12-t VAEIETIES OF THE HORSE 



abandonment; the breed in its original purity falling into so few hands 

 that the very limited number of adherents who have remained staunch 

 in their allegiance to it have not been able to secure the crosses they 

 desired, and consequently the stature of the Pack-horse has become less, 

 and the old breed practically extinct. 



A couple of hundred years ago, before the Hackney invaded Devon- 

 shire and Yorkshire, and when no other means of locomotion existed, 

 the Pack-horse was an institution in the west and north of Enoland 

 where he was not only employed in agricultural and ordinary road work, 

 but as the medium for carrying supplies to the inhabitants of outlying 

 holdings on the moors and wolds. In order to be of service in this respect, 

 it was necessary that the horses should be powerful and sure-footed, 

 and these are two properties which the ancient Pack-horse possessed to a 

 very considerable extent. What the precise origin of this most ancient 

 breed may have been there are unfortunately no means of ascertainino-, 

 but it is reasonable to assume that he was, in the first case, a cross-bred 

 Eastern and old English War-horse. This theory is quite a possible one 

 when it is remembered that a succession of English sovereigns engaged 

 themselves in importing both Arab, Barb, and Turk stallions into this 

 country with the laudable object of improving the native horses; whilst 

 the existence of the War-horse, which had been increased in size by 

 crossing with Flemish mares, renders it highly probable that this variety 

 may claim the distinction of being a parent of the Pack-horse, and con- 

 sequently a still more remote ancestor of the Cleveland Bay. 



Be the origin of the Pack-horse, however, what it may, the indisputable 

 fixct remains, that until the invasion of Devonshire by railways and 

 Hackney horses, the old breed was regarded on all sides as essential to 

 the existence of the inhabitants of the west country, and he would have 

 been a rash, if not reckless, individual who would have ventured to 

 prophesy that it would ever become out of date, or be neglected by 

 Devonians, who up to comparatively modern times utilized the Pack- 

 horse for sporting as well as for general purposes. An illustration of 

 this is forthcoming in the 16-hands Cottager, the property of Mr. Skinner, 

 a resident near Totnes, whieli in a steeple-chase run at the annual race- 

 meeting, held in that town about the middle of last century, suc- 

 ceeded in defeating the Thoroughbreds and cocktails which competed. 

 The owner of this horse, moreover, had previously issued a challenge 

 to trot him, against any animal in the west country, 4 miles on the 

 road, carrying 14 stone, a fact which goes a long way towards proving 

 that the Pack-horse was a fine and fast mover both at the gallop and 

 at the trot. 



