224 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



quence is that the Percheron family has been cor- 

 rupted on its native soil, Flemish and other inferior 

 blood being introduced, in "order to get the immense 

 size wanted for the foreign, and particularly for the 

 American market. Many of the Percherons win- 

 ning prizes at our horse shows are of this type, — 

 huge, overgrown, lethargic creatures, ungainly, slow, 

 and wanting in endurance. The smaller horses of 

 both the Clydesdale and Percheron breeds, the lat- 

 ter especially, are almost invariably the better. 

 M. du Hays gives the height of the true Percheron 

 stallion as ranging from 14| to 16 hands, but the 

 height of Percheron or so-called Percheron stallions 

 imported to this country varies from 15^ to 17 hands. 

 In weight they vary from 1,400 to 2,200 pounds ; 

 the average being about 1,700. The mares average 

 about 1,550 pounds in weight, and range from 15 to 

 16| hands in height. The size and weight of the 

 Clydesdale importations are about the same, whereas, 

 if the best and purest of both breeds were imported, 

 the Percherons would be the smaller. 



Fashion and caprice, instead of knowledge and judg- 

 ment, are apt to determine the characteristics even 

 of a cart horse. In the West, as I have indicated, 

 elephantine animals are preferred ; and in New York 

 the favorite cart horse is a big, rangy, high-standing 

 beast. In Boston, on the other hand, shorter-legged, 

 broad-chested, round-bodied, short-backed, quick-mov- 

 ing horses are sought for ; and this type is undoubt- 

 edly more efficient and lasting, besides being, as I 

 think, a great deal more picturesque. 



Most of the cart horses used in this country are 

 raised at the West, though many also come from 



