CART HORSES. 223 



bat. The gray stallions that have for many years 

 drawn the omnibuses of Paris were always of Per- 

 cheron, or of the kindred Norman stock. 



It has frequently occurred to me that a family of 

 superior road, and perhaps coach, horses might be 

 developed by crossing the Percheron with the original 

 Arab breed. Horses thus bred could not fail to be 

 sound, tough, gentle, and, I should think, handsome. 

 Certainly, if the Percheron is really derived from the 

 Arab, such a cross would give size to the latter with- 

 out introducing any element so foreign as to result in 

 a hybrid, heterogeneous sort of animal. The cross 

 between the thoroughbred and the cart horse does not 

 usually turn out well ; occasionally, to be sure, the 

 produce preserves the strength and size of one family 

 with the action and courage of the other, some noted 

 hunters having been bred in this way. More often, 

 however, the half-bred horse of this description is a 

 slab-sided, nerveless beast, of little good for any pur- 

 pose. But between the Percheron and the Arab there 

 is an affinity sufficient to prevent such a result from 

 their union. In one instance, at least, this has been 

 tried, Mr. Parker, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, 

 having bred a colt by the Jennifer Arabian, out of 

 Kosa Bonheur, an imported Percheron mare. The 

 horse thus bred is described as "a wiry, handsome 

 colt, who was sold to go to Oregon, where he 

 proved a valuable sire." A cross between the Mor- 

 gan and the Percheron ought to be equally good. 



Large numbers of Clydesdales, and Percherons in 

 still greater abundance, have been imported to this 

 country, but, unfortunately, the demand, especially at 

 the West, has been for very big horses. The conse- 



