THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



407 



and you now see that what is an excellent point in one 

 horse is the worst that can be for another." It is 

 true this opinion, in contradiction to the ignorance 

 and absurdity of the Farmer's Magazine, is carefully 

 qualified by tlie phrase "comparatively;" but we 

 should be really loath to pass it on any terms. About 

 the best pace to judge of a horse by, for almost any 

 purpose, is to "give him his head, and let him walk." 

 To either race-horse, hack, or hunter, it is a point of 

 immense importance; while to the cart-horse it is 

 everything. Can any animal, we would ask, with an up- 

 right shoulder really walk ? Has he any proper liberty 

 of action to enable him to do so 1 How could the old 

 Blackbirds walk, comparatively, with our Clydesdales 

 and Suftblks ? And have the latter upright shoulders ? 

 Such a formation would be utterly incompatible with 

 the fine action of the Clydes, while the first prize cart 

 stallion at the national show at Chester had a shoulder 

 lying almost as well back as that of a race-horse. This 

 upright shoulder and standing over might possibly tell 

 a little at starting,* but we certainly'share the doubts 

 of the chairman at Wenlock as to the power of endur- 

 ance in a horse so formed, and whether he would not in 

 all probability topple over on his knees long before he 

 arrived at his journey's end. The orator said, the 

 great secret of his art was " Action, action, action ;" 

 and we say the same of the horse. What can be the 

 use of a brute, let him be ever so big or heavy, that can 

 hardly put one foot before another, and certainly not 

 put it out ? 



Let us not, however, be content with either our own 

 authority or that of Mr. Evans. One of the very best 

 judges of a cart-horse we have, and with his ability 

 backed by immense experience, is Mr. Spooner, of 

 Eling, near Southampton. Here is his reading of the 

 same points : — " The fore-arm should be strong and 

 muscular, and should not stand too much under the 



body ; for although this is not of jthe same importance 

 as with other horses, yet it is extremely desirable. So 

 likewise with regard to the shoulders, they should be 

 tolerably oblique; for when the shoulders are good, the 

 horse is likely to be a good walker." Putting Mr. 

 Spooner's " tolerably" against Mr. Evans's " compa- 

 ratively," we have one declaring for an oblique 

 shoulder and the other for an upright one. So much 

 does Mr. Spooner attach to the action of the cart-horse, 

 that he has, ere now, recommended it to the Council 

 of the Royal Agricultural Society as one of the testing 

 points the Judges should decide. He would have a 

 certain distance measured out, and then see which did 

 it in the best time and best style. The upright shoulders 

 would not tell much here. The only authority, indeed, 

 we have come across of late, who might agree with Mr. 

 Evans, is a poet in a recent number of one of the metro- 

 politan magazines, who, in describing the qualities of 

 his fiery steed, proudly declares " he could do anything 

 but walk ;" and a nice brute he must have been. 



There is much able matter in this paper, and we 

 call attention to it the more strongly as it touches on a 

 subject still thought too little of. Fortunately the 

 means of a remedy are far more accessible than they 

 were a few years since. The increased attention given 

 to this department of their duties by our agricultural 

 associations has tended to the better appreciation of a 

 better sort of a horse; and the Suffolk, the Shire, and 

 the Clydesdale are all deservedly rising in repute. But 

 we must repeat, that one of the first of the merits of 

 these is their fine action. A horse now, for any purpose, 

 must be a good mover ; and if, as Mr. Evans main- 

 tains, we must keep to a thoro^lgh-bred kind of cart- 

 horse, we do not recommend an upright shoulder as 

 one of his points. " Comparatively," our leaning 

 would be all the other way. 



THE PRINCIPLES THAT SHOULD GUIDE THE FARMER IN BREEDING STOCK, 

 WITH MORE ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO HORSES. 



A quarterly meeting of the members of the Wenlock 

 Farmers' Club was recently held, at the Raven Hotel, Much 

 Wenlock, to hear Mr. Griffith Evans, M.R.C.V.S., &c., 

 of Bridgnorth, deliver a lecture upon " The principles 

 that should guide the farmers in breeding stock, with more 

 especial reference to horses." There was a tolerably 

 numerous attendance, considering that the assizes were being 

 held that day in Shrewsbury. 



* The author of the article in this Magazine disputes 

 any such advantage even for a dead pull : — " If we notice 

 a draHght horse exerting himself at a dead pull, we shall 

 find that he will sometimes lift his fore-feet entirely from 

 the ground, and that, too, when he is evidently applying the 

 utmost of his force to the collar. In such case, it is clear, the 

 upright shoulder could add nothing to the horizontal pressure, 

 or the apphcation of the animal's strength in drawing. When 

 the shoulder of the draught horse is straight or upright, in 

 the act of drawing, the pressure against the collar is spread 

 over a more extensive surface, and consequently rendered less 

 effective than when, by the obliquity of the same part, it is 

 more concentrated, and therefore more directly applied to the 



In the absence of the President, M. G. Benson, Esq., the 

 Rev. H. R. Smythies was called to the chair. There were 

 present : S. Meire, Esq. ; J. Meire,Esq. ; H. Smith, Esq. ; 

 B. B. Fowler, Esq. ; W. P. Brookes, Esq.; Mr. C.Wadlow; 

 Mr. J. Wadlow; Mr. Ainsworth; T. Colley, Esq.; R. 

 Colley, Esq. ; Mr. Lewis ; Mr. Horton ; W. Thursfield, 

 Esq. ; Mr. R. Davis ; Mr. E. Davies, &c. 



The Chairman, in opening the business of the meeting. 



purpose. Let us have a broad full bosom or breast in the cart 

 horse, with a corresponding development of the lower part of 

 the shoulder ; but, in the name of all that is reasonable, let 

 the latter present that obliquity indispensable to safety in the 

 saddle, and equally desirable for the collar. Nothmg can be 

 more dangerous than to put an upright-shouldered horse in the 

 shafts of a cart, smce he must be hahle to fall at every step ; 

 even without the slightest weight on his back, such a horse is 

 a very unsafe goer, because his formation preveuts him from 

 lifting his fore-feet sufficiently high ; but when the effect of 

 external weight or pressure is added to that of the malforma- 

 tion of the shoulder, the danger is doubly increased." 



