Part 63

Last year a photograph of Hackler was reproduced in these pages, and this time Red Prince II. is presented as being one of the best sires of steeplechase and hunter stock now standing in Ireland. This son of Kendal is out of Empress, who won the Grand National in the hands of Mr. T. Beasley twenty-six years ago, and that he is able to transmit to his progeny much of his mother’s excellence across country is beyond question. Red Prince II., a grand-looking horse himself, gets some handsome stock, and his own important successes in the show-ring have been frequently repeated by his youngsters. A stallion who can win the Croker Challenge Cup at Dublin and sire the winner of the Irish Grand National is one of whom his owner may justifiably be proud, and that Mr. Pallin is proud of Red Prince II. goes without saying. Red Lad has brought him into prominence on this side of the St. George’s Channel by finishing second in the Grand National, and it is not a little curious that the first and second horses for that race this season were both former winners of the Irish Grand National.

Hackler, champion steeplechase stallion in several seasons, was at the head of the list this year until Ascetic’s Silver’s success in the Grand National, value £2,175, gave his sire the advantage. But Hackler has many more of his stock now running than Ascetic, and was not long before he regained the position of supremacy. Hackler claims nearly twice as many winners as any other stallion, and during the past season fifty races have been won by his get, which include Hack Watch, the promising Old Fairyhouse, Wild Fox, Crautacaun (fourth in the Grand National), Conari, Hackett, Armature, Loughmoe and Clonard. I have given some figures showing Ascetic’s work as a successful steeplechase sire, and it is entertaining to compare them with the following table of Hackler’s winnings under National Hunt Rules. The son of Petrarch had his first steeplechase winner in 1897–8, so that the list is shorter by one year than that given of Ascetic:—

Season. No. of Winners. No. of Races Won. Value. £ 1897–8 5 7 900 1898–9 7 12 1,996 1899–1900 17 26 2,843 1900–1 10 24 3,587 1901–2 6 14½ 1,028 1902–3 16 29 2,436 1903–4 21 32 2,332 1904–5 23 45½ 2,863 1905–6 19 50 3,427 ——— ——————— Total 240 £21,412 ——— ———————

Isinglass, who was at the head of the stallions on the flat last year, takes a leading place among the steeplechase sires, Leviathan having been by a long way the best winner for this magnificent thoroughbred. Marciòn, too, ranks high on the list by virtue of Theodocion’s success in the valuable Lancashire Handicap Steeplechase. Enthusiast, for many seasons well represented on the steeplechase list, comes close behind Isinglass. Sleep, Dermot Asthore, Dathi, Agony, and Dependence have been the Irish horse’s best representatives. Noble Chieftain, who stands now in the south of Ireland, has been brought to the front by the smart work of his son Sachem; whilst Marco, although lacking the assistance of Mark Time, has done well with Amersham, Marcova and Black Mark.

ARTHUR W. COATEN.

The Billiard-Cue.

The cue plays such an important part in the game of billiards that no excuse need be made for discussing briefly, but fully, its essential points. Every amateur who takes more than a passing interest in the game should possess a cue, or cues, of his own, since the habitual use of a well-made, well-balanced cue goes far to engender the confidence which is so desirable an attribute of the billiard player.

First of all, the player should select an English hand-made cue. In a long article which appeared in the _World of Billiards_, February 7th, 1906, to which readers may be referred, the details of cue manufacture were fully explained by the present writer. Here it will suffice to point out a simple, yet infallible, method of distinguishing at a glance an English hand-made cue from the foreign machine-made article. In the English cue the ebony “points,” where they dovetail into the ash shaft, are _slightly rounded_, whilst in the French machine-made cue they run to a _fine, sharp_ point (fig. 1).

[Illustration: Fig. 1.]

For the shaft of the cue no wood is better than good English ash, which must be naturally, not artificially, seasoned. This shaft, which should be stiff, yet full of vibration, should be as “true” and straight as possible, and _straight in the grain_.

The length of the cue, including the tip, should not be less than 4 ft. 8 in., nor need it, even for very tall men, exceed 4 ft. 10 in. Nineteen men out of twenty will be best suited by a cue of from 4 ft. 8½ in. to 4 ft. 9½ in. in length, 4 ft. 9 in., as given by so many writers on billiards, being the best average length for the cue. When wear and tear has made the cue too short, it should be sent to a good firm of billiard-table makers to be “spliced,” particulars of the length and size of tip required being given.

The size of the cue-tip is another nice point. Cue-tips (fig. 2) are made in five sizes, measuring respectively 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 millimetres in diameter.[15] A very fine tip is altogether a mistake, and one of from 10 to 12 mm. is recommended, 11 mm. (about 7/16 in.) giving an ideal tip. To affix the cue-tip, a process fully described in the writer’s book, “Hints on Billiards,” and other works, cue cement, liquid glue, or wafers, which last are handy and easily used, may be employed. Glass-paper, it may be added, should never be used to clean the cue, or to “rough up” the surface of the cue-tip, whilst coarse sand-paper should never be seen in a billiard-room. The cue, when it needs cleaning, should be well rubbed, first with a damp cloth, and then, to polish it, with a dry one. The best way, again, of preparing a new tip for play, or of renovating an old _smooth_ one, is to tap it well with a _fine, heavy_ file; a _rough_ file would tear the upper leather all to pieces.

[Illustration: Fig. 2.]

The ideal weight for a cue is 15½ oz., but a player may suit his own fancy in the matter within an ounce or so, either way, of this weight, whilst a cue of 14 oz. or 14½ oz. is heavy enough for a lady.

In connection with cues chalk may find appropriate mention, and no better chalk can be obtained than Spinks’ green chalk, sold by Messrs. Burroughes and Watts. This firm may, in particular, be mentioned as turning out a first-rate billiard cue, and they put plenty of wood into their cues in just the right place, viz., just above the butt.

Finally, mention may be made of travelling cues, made in two joints, which, packed in a handy leather case, are extremely convenient. They may, it is true, possess a slight tendency to warp out of perfect truth, whilst, too, the connecting screw must, however slightly, affect the balance, but these are almost infinitesimal drawbacks. With one of these cues a spare top joint, already tipped, will be found a friend in need on occasion.

J. P. BUCHANAN.

A Country Fair.

The picture by Jacques Laurent Agasse, from which the illustration has been taken, affords us a glimpse of an ancient English institution which is fast passing away. The work was painted in the year 1819, when the country fair or market held a very important place in the economy of rural England, and this picture has special interest for stock breeders, since its most conspicuous figure is a grand example of the old English breed of Black Shire horses.

In Sir Walter Gilbey’s work on “The Great Horse,” a letter is quoted from Oliver Cromwell offering “sixty pieces for that Black you won (in battle) at Horncastle, for my son has a mind to him.” In those days the “Black” was before all things a war horse, and there is ample evidence to prove that it was regarded as the best strain among the heavy breeds. Agasse’s picture refers to a more peaceful era; but the Black Shire horse was still the breed most prized in England. William Marshall, writing in 1790, tells us that the Black Carthorse in his day was extensively bred in the Midlands; and though he personally preferred a smaller and more compact horse, on short, clean legs, and was, moreover, a convinced advocate of the ox-team for the plough and draught work, he could not deny that the breeding of Black Shires was profitable. As showing how the best authorities differ, it is worth noticing that Arthur Young, at about the same period, mentions the “large Black old English horse” as one of the only two varieties of carthorse deserving of mention. The other was the sorrel-coloured Suffolk Punch.

[Illustration:

A COUNTRY FAIR IN 1819.

_J. L. Agasse_ ]

The Black Shire, according to Wm. Marshall, had a somewhat chequered working career. The breeders brought their yearlings to certain markets or fairs—Ashby, Loughborough, Burton-on-Trent, Rugby, and Ashbourne—where they were sold to graziers, the prices ranging from £10 to £20. The graziers kept them until they were about two years and a half, and then brought them to the fairs to sell to the farmers and dealers; the markets at Rugby and Stafford being noted for this business. Their purchasers now were farmers. At two years old or two off heavy horses are capable of doing gentle work, and the object of the buyer being to prepare them for the London market, he took good care not to overtax the youngsters. They were not expected to do more than earn their keep, and it was very usual in the home counties to see a team of four drawing a plough which was easily within the strength of two much lighter animals; but the object of the farmer was thus accomplished. The young horses learned to pull steadily, and the light plough work was, in point of fact, their education for the career before them. At four, or four off, they were sent to London, fully developed, conditioned, and ready for the brewer’s dray or the heavy waggon. The brewers of those days took peculiar pride in their dray horses, and spared neither pains nor money to procure the largest and finest Shires for the purposes of their trade.

The Ashby Black Stallion Show, which enjoyed the distinction of being the only event of its kind in England, still flourished in George III.’s time. It took place at Eastertide, and was _the_ occasion for selling and letting stallions of this breed. The word “show,” it should be added, is a complete misnomer; there was no show or anything remotely resembling one. The breeders brought in their stallions and stabled them at the inns, and when a possible purchaser or hirer appeared a horse was pulled out and shown off in some convenient back street or open space. Such an incident we need not doubt afforded Agasse the idea for his picture; the lad in the smock frock has been running the great stallion up and down to show off his paces and carriage before the well-to-do farmer who stands under the tree on the left, and the other critics who stand on the near side of the horse. Marshall was present at the Ashby Black Stallion Show of 1785, when some thirty horses—two, three, and four-year-olds, for the most part—were offered for sale or hire. The prices paid for Black Shire stallions at this so-called “show” ranged from fifty to two hundred guineas; the hire for a season ranged from forty to eighty guineas. Breeders sometimes held private shows of stallions where similar business was transacted.

These horses were largely bred in Lincolnshire: they were, indeed, so closely identified with the county that they were locally known as “Black Lincolnshires.” In the fens they grew to their greatest size; few of them at two and a half, says Youatt, were under seventeen hands. Neither the soil nor the pasture of these districts is better calculated to meet the horse-breeder’s needs than the soil and pasture of other regions of England; but the situation, climate, and conditions of life were in some way peculiarly favourable to the growth of horses, and the Blacks grew bigger there than they did anywhere else. Marshall refers to them disparagingly as the “elephants of Lincolnshire.” All the brood mares seen by Arthur Young on his tour in this county (“General View of the Agriculture of Lincolnshire, 1799”) were Blacks. They were regularly worked in the farm teams by the “arable yeoman,” who kept them for stud purposes.

It was popularly believed in the Midlands that the Black horse originated from half a dozen Zealand mares, which Lord Chesterfield, when ambassador at the Hague, sent over to England. These mares were stabled at Bretby, in Derbyshire, about 1755 or 1760, and no doubt were instrumental in improving the breed. It is stated that for some time after Lord Chesterfield imported these mares Derbyshire “took the lead” among the counties in which Blacks were bred. But while we need not doubt that these mares were the best of their kind, and as such did much in the way of improvement, it is impossible, by the light of the historical evidence, to which reference has been made, to regard them as the foundation stock.

Whatever Marshall’s opinion of the Black, it certainly found great favour all over England, even in Norfolk, a county famous for the small,

## active carthorses, with which the farmers, as the author points out in

“The Harness Horse,” used to run their curious “team races.” The greater popularity which the Black enjoyed a century ago seems to have contributed to the disappearance of the brown-muzzled Norfolk horses. Farmers in those days were not more governed by sentiment in the management of their business than they are now, and we may rest assured that if they turned their attention to the breeding of Blacks, it was because they proved the more profitable stock. Their great weight would suffice to recommend them for heavy draught work on the deep and miry country roads of a past generation. A writer in the _Sporting Magazine_ of 1796, says that “there are instances of single horses that are able to draw a weight of three tons.”

Not the least interesting fact concerning the picture which furnishes occasion for these remarks is the fact that the painter of a scene so typically English in subject, so purely English in spirit and in mode of treatment, should have been a foreigner. Jacques Laurent Agasse was a Swiss by birth; he came to this country when about twenty years of age, and his works show how completely he became imbued with a love of the land of his adoption.

The Judging of Polo Ponies.

BY WALTER BUCKMASTER.

The above subject, in my opinion, is a very difficult one to write on, for the simple reason that there are so few men who are capable of occupying the position of a judge of polo ponies. A man must be blessed with a large number of capabilities to act in this position. He must be, firstly, a judge of the horse in the abstract, of its formation, building, &c., he must be a hunting man and a judge of hunters; he must be, in a minor degree, a judge of a racehorse; he must be a fine horseman in himself, and he must be a polo player, and an active one, at the time he is occupying the position of judge.

In these days when the game of polo is taking such a strong hold of the world at large, when county shows all over England and elsewhere reserve classes for polo ponies, polo pony mares, polo pony stallions, young stock, or ponies likely to make polo ponies, the office of judge of these classes is a very important one.

Often one sees that a judge who is officiating in that position in the hunter classes is deputed to judge polo ponies also, and I have even known the hackney or carthorse judge put into this position. Probably the official in question is a fine judge of a hunter and of a horse in all respects, and yet he may be quite the worst judge one can have of made polo ponies. He does not know what is expected of them, how he is to test them, or what they are expected to do. Of their make and shape he is probably quite capable of judging the class; he will know a good-shaped pony from a bad one. Naturally, as a judge of a horse, he will know a good “ride” from a bad one; he will know true action from cramped action, but I very much doubt whether he knows a good polo pony from a bad one. There may be a large number of ponies in the class, he will only be able to spare a minute or so to sit on each pony. During the short space of time he has to make up his mind very quickly as to whether the pony is a good ride to start with; whether it has a good and natural mouth; whether it is tractable or otherwise; whether it turns easily or otherwise; whether when turning it does so on its hind quarters or its forehand, and whether when turning it does so on the proper leg both behind and in front. The majority of ponies, however

## partially they may be schooled, usually change their legs in front,

viz., when turning to the right have their right leg in front, and _vice versâ_, but how many men can tell in a second when the pony has changed its leg in front, whether it has, at the same time, changed its hind legs similarly? To do this a judge must have great and constant experience.

When writing on this all-important subject I propose stating my opinion and ideas on the made polo pony, or pony likely to make a polo pony, as the judging of young stock, mares likely to breed polo ponies, stallions, &c., comes rather under a different category than the actual judging of the article that is to be ridden and so judged by the official.

Allow me to give a few hints to judges who are setting out for the first few times in this important position. They must remember that the time for them to make up their minds is limited, therefore they must come to their decision quickly, and having made it must abide by it. They will probably have to judge two riding classes: (1) polo ponies; and (2) ponies likely to make polo ponies. Let us consider these two classes separately. When made polo ponies come into the ring let the judge carefully watch them walking round; he must then make up his mind as to what is a good made pony, a pony, pure and simple, and what is not; he will see how they walk and how they carry themselves, and here he will make his first impressions, and these first impressions are, in my opinion, the best. Then they will trot round the ring. This will show him little except that, as a rule, a good walker is usually a good trotter; however, many of the best polo ponies are poor trotters, and often will not trot at all. In my opinion, little is learnt from a polo pony trotting except the fact as to whether it is sound or not. Next the ponies will canter round. Then the judge will see a free goer from a short, stilty-actioned one. He should then proceed to draw the ponies into the centre of the ring, placing the good ones, or what he imagines are the good ones, on the one side and the rubbish on the other. He should then proceed to look the animals over quickly when standing still; whether they stand straight on their legs, whether their joints are true, and so forth.

He should then ride each pony himself, bending and twisting them himself as much as the show-ring will allow him, letting them go top pace as far as is possible. As soon as the judge is on the ponies’ backs he will quickly alter his ideas formed when watching the ponies on foot. He will find that what he fancied as being a good-looking pony rides all wrong when he is on its back; probably bad mouths, or badly trained, change their legs in front but not behind, a most common fault in polo ponies, and a very bad one, as no pony can turn with the safety and speed that he should do unless he changes his legs behind as quickly as in front. Again, as soon as a judge gets on a pony, I advise him to back the pony, just for three or four yards, quickly; all good polo ponies rein back almost as quickly as walking forwards, and if they do not do so they are not high-class polo ponies.

I also advise a judge to ride every pony in the class, whether his first impression of it be good or otherwise; many a pony is missed over that may not favourably impress the judge at first sight, but be a remarkably fine ride.

By this time the judge must have made up his mind; he may have to forgive a fault here and one there, in order to arrive at a proper order of placing the ponies in their class, as no pony is perfect in every respect.

When judging “ponies likely to make polo ponies,” the judge must not be quite so exacting. He must lay greater stress on the good made pony when standing still and the true-actioned and balanced one. He will probably have to judge ponies at very different states of their education, and will find it hard to bring a good young green pony with very little education into competition with a pony that has been well and carefully trained. In this class he must carry in his mind which pony is going to be the most valuable in a year’s time.

There are certain faculties a pony must have, whether he be a made polo pony or a young green pony; he must be built on true hunter lines, short legs, short back, compact, good sloping shoulders and a well set on neck (a pony with a bad neck seldom has a good mouth), his hind-legs and hocks must be well underneath him, and straight. Hind-legs standing away from a pony are a great fault, and generally denote a pony slow at jumping off the mark. He must have essentially a perfect temper, and also a good mouth by nature; this latter is to a large extent a matter of breaking, and a pony badly broken, in my opinion, never gets over it.

Above all, let a judge go for quality; a square underbred pony well trained may ride really well in a show-ring, but how will he manœuvre and ride after playing ten minutes in a fast game of polo; he becomes tired and beat; then his action, mouth, and training all go to the wall, and he is as a sailing ship amongst torpedo boats.

Sport and Animal Life at the Royal Academy.