32 Breeds of Horses 



Thoroughbred and the Arab alone equal the Cleveland Bay in 

 density of bone. A peculiarity of the breed is the long elegant 

 quarter — a quarter such as is seen in no other breed. The shoulders 

 are generally good and the hock action is excellent. The Cleveland 

 Bays at one time, as well as doing the principal farm work, did a 

 good deal of harness work on the roads, and when a faster horse 

 was required for the coaches, they made a capital foundation for that 

 faster breed. The Cleveland Bay has been well described as the 

 foundation of light horse breeding, for there is no breed that he will 

 not cross well with. I even remember more than one good horse 

 by a Cleveland Bay sire from a heavy draught mare, or vice versa, 

 that could not be beaten for farm work. But it is with the lighter 

 breeds that they cross best. I have seen and ridden many a good 

 Hunter by a Thoroughbred from a Cleveland Bay mare, and some 

 of the best Hunters I have ever come across, especially as weight 

 carriers, have been bred that way, or had another cross of Thorough- 

 bred from a mare bred that way. If the object of the breeder is to 

 breed Hunters, he will have to get a short-legged compact Thorough- 

 bred sire. The ordinary King's Premium winner, narrow, and on 

 the leg standing i6 hands 2 in. or thereabouts, will probably — not 

 certainly, for the unlikely is always happening at a stud farm — 

 entail disappointment. Courage and action he must have, and if I 

 could not find one of the sort standing anything from 1 5 hands to 

 15 hands 3 in., I should look out for a Thoroughbred Polo Pony of 

 the stamp of Sir John Barker's Othrae. 



In breeding a harness horse from a Cleveland mare there are 

 three courses open to the breeder. He may cross his mare with a 

 Hackney, or a Yorkshire Coach Horse, or he may use a Thorough- 

 bred. If he uses a Hackney with good straight action he will be 

 sure to breed a good harness horse, but I would suggest that he 

 should avoid a gaudily marked chestnut, of which there are too 

 many to be found amongst the ranks of the Hackneys. There are 

 plenty of good Hackneys bay or brown in colour, and it will be 

 found a wiser policy to look after one of them without gaudy white 

 markings, even if a little more expense is incurred, rather than use 

 a chestnut with a lot of white. It will make a great difference 

 when the horses are to sell, and it is well to bear in mind that no 

 harness horse, as a rule, brings so much money as one of the 

 orthodox Cleveland colour, viz. bay with black legs. If he crosses 

 with a Yorkshire Coach Horse there will be no difficulty about the 

 colour of the produce, for the Yorkshire Coach Horse, needless 

 to say, is of the same colour as the Cleveland Bay. Some care 

 will be necessary in selecting a sire. I should prefer a horse on the 



