ENGLISH BREEDS 131 



be regarded as being an animal for everybody's money. He possesses 

 one great qualification, however, which should commend itself to all horse 

 owners, and this is an unusually robust constitution; which circumstance 

 is no doubt the cause of a good deal of the crossing that is going on 

 l)etween the Cleveland and other breeds, and possibly accounts for the 

 relatively small number of the pure-bred " Bays" which are to be found. 

 No doubt, however, the Cleveland and Hackney cross is fairly successful 

 when the production of a sizeable animal possessed of high action is the 

 object of a breeder, and extremely long prices have been realized for 

 animals thus bred. Plenty of good hunters have also been bred from 

 Cleveland Bay mares; but upon the whole this sort of breeding partakes 

 so very much of the nature of a lottery, that the wise man who desires 

 to turn a penny, usually seeks to produce a harness horse from his Cleve- 

 land Bay. At the same time stories are told of the ability some pure- 

 bred representatives of the breed have displayed in the hunting-field, but 

 it is scarcely conceivable that many very great feats were accomplished 

 in this direction with any of the crack packs. 



As to conformation, the head of a Cleveland Bay can scarcely be 

 described as a very attractive or taking one, being inclined to plainness, 

 but it is not a coarse head, and is usually well carried. The neck is 

 of fair length and slightly arched, showing plenty of strength at the 

 setting on, but at the same time it is free fi'om coarseness and superfluous 

 lumber. Some difTerence of opinion — up to a certain extent — exists amongst 

 judges on the cjuestion of shoulders, for though it is probable that every- 

 body jjrefers them well set and sloping, many persons argue that they 

 regard the Cleveland Bay as a harness horse above all things, and that 

 therefore the possession of a long sloping shoulder is not so essential in 

 his case as it would be if he were used for saddle purposes. This con- 

 tention is, of course, strongly opposed by those who regard the capacity 

 of the breed from the other point of view, and there can be no doubt 

 that the vast majority of the active sujjporters of the horse are dead in 

 favour of a nicely placed shoulder. Upon the cpiestion of middle there 

 are no differences of opinion, however, as the judges agree that the back 

 of a Cleveland should be short, his girth considerable, his loins powerful, 

 and his quarters long and level. He is wide in chest, and short on leg,, 

 though his height often makes him appear longer on his legs than he 

 really is, and his arms and thighs can scarcely be too big and muscular. 

 In the matter of bone the Cleveland Bay is conspicuously good, as not 

 only is there plenty of it, but it is remarkably flat, and the quality is 

 quite excellent, it being extremely dense, and the sinews show up 

 prominently. The pasterns slope well, and the feet are large and truly 



