778 



HORSE. 



fresh morning air, at the bottom of the slope ; ant 

 where it is the custom to squad the ploughs so thai 

 the}' move along in an oblique line, the one a little 

 behind the other, as regular as the divisions of an 

 army marching in echelon, there is not a finer sight in 

 the whole compass of human occupation, or in all 

 the countless charms of a country which combines 

 the grand elements of peace, plenty, power, and 

 worth : and upon such occasions, the well-tuned 

 whistle of the ploughman, which is such favourite 

 music in the ears of the horses, has more natural, 

 and more moral melody, than all the instruments that 

 ever were played in an orchestra. 



The different coach-horses used on the roads are 

 generally of this breed, though with a little more 

 blood, and therefore a little lighter than those which 

 are most efficient for agricultural purposes, and other 

 operations of comparatively slow draught. The fast 

 coaches have horses still lighter, and of course with 

 still more blood. They approach in many respects 

 to the hunter ; but when the spirit and speed can be 

 found combined with a good deal of bone and strength, 

 the combination produces a coacn-horse of the very 

 first quality. This race of horses is purely English 

 in its breeding ; and though many of them have been 

 exported of late years, especially to France, they are 

 nowhere found in such perfection as in their native 

 country ; this is no doubt partly owing to the supe- 

 riority of the roads, and partly to the better manage- 

 ment of the horses. 



The Suffolk Punch is a most excellent horse for 

 agricultural purposes, and it is very much used, not 

 only in the county after which it is named, but in 

 other parts of the country. It is rather short in its 

 dimensions, and it wants the elegant gait, and some 

 of the beauty of form, which characterise the better 

 varieties of the breed last mentioned ; but it is re- 

 markably compact, firm, and strong, and good winded, 

 so that it can continue a long time at work. Suffolk 

 punches will perhaps do as much agricultural work 

 in a day as any horses which are employed in agri- 

 culture, and will continue it for as many days in suc- 

 cession, but they will require a longer time each day. 

 We must again refer to Culley for a description of 

 this very excellent and valuable breed of horses. 

 " Their colour is mostly yellowish or sorrel, with a 

 white ratch or blaze on their faces ; the head large, 

 ears wide, muzzle coarse, fore-end low, back long, 

 but very straight, sides flat, shoulders too far forward, 

 hind quarters middling, but rather high about the 

 hips, legs round and short in the pasterns, deep- 

 bellied and full in the flank. Here, perhaps, lies 

 much of the merit of these horses ; for we know, from 

 observation and experience, that all deep-bellied 

 horses carry their food long, and, consequently, are 

 enabled to stand longer and harder days' works. 

 However, certain it is that those horses do perform 

 surprising days' works. It is well known that Suffolk 

 and Norfolk farmers plough more land in a day than 

 any other people in the island, and these are the kind 

 of horses used everywhere in those districts." These 

 horses are very efficient, not only in Low Suffolk, or 

 the sea-coast district, which is light and sandy, and 

 kept in heart in a great measure by shell marl, which 

 makes a free soil, but also in such parts of High 

 Suffolk, or the stiff clay district, which occupies the 

 central and largest portion of the county. Very 

 much of this portion, however, is laid down in pas- 

 turage for cows. 



The Clydesdale Horse is one of the best breeds in 

 Scotland for farming purposes, and has been long in 

 request both in the Lowlands of Scotland and in the 

 north of England. The origin of this breed is very 

 imperfectly known ; and though rfiey are called 

 Clydesdale horses, it appears to be more from the 

 markets at which they are purchased lying in that 

 district than from anything else ; for they are very 

 generally used, and also bred, in all the western and 

 midland parts of the Lowlands. They are rather 

 larger than the Suffolk punches, have the neck 

 longer, and step more out. The chest is full and 

 broad, the shoulder thick, the blade-bone rising up 

 to the chine, and not sloping so much backwards in 

 its anterior edge as in the fast-going road-horses. 

 The hoof is round and firm, usually black, or of a 

 deep horn colour, and the heels are wide ; the back 

 is s'traight and broad, but not long in proportion to 

 the weight of the horse, which gives real as well as 

 apparent compactness ; the bucks do not stand much 

 out, and the space between them and the ribs is 

 short ; the tail is firm, and finely supplied with hair, 

 and the buttocks come so close together as to leave 

 a small furrow for it. These horses are of different 

 colours, but the usual ones are black, brown, and 

 grey, the latter being often beautifully dappled. 

 They are not liked, with a full blaze of light in the 

 face ; but a small spot in the forehead, called a 

 " bell" in some of the districts, is considered so great 

 a beauty, that it is often at least tried to be produced 

 by artificial means, and the dealers colour it for the 

 market. Those horses are strong, hardy, good tem- 

 pered ; scarcely one of them is restive ; and they lay 

 their shoulders fully and fairly to the draught, and 

 perhaps pull better together than any working horses j 

 n the kingdom. It is somewhat singular, however, 

 that the district after which they are named is I'ar less 

 'amed for its ploughing than for its horses ; at least 

 the writer of this article never saw a furrow in 

 Clydesdale that would have passed muster at a 

 iloughing-match on the east bide of the island. 



Such, in brief outline, are the principal breeds of 

 lorses in the more improved and fertile districts of 

 the British islands, though of course there are local 

 varieties without end. There still remain some 

 smaller breeds, more nearly in a state of nature, 

 which deserve notice. One of them is 



The Welsh Horse, or Ceffal, which some suppose \ 

 to havj been an importation by the Romans, and 

 therefore to have a good deal of the blood of the 1 

 Tartar horse in it. This horse is not large, neither J 

 is it handsome, and upon level ground it is not a 1 

 swift horse. Still, however, it has its good proper- 

 ties. It is exceedingly hardy, patient of fatigue, by 

 no means destitute of spirit, remarkably durable, and, 

 generally speaking, very tractable. Then, it is a very 

 goat upon the rocks, actually preferring them to 

 softer footing ; and, be the ascent or the descent 

 ever so steep and rugged, if the rider can maintain 

 his seat, the ceffal is sure to keep its footing ; for in 

 this respect, both in firmness of hoof, and in skill in 

 the planting of it, it is little, if at all, interior to the 

 mules used in the Andes. For cliff-riding, however, the 

 ceffal must be allowed to have completely his own way ; 

 for any attempt on the part of the rider to guide him 

 in a pathless place of difficulty would be attended 

 with hazard to both. It is told of a Welsh gentleman, 

 who was in the train of one of the kings of England, 

 mounted on a charger from his native hills, that, 



