438 UNGULATA. 



mares and six hundred oxen are employed in cultivating the ground. 

 The plain is divided into four equal parts, and each of these sub- 

 divided into portions, I'esembling so many farms. At the age cf lour 

 years the young horses are all collected in the centre of the estab 

 lishment. A selection is first made of the best animals to suppl) 

 the deficiencies in the establishment, in order always to keep it on the 

 same footing. A second selection is then made for the use of the others : 

 none of these, however, are sent away until they are five years old ; but 

 the horses that arc not of sufficient value to be selected are soIlI bv 

 auction, or sent to the army to remount the cavalry, as circumstances 

 may require. 



" The whole number of horses at present here, including the stallions, 

 brood mares, colts, and fillies, is three thousand. The persons employed 

 in the cultivation of the ground, the care of the animals, and the manage- 

 ment of the establishment generally, arc a major-dircctcjr, twelve sub- 

 altern officers, and eleven hundred and seventy soldiers." 



THE HOLSTEIN HORSE. 



The horses of Holstein and Mecklenburg, and some of the neighbor- 

 ing districts, are on the largest scale. Their usual height is sixteen, or 

 seventeen, or eighteen hands. They are heavily made ; the neck is too 

 thick; the shoulders are heavy; the backs are too long, and the croups 

 are narrow compared with their fore-parts; but their appearance is so 

 noble and commanding, their action is so high and brilliant, and their 

 strength and spirit are so evident in every motion that iheir faults arc 

 pardoned and forgotten, and they are selected for every occasion ot 

 peculiar state and ceremony. 



THE FRENCH HORSE. 



In France, as in Hungary, the breeding of horses is an affair of state 

 Before the creation of the Adniinistration dcs Haras, there existed in 

 Normandy a race of horses which for many years furnished carriage 

 animals to the great lords of olden time. These were of Danish origin ; 

 but the present race is the result of a cross between the Norman or 

 Danish mares and the English thorough-bred; the results show the 

 characteristics of both stocks. The}- are bred in two districts in Nor- 



