102 



CHAPTER 9. 



199a. Working life of horses in various Employments. 



Some few statistics may be interesting and valuable. The statistics, 

 however, refer only to the duration of horses in the employments for 

 which they were bought. It does not follow that a horse is worn out, 

 because he is no longer fit for the work for which he was bought. Many, 

 in fact most of them, may be fit for slower or lighter work for many 

 years to come. 



The Author desires to return his warm thanks to those, who have so 

 kindly supplied him with the following information. 



The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has kindly supplied the 

 Author with the following valuable information : 



313 horses, divided into Patrol and Despatch. 



Patrol horses do from four to five hours daily, and the despatch horses 

 21 miles on week days, and half that distance on Sunday. 



Both classes are subject to considerable extra work when occasion re- 

 quires, and long distances on the road may have to be covered in addition 

 to the duty for which they are required. 



Cab horses. 



Cab horses are no criterion. They are bought at all ages. But from 

 the best information which the Author has been able to glean, the 

 average service may be taken at three and a half years. The average 

 distance travelled by the cab appears to be about 20 to 25 miles per day. 



Job horses. 



As regards London job carriage horses the Author is inclined to think 

 that in good places the average duration of service may run as high as 

 seven years, whilst in places where they are knocked about, it may not be 

 more than from three to four years or even less. 



It may seem impertinent to make a suggestion to job-masters, who of 

 course know their business much better than the Author, but he thinks 

 that their interest in the careful and kindly treatment of the horses 

 would be much better served by charging the full price for the first and 



