Ill] AND HISTORIC TIMES 343 



The Mecklenburg horses formerly comprised a type for 

 carriages of luxury, a type for the saddle, and a common type, 

 but the latter has now disappeared. The best class of the 

 old Mecklenburg were trotters, but the old type has been so 

 modified by English blood as to approach the latter closely. 

 At the present time almost all the superior horses bred in 

 Mecklenburg are sold as horses imported from England \ 



The principal centre of production of the Danish horses is 

 the border of Oldenburg. The Oldenburg horses have many 



Fig. 99. The East Prussian Horse. 



grave defects — heavy heads, weak backs, bad ribs, long legs 

 covered with hair in the lower parts, flat feet, brittle hoofs, 

 and want of endurance. They make carriage horses, very few 

 being fit for the saddle, but to-day they are really farmers' 

 horses ^ 



In the 17th and 18th centuries the old Danish horses (Fig. 

 98), which though sturdy were somewhat small, were much 

 modified and increased in size by the introduction of Spanish, 



1 Hayes, op. cit. p. 516. 



2 Hayes, op. cit. p. 517. 



