dam. I once bred a horse in this way myself at Lilly Hoo Farm as an experiment. I put a little well-bred mare to a clean-shaped cart stallion 'with a good head, and the produce was a horse up to 18 stone with hounds. This horse was a tremendous jumper, and you might ride him from morning to night with the reins on his neck, and he would never make a false step; so sound were his legs and feet that he gave you all the confidence of sitting in an arm-chair. In fact, I lent him to a gentleman in London, to ride in 'the Park, who offered to bet me 57. he would ride him all round Regent's Park over every heap of dust scraped up by the roadside C without his touching one. I once sold him and bought him back again for 85%, and Mr. Sowerby, to whom I lent him, could have had 185 guineas, or even 200, from a 20-stone man, but I 'would not sell him. He never missed a feed of corn or was sick or sorry, and he worked for nearly twenty years at Lilly Hoo 'Farm, where, in harvest time, he would draw an ordinary cart himself with its load to which two horses are usually yoked. If any of my neighbours got their thrashing machine set and could not pull it out with their own horses, they used to send and borrow 'Jack, who would soon move it for them and get them out of their trouble. This horse is alive now and working daily at Hitchin, being just twenty-five years old. These are the sort of

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'horses you want to mount the cavalry. But, as I said before, to ( get them you must seek the right sort of stallion: 1st, good head ; 2nd, short legs; 3rd, good open feet with large bold frogs, which is the foundation of all (the pasterns and fetlocks can't grow if 'there is nothing to support them); 4th, round barrel with good, 'well-formed oblique shoulders; 5th, clean, sound hocks; 6th, healthy constitution and good action. Of course, if you breed the ' other way the same holds good of the mare.'

Here we must take the liberty of interrupting the veteran for a moment, to say that, at the present time, we know a horse bred the reverse way by a blood-horse (Dalesman) out of a Suffolk mare, which is one of the strongest horses and best hunters we ever saw; he is up to 20 stone at least, stands not a bit more than 16 hands high, and, although only now rising six years old, has already distinguished himself in some good runs, amongst select company, with 18 stone of as hard-riding stuff on his back as could be found in England, and this over a very heavy, rough, strong country. He is now in one of our most fashionable countries, and we have no doubt was sold at a strong figure. Here we get the strength and constitution on the dam's side, which appears to answer equally well, as this is only one instance of many we could name of very first-class, weight-carrying hunters being bred in this way. One other we may mention, though here we are not sure that the dam was a pure cartmare: Sir Charles Slingsby had entered his favourite mare Rosamond for a hunter's stake at the York Spring Meeting. He went over to Boynton to meet the well-known Holderness sportsman, Mr. John Holliday, and look over Sir George Cholmley's stud. It was a very rainy day, and the dam of Sir Charles's mare was standing under a shed in the shafts of a cart, having been dragging hay about for the young stock. Mr. Holliday said, That is the dam of your mare, Sir Charles,' but Henry Horner, the stud-groom, coming up at the moment, said, 'No, Mr. Holliday, you are wrong; that is the dam of Sir Charles Slingsby's mare.' They had a rare laugh, as Horner did not know Sir Charles. The latter, after seeing the dam, would not ride her himself, but put up a friend. We do not remember now if she won; but she was a grand hunter, and made 430 guineas to Mr. Cannon at the sale of his stud after the sad accident on the Ure. Another example which tends to verify Mr. Coleman's remarks on the evil effect early and strong training may have on the offspring of a mare, or, perhaps, we should more properly say, showing what is likely to result from the dam not being trained, and we leave him once more to tell his experiences in his own way. Not long ago we chanced to see a very remarkable pony, up to any reasonable weight, though he stood only 14 hands 3 inches high. His muscular neck, strong shoulders, big, arched ribs, wide-spread gaskins, and strong quarters, all bespoke a degree of strength and constitution not often seen; below the knee he handled bigger than many 16-hand horses. Our surprise may be judged on being told that he was a clean thoroughbred one (though his looks betokened a large share of blue blood), and a son of Beadsman. We were speaking

of this pony to Mr. Coleman, and he said, 'I be bound his dam was ( never trained.' It was true; she was considered too thick and cobby as a yearling to put into training, and given away to a gentleman who rode her hack for some years. A visit to Beadsman resulted in this pocket Hercules, which we saw in the stables of a large dealer; and he assured us that he measured more under the knee and girthed bigger than a very large proportion of his horses. Let us compare such a model as this with numbers of the twistedlegged, round-jointed, spindle-shanked, feeble-pasterned, small-footed brutes to be seen at any yearling sale, and then ask if there is not some truth in Mr. Coleman's views on breeding. Let us also ask how many mares of note on the Turf have bred superior horses in comparison with those who were themselves poor performers and early cast on one side, before they were dried up and perished.

'Now as to training,' he said; 'half the trainers shut their horses ' up in hot stables without a breath of air, and gallop and waste them ( to mere shadows. They dry them up until there is no muscle left on them. I saw a lot at Alexandra Park last summer-two-year'olds their muscles all loose and feeble, and I said to Tom Stevens 'what poor little, feeble things they were, with small pastern joints, and feet more like cat's, compared to what they were formerly. A ' trainer should be in his stable at cock-crow in the morning, see if 'their mangers are clean, and examine the droppings; feel their legs ' and sinews, running his hand down the shins to detect any sign of 'soreness, or see if their ligaments are flushed, so that he may be 'enabled, by stopping in time, to avert fatal consequences, where one gallop may bring on ruin. Then he knows how to work his 'horses, and if anything is wrong, can take precautions at once.

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'That's not the way with the kid-gloved swell school now. Their 'horses are out and walking round the yard or paddock before they ' smell the fresh air, and when they do come out, it's "Now, boy, ""where's my hack?" and they mount, and on to the down at ( once, where every horse does a certain amount of work, and there 'is an end of it. A trainer has no business with balls and drugs; if he has bran and good oats, and hay not too old (two-year-old hay ' is a mistake), and linseed oil, that is enough for him. If he finds 'a cough coming on, a mash and a pint of linseed oil in it will generally stop it, if taken in time; or if very bad, get a nose-bag and ' about a pint of yellow deal sawdust, pour boiling water on it, and 'then putting on the bag, so steam their heads. That will stop it.

They are most of them far too fond of galloping their horses, ' and I can give you plenty of instances to prove it. I never sweated a two-year old-I should not have thought of doing such a thing; they will put out muscle clean and firm with their regular work ' and good feeding. The first instance I will give of what rest and easing, as well as soiling on tares or spring grass (lucern is all water and bosh), will do for a horse, is that of a little chestnut of 'Mr. Gully's, by Tramp out of Sister to Dr. Syntax. I was at Ascot 'when he ran in a two-year-old stake, and could see that he was dried ' up and perished. Two or three weeks after, Mr. Gully wrote me to

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