124 THE HORSE AND THE WAR 



vital respect the resources of our country were hopelessly inadequate and, it 

 must be added, disappointing in regard to results. The heavy draught horse 

 has been chiefly of the Shire-bred type, the impressive cart-horse of fine size, 

 weight and feathered legs fostered by the Shire Horse Society. One must be 

 perfectly honest and say they have failed to stand the strain, exposure and hard- 

 ship imposed by modern warfare. The fact is beyond all argument. It is the 

 unanimous opinion of all who have been concerned with them, and it is the fact 

 above all others which has primarily influenced that semi-official movement 

 which we now see initiated on serious lines in favour of introducing the 

 Percheron breed to this country. It is why these stallions and mares have j ust 

 been landed here, and why in the years to come the event will be regarded as 

 epoch-marking in the history of horse breeding in this country. 



As to how the development of the breed will proceed in the near future 

 is a question which does not arise here. No doubt a scheme has been drawn up. 

 What has been found lacking and is urgently required is a type of draught 

 horse which will best meet the exacting demands of modern warfare, and, 

 having from experience found that the Percheron is the best, he is naturally 

 the one selected for propagation in this country. After all, it is not surprising 

 that the Shire horse has not come up to expectations. In the Norman days, 

 which probably mark his origin in England, he was, indeed, the war-horse of the 

 period, since he was used by the knights when heavy armour was worn. And 

 so heavy were the knight and his armour that together they were reckoned to 

 weigh 32 stone. The Shire horse of to-day must, one supposes, be even an en- 

 larged edition of the Norman age, and as such he has not made an ideal transition 

 from the plough and heavy wagon to the horse lines in the open and the big 

 guns in the mud of Flanders and the Somme valley. His constitution has 

 cracked and he has been predisposed in an alarming degree to " grease " and 

 kindred leg ailments, as well as serious respiratory troubles. He has therefore 

 convinced the authorities that the war-horse of the future, if he be forthcoming 

 in this country, must be found in another direction. 



Again, we may take it that the pioneers of the Percheron movement in 

 England are hopeful that users of draught horses, chiefly farmers, will take 

 kindly to the new-comer. Will they ? It is a question which remains to be 

 answered. Optimists, who point to the breed's overwhelming vogue in agricul- 

 ture in France, Canada and the United States, have no doubt on the point. 

 Others prophesy failure on the grounds that the farmer will not forsake the 

 Shire and Clydesdale to which he and his fathers and forefathers have uninter- 

 ruptedly been accustomed. We may take it there is no intention that the 

 new-comer should supplant the famous Enghsh cart-horse, whose vogue has ex- 

 tended over the centuries. His position is too secure in our day to be assailed by 

 the advent of a hundred or more true-bred Perchcrons. He will continue to pull 

 and haul on the land and he will flourish on his abundant rations and the warm 

 stable, which are so essential to his good health. The Percheron, if he should 

 come into favour with the agriculturist, will assuredly do so on his merits. 



Here let me interpose some extremely interesting notes conveyed to me in 

 a letter from Mr. Wayne Dinsmore. He has had long experience of all the 

 different draught breeds on the range in western South Dakota, and for seven 



