76 THE BREEDS OF LIVE-STOCK 



the winkers of the bridles and the trappings that adorn 

 them, and their heads are borne up by the bearing rein, 

 that they acquire the imposing appearance which, when 

 well matched, so many of them possess. When stripped, 

 a great proportion of them appear a very different sort of 

 animal indeed, and, in all probability, a smaller and more 

 compact sort of horse would go through double the 

 quantity of work that they are capable of enduring. 

 Fashion, however, is to be consulted by the breeder, 

 to a certain extent ; and, so long as he can obtain from 

 job masters a large sum for a pair of these overgrown 

 animals, he will do well to breed them without refer- 

 ence to their being unequal in point of endurance to 

 a smaller and better-formed sort of draft horse. It is 

 generally supposed that a horse destined for harness 

 should not have a very oblique shoulder, as when so 

 formed he is not capable of throwing so much of his weight 

 into the collar as when his shoulders are more upright; 

 but it must be remembered that grand and lofty action is 

 highly prized in London for the purpose of show, and not 

 for hard work, and hence a sloping shoulder is a point to 

 be desired by the farmer who breeds carriage horses for 

 the London market ; for, as I have already observed, it 

 is one which is mostly accompanied by high action." 



In the latter part of the nineteenth century, after the 

 organization of societies in the eighties, to promote this 

 breed, the British public became interested in the horse 

 to supplant oxen on the farm. At this time, too, the 

 demand changed from a very heavy carriage horse to a 

 lighter horse with more quality, more style and more 

 coach or high action. The Cleveland had to veer one 

 way or the other or become extinct. It is evident that it 

 was changed towards the latter largely by the greater 



