474 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



record now is made. The Arabian, the barb, the Turk, the 

 Spanish, and the Gallic horse mingled with the blood of the pon- 

 derous Flanders, Norman, and English horses. 



From such an ancestry came the breeds of England. But 

 the forms the horse in the British isles has been made to 

 assume under the laws of selection and variation, guided by the 

 intelligence and good judgment. of the English and Scotch breed- 

 ers, fill us with admiration at the wonders nature and man may 

 perform. By a judicious crossing and training and feeding, the 

 same tight little isle has in two centuries evolved the wonder 

 of the ages in the thorough-bred; and from and by the aid of 

 his ancient ancestry come the hunters, hackneys, coach and cart 

 horses, each of great excellence for their special uses. 



Climatic Influence. There is nothing in the climate to 

 account for the rapid development of the horse in England. 

 Darwin in his Domestication of Plants and Animals shows that a 

 damp climate does not favor the development of the highest 

 type of the horse. In climate the Arabian or barb had the 

 advantage, and Darwin says that America favors a higher develop- 

 ment of the species, because of its superior climate and excel- 

 lence of forage. Mr. William Percivall, in 1834, at University 

 College, said : " The grand first cause of this success appears to 

 come from a steady prosecution and scientific management of 

 breeding, by which I do not only mean the procuration of orig- 

 inal stock of a good description, but the continual progressive 

 cultivation of that stock in the progeny, by the greatest care in 

 rearing and feeding, and by the most careful selection. On 

 these two circumstances, and particularly on the latter, a great 

 deal more depends than on the original characters or attributes 

 of the parents. Thus we have progressed from good to better, 

 losing sight of no subsidiary help until we have attained a per- 

 fection in horse-flesh unknown in the whole world beside." 



Size and Power Sacrificed to Speed. The fusion of 

 bloods has added size and strength to the finely formed Oriental 

 horse, and diminished none of his spirit and docility. The 

 thorough-bred excels the best Arabian blood in size and speed 

 and endurance. 



