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THE DIFFERENT BREEDS OF ENGLISH HORSES. 



requiring the exertion of all their strength, for their bones are not yet perfectly 

 formed, nor their joints knit; and were he to urge them too severely, he 

 would probably injure and deform them. By the gentle and constant exercise 

 of the plough, he is preparing them for that continued and equable pull at the 

 collar which is afterwards so necessary. These horses are adapted more for 

 parade and show, and to gratify the desire which one brewer has to outvie 

 his neighbour, than for any peculiar utility. They are certainly noble-looking 

 animals, with their round fat carcases, and their sleek coats, and the evident 

 pride which they take in themselves ; but they eat a great deal of hay and 

 corn and, at hard and long-continued work, they would be completely beaten by 

 a team of active muscular horses an inch and a half lower. 



The only plea which can be urged in their favour, beside their noble appear- 

 ance, is, that as shaft-horses, over the badly-paved streets of the metropolis, and 

 with the immense loads they often have behind them, great bulk and weight 

 are necessary to stand the unavoidable battering and shaking. Weight must 

 be opposed to weight, or the horse would sometimes be quite thrown off his legs. 

 A large heavy horse must be in the shafts, and then little ones before him would 

 not look well. 



Certainly no one has walked the streets of London without pitying the poor 

 thill-horse, jolted from side to side, and exposed to many a bruise, unless, with 

 admirable cleverness, he accommodates himself to every motion ; but, at the 

 same time, it mast be evident, that bulk and fat do not always constitute strength, 

 and that a compact muscular horse, approaching to sixteen hands high, would 

 acquit himself far better in such a situation. The dray-horse, in the mere act 

 of ascending from the wharf, may display a powerful effort, but he afterwards 

 makes little exertion, much of his force being expended in transporting his own 

 overgrown carcase. 



This horse was selected from the noble stock of dray-horses belonging to 

 Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, and Co., London, by the author's friend, Mr. E. Braby. 



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