(304 THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPEDIA. 



oral stallions from Holland for the use of his numerous tenantry on 

 Trent-side. Down to the present day a similar race is still in existence 

 in Holland, whence most of the horses used in mourning coaches are 

 chiefly drawn, 



The old English cart-horse, with all its defects, has been the basis of 

 the most valuable breed of draught animals in England. From him has 

 descended the Shire horse, good specimens of which are in great demand 

 for waggon and dray purposes. 



In the improved Shire horse the head is generally long and lean, the 

 profile slightly arched, broad between the eyes, eyes large and prominent, 

 ears large, not set too forward ; nostrils wide and clear ; neck long, deep, 

 and arched ; shoulders oblique, sprung well into the back, deep from 

 withers to shoulder point, and placed well outside the trunk this en- 

 sures a wide chest, a most desirable and important point ribs deep and 

 well sprung, with small space between last rib and the hip ; round in the 

 barrel and deep in the girth ; back short, loins broad and muscular, long 

 from hip to hough ; tail well set, buttocks full, dropping well down to 

 hock. The feet should be rather large, the heels well expanded, the horny 

 substance firm, slightly sloping and free from sand cracks, side or ring 

 bones ; legs short from knee to pastern, bone large and flat, well clothed 

 with long silky feather, with tassel of hair at lip, knee, and hough ; pastern 

 joints long and sloping. The carriage should be good, and the action 

 long and slinging. Walking is the principal pace of a draught horse ; un- 

 less he can do this weil he is of little use. Pace to some extent may be 

 improved, but without good shoulders no animal can walk well. 

 The Perckeron Horse. Few breeds of late have attracted so much atten- 

 tion in the United States and Canada as this. They are peculiar to 

 Perche, a district in France. Various theories as to his origin and devel- 

 opment have been advanced, by interested partizaris at times, and again 

 by pure lovers of horses who pursued truth for truth's sake alone. 



One writer insists that he is descended from what some call the primi- 

 tive or natural horse, the pure blood Arabian, crossed with a stock of 

 heavy draft horses existing in that section, but without historic mention, 

 prior to the Crusades. He thinks that after the defeat of the Saracen 

 <ihief, Abderame, by Charles Martel, in Vouille, in which battle a host of 

 Saracens perished, the cavalry of the enemy, Oriental horses of marked 

 character, true Arabs, fell into the hands of the French, thence many of 

 these horses were brought by their victorious masters to the districts of 

 Normandy and La Perche. Here commixture 6f blood with a heavier 



