OUR SADDLE-HORSES. 7 



of performing that task ; a change generally 

 admitted to be the result of introducing into 

 that country our racing blood in so large a 

 stream. Foreigners still buy many of our 

 horses, but chiefly for harness, and this on 

 account of their high stature and showy ap- 

 pearance. The Germans and French still buy 

 a few of our best saddle-horses while these are 

 very young, and being good judges they select 

 our best, and give from their scarcity enor- 

 mously high prices. 



The French cavalry horses are inferior to 

 ours in speed, but they are much hardier and 

 last much longer on service, as was shown 

 during the last war in Spain, when our horses 

 were better than at present. In that war the 

 mortality amongst our horses from disease and 

 work was enormous, and three times greater 

 than amongst those of the French. The legs 

 of the French horses were never what, in vulgar 

 but well understood language, is called greased, 

 while those of ours were but too often so. Thus 

 the expense of keeping up our cavalry in Spain, 

 owing to the delicacy of its horses, was in- 

 tolerable. In the next war, if at all protracted, 

 the mortality will be much greater, because 



