THE COACH-HORSE. 95 



one side, and Northumberland on the other, but difficult to find pure in either 

 county. The Cleveland mare is crossed by a three-fourth or thorough-bred 

 horse, of sufficient substance and height, and the produce is the coach-horse 

 most in repute, with his arched crest and high action. From the thorough-bred 

 of sufficient height, but not of so much substance, we obtain the four-in-hand 

 and superior curricle horse. 



Professor Low, in his superb work " Illustrations of the Breeds of the Domestic 

 Animals of the British Islands," which should adorn the library of every sports- 

 man and agriculturist, gives the following account of the Cleveland Bay : 



" It is the progressive mixture of the blood of horses of higher breeding with 

 those of the common race, that has produced the variety of coach-horse usually 

 termed the Cleveland Bay ; so called from its colour and the fertile district of 

 that name in the North Riding of Yorkshire, on the banks of the Tees. About 

 the middle of the last century this district became known for the breeding of a 

 superior class of powerful horses, which, with the gradual disuse of the heavy 

 old coach-horse, became in request for coaches, chariots, and similar carriages. 

 The breed, however, is not confined to Cleveland, but is cultivated through all 

 the great breeding district of this part of England. It has been formed by the 

 progressive mixture of the blood of the race-horse with the original breeds of 

 the country. To rear this class of horses, the same principles of breeding should 

 be applied as to the rearing of the race-horse himself. A class of mares, as well 

 as stallions, should also be used having the properties sought for. The district 

 of Cleveland owes its superiority in the production of this beautiful race of 

 horses to the possession of a definite breed, formed not by accidental mixture 

 but by continued cultivation. 



" Although the Cleveland Bay appears to unite the blood of the finer with that 

 of the larger horses of the country, to combine action with strength, yet many 

 have sought a farther infusion of blood nearer to the race-horse. They are 

 accordingly crossed by hunters or thorough -bred horses, and thus another 

 variety of coach-horse is produced , of lighter form and higher breeding ; and 

 many of the superior Cleveland curricle and four-in-hand horses are now nearly 

 thorough-bred. The bay colour is in the most general estimation, but the grey 

 are not unfrequently used*." 



From less height and more substance we have the hunter and better sort of 

 hackney ; and, from the half-bred, we derive the machineer, the poster, and the 



to Epsom, sixteen miles, then took nearly the Cyrus the Great. It was adopted by the 

 whole day, and the passengers dined on the Greeks and Romans. It was introduced into 

 I'oad. The coach from Edinburgh to London Franco by Louis XI. in 1462, and we first 

 started once a month, and occupied sixteen read of it in English history about the year 

 or eighteen days on the journey. A person 1550, under Edward VI., when post-houses 

 may now leave Edinburgh on Saturday eve- were established, and horses provided at the 

 ning, have two spare days in London, and be rate of one penny per mile. Under Elizabeth 

 back again at the Scotch metropolis to break- a post-master was nominated by government, 

 fast on the next Saturday. Including short and under Charles I., in 1634, the system 

 stages, one thousand four hundred coaches a assumed its present form. The charge of post- 

 little while ago set out from London every age was then fixed at two-pence, if under 

 day, the expense of each of which, with four eighty miles ; four-pence between eighty and 

 horses, could not be less than two shillings one hundred and forty ; and six-pence if under 

 and sixpence per mile. two hundred and forty miles ; but this charge 

 Hackney-coaches first appeared in London rapidly increased with the increasing price of 

 in 1625, the first year of the reign of Charles horses, and the other expenses of conveyance, 

 I. Sedan-chairs had been introduced by the and afterwards it was further raised by taxa- 

 Duke of Buckingham six years before. tion, like almost everything else. It is now 

 Among the numerous benefits arising from diminished, with great public advantage, to a 

 the services of the horse, and the improvement general rate of one penny, 

 of public roads and carriages, is the speedy and The recent introduction of railroads will 

 regular correspondence by post. The invcn- effect much change in the use of the carriage 

 tion of this useful establishment is ascribed to and road horse. 

 * Low's Illustrations, p. 41. 



