Classes and Breeds of British Horses. IW 



chase, for cavalry, for the innumerable lighter carriages of 

 every kind, nay, sometimes for the labour of heavy draught, 

 have had their characters modified by an admixture, more or 

 less, of what is termed blood. The history and character 

 of the British race-horse, and the institution of games to 

 which it is rendered subservient, will demand a more detailed 

 investigation. The effect has been, that a breed of horses 

 has been formed, of peculiar lineage and characters, and 

 been mingled in blood with the native varieties in every de- 

 gree. In this manner, certain properties have been com- 

 municated to the inferior races, and varieties have been mul- 

 tiplied without limits. Not only does there exist the diver- 

 sity of what may be termed natural breeds, but those fur- 

 ther differences produced by the greater or less degree of 

 breeding communicated to individuals. Many remain with 

 little or no admixture of the blood of the race-horse, and 

 so may be regarded as native breeds or families ; but others 

 are so mixed with the superior horses, or with one another, 

 that they cannot be treated of as breeds, but must be re- 

 garded as classes, suited to particular uses. 



Of the races which have no admixture of the blood of the 

 race horse, one inhabits the Islands of Zetland. These are 

 the least in size of any of the varieties produced in the 

 British Islands. They resemble the ponies of Norway, 

 Sweden, and Iceland, but they exhibit likewise traces of 

 mixture, which may be 'derived partly from ancient, and 

 partly from modern times. It is not certainly known whether 

 these desolate islands were inhabited at all when first oc 

 cupied by Scandinavian plunderers ; but being taken posses- 

 sion of, they long continued attached to the Crown of Norway, 

 and it was not until the 15th century that they became sub- 

 ject to the Scoto-Saxon Princes. Their first and most inti- 

 mate connexion having been with Norway, it is reasonable to 

 suppose that their horses were derived from that country ; 

 or that, if an anterior race existed in the country, it was 

 mixed in blood with that of the horses of the Northmen. 

 The mere recent intermixture may be supposed to have been 

 with the horses of the adjoining islands of Orkney, and in 

 later times with those of Scotland proper. But traditio^ 



