CART HORSES. ^10 



think you had been so good a judge of a horse. 

 I suppose they are a new purchase which you want 

 to have my opinion upon, and I can assure you they 

 are the true Suffolk sorrels, the first breed of working 

 horses in the kingdom ; and these are some of the 

 best of their kind.' " Being undeceived, he at first 

 refused the gift, but was finally persuaded to accept 

 it, to the great content of both Harry and Tommy. 



The stanchness of the Suffolk Punches was prover- 

 bial, and they would have been called in the language 

 of the modern sale stable, " dead-down, true pullers." 

 This quality was often displayed at pulling matches, 

 where the competing teams would fall upon their 

 knees at a given signal (the ground being strewed 

 with straw or saud), and in that position move a 

 great weight. The only account I have ever seen of 

 the origin of this breed states that it was formed 

 by crossing Norman stallions with the Suffolk cart 

 mare. 



Perhaps the most popular breed of cart horses 

 now used in England is the Clydesdale. This, as 

 the name implies, is a Scotch family, but its origin 

 is obscure, though tradition ascribes it to a cross 

 made by an unascertained Duke of Hamilton be- 

 tween the draught mares of the country and some 

 Dutch stallions. Clydesdales, with the exception of 

 the Percherons, have more " quality " — that is, finer 

 characteristics and a better bred appearance — than 

 any other cart horses. Their coat is more silky, their 

 ears are smaller, their heads and necks more beauti- 

 ful, and the whole body is more finely turned. Their 

 faults are a tendency to be too long in the leg, some- 

 what light-waisted, and, occasionally, a little hot in 



