HACKNEY,—in the general acceptation of the word with the SPORTING WORLD, is a horse superior to all others upon the SCORE of UTILITY; being rendered subservient to every office of exertion, speed, and perseverance, or, in other words, to all the _drudgery_ and _labour_ of his situation, from which his cotemporaries, the RACER, the HUNTER, and the CHARGER, by the _imaginary_ superiority of their qualifications, and pampered appearance, are always _exempt_. It is the peculiar province of the HACKNEY to carry his master _twelve_ or _fifteen_ miles in an hour to covert, (where the HUNTER is in _waiting_,) and sometimes to bring back the GROOM with still greater expedition, whose _engagements_ may probably have occasioned him to be much more in _haste_ than his MASTER. It is in the department of the HACKNEY to encounter and overcome emergencies and difficulties of every description: his constitution should be excellent, and his spirit invincible; he must be enabled to go _five-and-twenty_ or _thirty miles_ at a stage, without _drawing bit_, and without the least respect to the _depth_ of the _roads_, or the dreary state of the weather; and if he is not equal to _any weight_, in these _trifling exertions_, he will be held in no estimation as a HACKNEY of FASHION.
HACKNEY-MEN.—Those so called are the proprietors of COACHES, CHAISES, and HORSES, for the accommodation of the public, and of whom may be obtained vehicles of such description for any length of time required. They are subject to a LICENCE ANNUALLY, and various duties upon the different carriages, all which are clearly explained in concise abstracts (called "TAX TABLES") from the Acts of Parliament upon this particular subject.
HAIR,—with which the frame of the horse is so completely covered, and more familiarly termed COAT, is, in general, indicative of the _good_ or _ill_ state of the horse; not only in respect to health, but to his CONDITION, for whatever work he may be designed. If the subject is sleek in his coat, with a glossy shining surface, soft and pliable in the skin; not tight upon the ribs, as if firmly adhering to the side; no enlargements upon the lower joints of the legs, nor any _profuse_ and _faint_ perspiration upon moderate work, the BLOOD may be pronounced in a HEALTHY STATE, and the horse in fair and GOOD CONDITION.