 |
Hackney Horses
Not thoroughbred, but nearly so. They make the best roadsters,
hunters and carriage horses; their action is showy, and their pace
good. A first-class roadster will trot a mile in 2 minutes. Some
American trotters will even exceed this record. The best hackneys are
produced from thoroughbred sires mated with halfbred mares. (French, haguenée; the Romance word haque =the Latin equus;
Spanish, hacanéa.)
In ordinary parlance, a hackney, hackney-horse, or hack, means a
horse “hacked out” for hire. These horses are sometimes vicious private
horses sold for “hacks” or worn-out coach-horses, and cheap animals
with broken wind, broken knees, or some other defect.
“The knights are well horsed and the common people and others on
litell hukeneys hackneys and geldynges.” —Froissart.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Hackney Horses from Infoplease:
- Hackney Horses - Hackney Horses Not thoroughbred, but nearly so. They make the best roadsters, hunters and carriage ...
- Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: H - Definitions, origins, and illustrative excerpts for words, phases, and literary allusions starting with "H"
See a map of "" in the Visual Thesaurus
|
|
