CHAPTER XVII.
Next to the racer comes the hunter—if, indeed, he may not be considered before him, as a ‘general utility’ horse. Mr. Fearnley says of him:—‘There is nothing in the world a horse can do which we do not find the hunter capable of.’ This is a character calculated to get him a situation, and accordingly we find him drawing a cab years before the natural decay of his strength, fire, and emulation would unfit him from carrying his master into a good place at the finish. If he went unshod, instead of being at such an early age the mass of diseases he now is, he would, when aged, still be fit for slower work, a long way ahead of the cab-rank. In fact, he might in many instances remain a useful servant in his old stable until extreme old age.
‘Impecuniosus’ hunted in an economical manner. He describes five ‘screws’ that he had in his stables just ten years ago, which could hardly have cost collectively the price of one sound horse. They
