THE IMPROVED LINCOLNSHIRE DRAY-HORSE 137 



THE IMPROVED LINCOLNSHIRE DRAY-HORSE 



ABOUT THE SAME TIME the farmers of Lincolnshire were employed in 

 producing, partly for their own heavy clay lands, but chiefly for the use 

 of the London drays, a large and magnificently-shaped animal, generally 

 known as the Dray- Horse. Many of these stand from 17 to 18 hands 

 high, with bodies of enormous girth, and legs, if not in proportion, yet of 

 greater size than in other breeds. 



THE DRAY-HORSE. 



They are the produce of a cross between the old English black and the 

 Flemish horse ; but the former had previously increased in size and sub- 

 stance, from the nature of the grasses of the district, which seem peculiarly 

 adapted to develop the growth of this animal. Unfortunately, both sire 

 and dam are slow, and the produce, from its increased bulk, is rendered 

 still slower, being wholly unfit for agricultural operations in competition 

 with the Suffolk or the Clydesdale horses, and only well adapted to move 

 heavy brewer's drays, which cannot from their weight be expected to travel 

 very rapidly. Breeder's work them moderately, and feed them highly for 



