138 THE HORSE 



the two seasons between their second and fourth years, when they are put 

 into a loose box, and made up with oil-cake or linseed, barley, and clover 

 hay, till they are as fat as bacon hogs : after which consummation they are 

 fit for the London market, and fetch high prices. It is no wonder, there- 

 fore, that their naturally thin and large soles become convex, or that side- 

 bones are thrown out, attended by lameness, Avhich makes so many of 

 them utterly useless. These horses are of all colours, but chiefly bays and 

 browns. 



THE CLYDESDALE HORSE 



The breed of draught-horses known as Clydesdales are renowned for 

 their activity, hardness and good temper. They are, at the same time, high 

 spirited and courageous, and require handling with more intelligence and 

 kindness than is usually allotted to other breeds of cart-horses. 



In the districts of Scotland, however, where they are most highly prized,, 

 it is no uncommon sight to see a pair of these horses weighing from sixteen 

 to eighteen hundredweights, going in their stall collars very often with no 

 bit in their mouths, and guided almost entirely by the voice. The long: 

 ugly whips and tight bearing-reins are unknown to them, and they would 

 take it very badly if such were applied to them. 



The great points among Clydesdales have always been large, open feet, and 

 heels well set on clean defined pasterns, sloping back to the fetlock joint, 

 from which should hang delicate silky hair reaching down to the heels, 

 behind, and fringing gracefully over the coronet, whose outlines, however, it 

 should not hide. The cannon-bones should be hard and flat, and the legs 

 should show the tendons standing out clear and strong as in a thoroughbred 

 or Arab. The knee should be broad, strong and firm, while from the inside- 

 and down the sharp inner edge of the leg should hang silk}^ hair, gradually 

 increasing in quantity till it reaches the fetlock joint. The tendons and 

 muscles above the knee should be again clearly defined, rising and swelling- 

 gradually into a muscular fore-arm, like the biceps of an athlete. The 

 shoulder of a Clydesdale is usually more oblique than in the other breeds ; 

 this is bound to be the case, as a sloping pastern must give a sloping 

 shoulder above it to obtain a true natural balance. The sloping pastern of 

 the Clydesdale is not that associated with a thin, weak heel, but goes with 

 a strong and open heel, and iu is from this formation that he gets his- 

 springy, active step. The hind-legs are as much the care of the breeder as 

 the fore-legs, and their action is even more characteristic of the breed than 

 that displayed in front. The hind as well as the front feet should be large 

 and open, the pastern moderately sloping and well defined, the fetlock joints 

 clean and hard, and absolutely free from any cracks, while the hair on the 

 legs fringes delicately up the thin edge of the bone nearly, but not quite, to 

 the hock, which is broad and long, and free from fleshiness. The whole 

 hind leg should be well behind the body of the animal, with the strength of 

 the thigh rather throwing the hock inwards than outwards, thus keeping 

 the whole of the propelling power of the animal within its centre of gravity. 

 This point in a Clydesdale is more studied than any other. An animal 

 that turns its hocks outwards necessarily loses some of its power. 



The head is usually broad and intelligent, the eyes large and full, with 



