128 THE HORSE AND ITS RELATIVES 



Since the present work purports to be an 

 account of the natural history of the horse and not 

 a treatise on horse-breeding, such groups as polo- 

 ponies, hackneys (from the French haquenee), and 

 hunters may be passed over without notice, since 

 they constitute groups formed by selection from other 

 breeds, rather than distinct breeds by themselves. 

 Attention may accordingly be directed to the leading 

 British types of horse employed for carriage and 

 heavy draught. Among these, the first place may 

 be assigned to the Cleveland bay, a magnificent 

 stamp of powerful carriage-horses taking their 

 name from the fertile district of Cleveland in the 

 North Riding of Yorkshire, on the Tees, but now 

 also largely bred in the East Riding, as well as in 

 Durham and Northumberland. The name is, how- 

 ever, a modern one, the original local breed having 

 been known as the chapman or pack-horse. How 

 it originated is not definitely ascertained, although 

 it was not improbably produced by the infusion of 

 foreign blood into the native stock of the district. 

 The colour of the Cleveland is bay with black 

 points ; and the height ranges from i6^ to i6f 

 hands. Heaviness of "bone" is one of the char- 

 acteristics of the breed. 



Near akin to the Cleveland bay is the York- 

 shire coach-horse, which tends to be smaller in size, 

 with what breeders term more quality ; the latter 

 being due to thoroughbred blood. 



