PASTURE. 



401 



Pasture. — -The amount of moisture in pastures 

 upon which horses are brought up for many generations, 

 greatly affects their conformation. Thus we find that 

 heavy cart-horses are produced, under natural conditions, 

 only in districts where the herbage is succulent, such as 

 the Midlands, which is the home of the Shire horse. 

 Saddle and light harness horses, on the contrary, thrive 

 best on comparatively dry soil. " On very fertile clay 



Photo b;i] [W. A. DeLLA GanA. 



Fig. 440. — Persian Aral:) pony from the Karoon ^"alley (14 hands). 



land, the heavy cart-horse finds all the conditions necessary 

 for building up his powerful muscular frame. He requires 

 food which will make him massive, because he needs 

 weight to increase his power of traction. His pace is the 

 walk, and it is not necessary that he should be of high 

 mettle " (Houdaille de Railly). 



" The great height and embonpoint of the fen horses of 

 Oldenburg are due to the succulency of the pastures of 

 that country, which, like all those of marshy lands, contain 



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