ENGLISH BREEDS - 125 



Generally speaking, the Pack-horse, so far at all events as he exists 

 at the present day, has a very great resemblance to the Hackney, as he 

 has a deep chest, big level back, deep middle, and powerful quarters; his 

 legs too are short, heavy in bone, and carry a great deal of muscle on 

 the arms and thighs; but he differs very considerably from the Hackney 

 in three most important points, namely, head, shoulders, and action. 

 A Pack-horse's head is far more blood-like than that of the Hackney, its 

 small size and delicate outline being most probably due to the posses- 

 sion of a strong strain of Arab blood; whilst his shoulders, as a rule, 

 are longer and more obliquely set, for the Pack-horse was largely utilized 

 for saddle work, the moors and hills of Devonshire being most unsuitable 

 for vehicular traffic. Nor is the action of the Pack-horse so high as 

 that of the Hackney, as in the first place an animal largely utilized for 

 saddle purposes, if a stepper, would be a rather uncomfortable mount 

 when negotiating the steep declivities and stony bridle-paths of Devon- 

 shire; and in the second place, the question of sure-footedness was more 

 sought for by Devonians of the old school than an ability to bend the 

 knee. At the same time it must not be imagined that the Pack-horse was 

 not a very free and attractive mover, as all references to the breed allude 

 to his action as being excellent in both respects. Another point of 

 difference which exists between the Hackney and the Pack-horse is seen 

 in the colours of the two breeds, for Packs were always bay, black, or 

 brown, whilst a large percentage of Hackneys are chestnuts. Still, the 

 resemblance between the few remaining survivors of the Pack-horse and 

 the popular Hackney is considerable, though it is to be hoped that the 

 slender ranks of the former will not be further reduced by crosses with 

 the trotter, grand horse though the latter is, for England is large enough 

 to find accommodation for a few specimens of an ancient horse, which 

 has done good service in assisting old breeders to produce some popular 

 varieties of the present day. Probably, moreover, there could be no 

 finer cross for Hunter-breeding than the Pack-horse upon weedy, light- 

 boned, " breedy " mares, from which it is desired to produce short-legged, 

 heavy-boned stock capable of carrying weight. 



The Cleveland Bay. — The subject of this paper stands pre- 

 eminently forward as the eldest large-sized carriage horse of the day, 

 and, as will be shown later, his antiquity is undeniable, though a 

 very considerable amount of ambiguity exists as regards the jarecise 

 origin of the breed. The date of his production is also quite unknown; 

 but on the other hand there are good reasons for believing that, like 

 most other English varieties, he is a descendant of the old English War- 

 horse, which played so prominent a part in the early history of our 



