THE PEECHEEON HOESE. 45 



a race superior in height, and different in conformation 

 and temperament. 



The heaviest and strongest of a class, united among 

 themselves, will produce more surely the kind demanded 

 than a too precipitate crossing. Nothing is more risky 

 than crosses made without judgment. It is by them that 

 harmony of form is destroyed, and a degenerate mongrel 

 race is produced as the inevitable consequence, It is then 

 important, in the reunion of types, never to lose sight of 

 equality and similarity of conformation and qualities. 

 But, at the same time, it is necessary to march with the 

 age, study its tendencies, and be always ready to guide a 

 movement which otherwise might drag you in its wake. 



We must not lose sight of the fact that the services re- 

 quired of the Percheron horse are not the same as former- 

 ly. The omnibus service, especially, which, scarcely ten 

 years ago, was considered the mildest, has, at present, be- 

 come the hardest, and the one which requires heavy 

 horses, uniting speed with strength. 



On the other hand, as a consequence of the great 

 changes in the life and means of conveyance of the 

 wealthy, the Percheron race has been most prominently 

 brought forward. Almost all ranks of the upper classes 

 have now adopted the Percheron horse of the light kind 

 for their private uses, hunts and drives in the country. 

 The fondness for rapid traveling rendering these classes 

 more exacting than formerly, the necessity has arisen of 

 finding in Perche, specimens with weight and speed with 

 a light and stylish form. Accordingly, it becomes neces- 

 sary to find means of adding the greatest possible speed 

 to the other valuable characteristics of the Percheron 

 horse. To reach this result promptly, we should have re- 

 course to the Arabian stallion, and this, surely, would be 

 the quickest means. But as I do not find this Percheron 

 race, in its present state, sufficiently prepared for this al- 

 liance, and as I think that it still needs two or three gen- 



