CANADIAN HOKSE.] MODERN VETEEINAEY PEACTICE. [Canadian hoese. 



two animals suited each other. The tail is 

 a very useful appendnge. I have passed 

 a river in a boat, with four people in it, 

 which was ferried across in the same way as 

 the Gaucho. If a man and horse have to 

 cross a broad river, the best plan is for the 

 man to catch hold of the pommel or mane, and 

 help himself with the other arm." 



In Pennsylvania, a horse called the Cones- 

 toga, long in the legs, and light in the carcass, 

 is found. Its height is about seventeen hands, 

 and it is used principally as a carriage-horse. 

 This animal is pretty general in the middle 

 states. In Kentucky and Yirginia, the Eng- 

 lish horse, with a fair quantity of blood, is 

 found. Also in the Southern states, where 

 purity has had greater attention. Shark, the 

 best English horse of his day, was the sire of 

 the best stock in Virginia; and Tally-ho gave 

 his offspring to the Jerseys. 



THE CANADIAN HORSE. 



Winter travelling in Canada is sometimes 

 very expeditious ; and it is surprising with 

 what speed a good Canadian horse will go, 

 when drawing a cabriolet over the ice. In- 

 stances have occurred of their travelling ninety 

 miles, in one of these vehicles, in twelve 

 hours ; but, when this happens, the roads must 

 be very smooth and hard. 



The Canadian horse is a remarkably hardy 

 animal ; his best pace is a trot ; and although 

 he is accustomed to much bad usage and hard 

 work, he is the most willing creature in the 

 world — as the jockeys term it — for he never 

 refuses the draught. In the coldest weather 

 horses come into Quebec from the country, 

 and are left standing in the open air, without 

 any covering, for hours together, while their 

 owners are transacting their business, or 

 drinking; yet they seem not to be any the 

 worse for it. In the winter, like all other 

 quadrupeds of that country, they acquire an 

 increased quantity of fur to protect them from 

 the cold ; and the curry-comb is never used. 

 When they have been heated by fast driving 

 on a cold day, they appear to have a sort of 

 icicle at every hair ; and icicles, two or three 

 inches in length, often hang at their noses. 



In the winter season, travelling on the ice 

 is at all times dangerous ; and it is very 

 common for sleigh, horses, and men, to fall 



H 



through the ice where the water is some 

 hundred feet deep : luckily, however, the weak 

 places are of no great extent, and the traveller 

 extricates hiiiuselt' from the sleigh as quickly 

 as possible, wlien ho lays hold of the ice, 

 which is generally strong enough to support 

 him, thougli it will not bear the weight of the 

 horses. The pulling of tlieae out is done in a 

 manner perfectly unique, the horses being often 

 nearly strangled to save them from suffocation. 



When the horses fall through — for there are 

 generally two in these sleighs — their struggles 

 only tend to injure and sink each other ; but as- 

 they have always round their necks a rope with. 

 a running noase, the moment the ice breaks,, 

 the driver and passengers jump out, and 

 catching hold of the rope, pull it with all 

 their force. This, in a very few minutes,, 

 stops the breath of the horses ; and no sooner 

 does this happen, than they rise in the water, 

 float on one side, and are drawn out on strong 

 ice, when the noose of the rope being loosened, 

 respiration returns. In a short time, the 

 horses are on their feet, and as much alive 

 as ever. This operation has been known to be 

 performed two or three times a-day on the same 

 horses. The Canadians state, that horses which 

 are often on the lakes, become so accustomed 

 to being hanged, that they think nothing at all of 

 it. But, though the case is very common, the 

 attempt does not always succeed ; for it some- 

 times happens that both sleigh and horses go. 

 to the bottom, if not extricated in time. 



Another remarkable fact respecting tho 

 Canadian horses, is said to be a great fondness- 

 for fish. To what extent they carry this- 

 singular appetite we have never heard de- 

 scribed. The kind of fish is said to be a species 

 of cod ; and the manner of catching them is by 

 cutting holes in the ice, and putting down either 

 nets or lines. Over this hole a temporary house 

 is built, large enough to contain half-a-dozen 

 fishermen, and a stove to keep them warm. 

 Such as cannot afford deals to build a house, 

 substitute large pieces of ice, with which they 

 form a kind of defence against the weather, 

 and literally pursue their piscatory sport in an 

 ice-house. 



A correspondent of the Fenny Magazine, 

 sent to that periodical the following instance 

 of sagacity in the North American horse:— 

 "A short distance below Port Erie, and about 



49 



