CHAPTER V.

THE ROAD HACK.

His conformation—The ladies’ horse—Rotten Row—The covert hack—The hunter—For an open country—For a cramped country—‘Made hunters’—Pleasures of a pulling horse—Breaking in a colt to hounds—‘Can he leap?’—Natural jumpers—Artificial fences—Lifting horses at their fences—An incident—Water jumps—How to fall well—High-couraged _versus_ sluggish horses—Washing horses’ legs—Mud fever—Stopping horses’ feet—Microscopic experiments—English racers in Australia and India—Paring horses’ feet—Colts shedding their teeth—Composition of bone—Two-year-old racing—Prize-fighters—Early maturity and early decay—Famous American trotters: Topgallant, Lady Blanche, Dutchman, Ajax, Flora Temple, Lady Thorn, Goldsmith Maid, Dexter, American girl—Racing now-a-days a money-making business 75