CHAPTER I. 



A GENERAL DISCUSSION. 



It is useless to attempt the description in a few words of the 

 origin and development of the modern horse;* we know that as 

 far back as authentic history reaches, horses have been used by 

 men for the manifold purposes of peace and war, toil and recrea- 

 tion. For many centuries past two general types of horses have 

 been preserved. One, which may be called the thoroughbred 

 type, is a light, active, speedy animal, possessing great endurance. 

 It finds its best uses for saddle and racing purposes. The other 

 type is more powerful, but not so. active, nor as fast. This 

 type may be called, in general terms, the Flanders type. It is 

 used for draft purposes. By crossing these two types the many 

 special breeds and families of horses now in use arise. 



A thoroughbred animal is, in the broadest meaning of the 

 term, one of pure blood, descended for many generations from 

 animals of the same sort. Thus, one may speak with perfect 

 propriety of a thoroughbred fox-terrier dog, or of a thorough- 

 bred Jersey cow, or of a thoroughbred Cotswold sheep. A thor- 

 oughbred horse, however, is a race-horse — not necessarily used 

 for racing purposes — descended through a line of racers, from 

 Arab stock. Any other sort of a horse that is of pure strain, de- 

 scended from known ancestors of the same strain, should not be 

 called thoroughbred, but pure- bred. 



*Those who are interested in this subject will find "The Origin 

 and Influence of the Thoroughbred Horse/' by William Ridgewav 

 (Cambridge, University Press), interesting and exhaustive. 



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