FEENCH HOESE.] M D EE N Y ETEKI N AR Y PR ACTI C E. [qerman uokhe. 



able in this country as carriage-horses ; but 

 they and their descendants are now chiefly 

 employed in agriculture. 



THE FRENCH HORSE. 



In France, horses of the Bretagne (Brittany) 

 breed are strongly made, and have, generally, 

 black hair, or brown bay ; good legs and feet, 

 with a hardy mouth, and a head short and 

 clumsy. The horses of Tranche- Comte are 

 said to have the legs of tigers, and the bellies of 

 hinds ; but they are short and thick, and of 

 the middle size, being much better adapted for 

 draught than for riding. The horses of Gas- 

 cony are not unlike those of Spain, but they 

 are not so handsome and active. The best 

 come from Limousin, where they bear a strong 

 resemblance to the Barb, and, like them, are 

 excellent for the chase. They are, however, 

 slow in coming to perfection ; should be care- 

 fully treated while young ; and also should not 

 be backed till they are eight years old. Nor- 

 mandy furnishes the next best, which, though 

 not so good for the chase, are yet better for 

 war. Besides these, there are the horses of 

 Poitou, &c. — all differing from each other in 

 some essential degree ; for France, in its vast 

 extent, has various breeds. Great exertions 

 have been made in that country to cope with 

 England in the production of horses. Napo- 

 leon I. used every means to procure some of 

 our best blood-animals, and he imported largely 

 from Arabia. But all efforts liave hitherto 

 proved unavailing, notwithstanding the French 

 nobility have gone so far as to procure English 

 grooms and jockeys to manage their horses. 

 The beauty, strength, and fleetness of the 

 English horse still bears the bell from all other 

 countries. At Waterloo, the charge of our life- 

 guards proved irresistible ; much of which irre- 

 sistibility must be attributed to the horses they 

 rode, as the French horses are very inferior. 



France is said to contain no fewer than 

 2,500,000 horses ; which, of course, includes 

 every description of the species. Of mares there 

 are about 1,,S00,000, the greater number of 

 which are used for the breeding of mules. Inde- 

 pendent of these, somewhere about 40,000 

 horses are annually imported into this country, 

 either with a view to the improvement of the 

 native breeds, or for the purposes of sale. In 

 reference to the horse employed on the road, 



Mr. Hoiiel, in a work on the varieties of the 

 horse in France, says — " I have not elsewhere 

 seen such horses at the collar, under the dili- 

 gence or the post-carriage, or in the farm-cart. 

 They are enduring and energetic beyond de- 

 scription. At the voice of the brutal driver, 

 or at the dreaded sound of his never-ceaain*' 

 whip, they put forth all their strength, and 

 keep their condition when other horses would 

 die of neglect and hard treatment." 



The editor of The Horse says — " Every coun- 

 try that has occupied itself with the ameliora- 

 tion of its breed of horses, has deemed it neces- 

 sary to have a public register of the names 

 and progeny of those of an acknowledged race. 

 England has had its stud-book nearly halt a 

 century, containing a list of all the horses of 

 pure blood that have existed in the country. 

 France, in the year 1S37, had her first stud- 

 book, in which are inscribed the names of two 

 hundred and fifteen stallions of pure English 

 blood imported into France, or born there ; 

 two hundred and sixty-six Arabs, Barbs, Per- 

 sian, or Turkish horses ; two hundred and 

 seventy-four English mares of true blood, and 

 forty-one Eastern mares. This progeny was 

 also traced so far as it was practicable," A 

 work of this kind must necessarily form an 

 epoch in the equestrian annals of any country 

 where it is kept or produced. 



THE GERMAN HORSE. 

 The German horses were originally from 

 Arabian and Barbary stocks ; nevertheless they 

 appear to be small and ill-shaped ; it is said, 

 also, that they are weak and washy, with 

 tender hoofs. There are, however, some ex- 

 ceptions, as there are so?ne studs, in which 

 particular attention has been paid, as well to 

 their breed as to their management. The Hun- 

 garian horses are excellent for the draught as 

 well as the saddle.' Formerly gipsies were the 

 principal horse-dealers in Hungary; but now 

 there are several noble studs scattered over 

 the country, the trade has, in a great measure, 

 passed out of their hands. The Hussars, who 

 use them in war, usually slit their nostrils; 

 which is done, as it is said, to prevent their 

 neighing; but, perhaps, without any real 

 foundation. The cream-coloured breed ot 

 horses, used for the state-carriages of the 

 court of Englaud, are of Hanoverian breed. 



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