246 CLEVELAND BAYS. 



that there was a considerable admixture of 

 thoroughbred blood introduced in the early part 

 of the present century, and attempts have been 

 made to prove that Dart, from whom an important 

 family of the Cleveland Bays descend, was a 

 lineal descendant of ihe Darley Arabian. The 

 evidence upon which this theory rests is simply 

 that of an old card of a stallion in which the back 

 strains are probably filled in at random, and is 

 certainly not reliable enough to establish a theory 

 upon. It is scarcely likely that the Darley 

 Arabian would be used for half-bred mares. 



It is well-known that thoroughbreds were used 

 extensively when big flashy coach-horses were 

 required, and the introduction of these half-bred 

 horses as stallions has, in the opinion of so sound 

 a judge as the late Mr. Lumley Hodgson, been 

 almost a national calamity. At any rate it was 

 the commencement of that crossino- out which has 

 done so much to decrease the numbers of pure 

 bred Cleveland Bays. It was also Mr. Hodgson's 

 opinion that the use of these half-bred sires had 

 a great deal to do with increasing the infirmity 

 of roaring, an infirmity, by the way, which he said 

 was unknown amongst Cleveland Bays, or as he 

 preferred to call them, Chapman horses, in his 

 earlier years. 



The modern coach-horse, which is principally 

 bred in the East Hiding, is lighter and has a 

 more blood-like appearance than the generality 



