HORSE. 



to himself or injury to his horses. The slow- 

 going, no-giving sort of style in which horses 

 are jogged along at a snail's pace all day under 

 a hot sun, knocks them up in a short time; 

 they would neither tire nor lose flesh in double 

 the time, if driven sharply a few hours in the 

 morning and evening, allowing them to rest in 

 the middle of the day. It is the all-day work 

 that knocks up horses, not the pace. 



Our friends of the Cultivator may not be 

 aware of the vast amount invested in thorough- 

 bred horses at this moment in the United States, 

 or of the prices some of fashionable blood com- 

 mand. We can point them to two 5 year old 

 horses for which $20,000 each has been refused ; 

 to brood mares that will command $5000 each 

 at auction ; to a colt six months old, for which 

 $4000 has been refused. Among the popular 

 stallions we have advertised this season, three 

 stand at $150 each, fourteen at $100, twelve at 

 $75, eleven at $60, and twenty-three at $50. 

 Probably not less than 6000 thorough-bred mares, 

 and as many more that are full or three-quar- 

 ters bred, will be stinted this season to horses 

 that are standing at from $35 to $150. As not 

 above 2000 out of the whole number foaled 

 next season, will probably come upon the turf, 

 it is clearly to be seen that a vast number of 

 terribly high bred cattle must be used for ordi- 

 nary purposes. Of these, the colts of good 

 form, that have plenty of bone and substance, 

 will of course oust the common tackies and 

 cider-suckers that infest country taverns, whilst 

 the others will be used for the saddle and the 

 road. The result will be, that in a few years, 

 the stock now in use will be supplanted by 

 horses of superior action, wind, and courage, 

 whose greater beauty will not be more appa- 

 rent than their better style of going, and their 

 unequalled powers of endurance. (New York 

 Spirit of the Times.) 



In the observations which follow these re- 

 marks, the editor of the Cultivator states that 

 he hails with pleasure any improvement which 

 promises a better race of horses than those 

 which, too generally in our country, are a mere 

 caricature of the noble beast. Our duty and 

 our inclination, however, prompt us to pay 

 more attention to those breeds and varieties 

 adapted to agriculture and the road, than to 

 those calculated for the turf alone. That for 

 both these purposes horses of a better kind 

 may be introduced by crosses of the fine-limbed, 

 hardy-constitutioned, and beautiful thorough- 

 bred, with those possessing the bone and sub- 

 stance necessary to give the weight and firmness 

 required in the draught horse, whether the la- 

 bour is to be performed on the road or the farm, 

 we do not doubt. For the farm, the thorough- 

 bred horse would be comparatively worthless ; 

 he lacks weight and substance to give value 

 and power for draft ; for road work, the same 

 objections will apply, though not perhaps to the 

 same extent. The best English road horse is 

 a cross of the thorough-bred and the Cleveland, 

 and a cross of the same horse with the thick, 

 heavy Suffolk, has given a most valuable farm 

 horse. It is not to be expected that the proper 

 degrees of blood, activity, power of endurance, 

 weight and docility, so essential to the horse 

 of the farmer, or for the road, can be obtained 

 642 



HORSE. 



at once : but from what we almost daily witness, 

 of the good effects that have resulted already 

 from the comparatively little attention the im- 

 provement of horses for labour has received, 

 we can have no doubt that a field is here open 

 for effectually benefiting the community at large 

 more extensive than can be found almost any- 

 where else. (Cultivator, for Aug. 1840, Vol. 7.) 



A public benefit has been conferred upon 

 the country by Mr. Edward Harris, of Moores- 

 town, New Jersey, in the importation of a fine 

 pair of Norman horses, male and female. The 

 following particulars relative to the stud were 

 communicated by Mr. Harris to the Farmer's 

 Cabinet for April, 1842, and furnish much in- 

 formation that must be esteemed valuable : 



"Diligence is of a handsome dapple-gray 

 colour, measures 15 hands, and is one of the 

 most perfect animals of the distinguished breed 

 of Normandy horses called Percheron. He was 

 chosen as a full-sized specimen of the breed, 

 possessing all the quick action of the smaller 

 horses, in order that his immediate progeny 

 from our light mares might approach nearer 

 the true type of the race. It must be observed, 

 however, that it is more in breadth and size of 

 bone and muscle that he exceeds the standard, 

 than in his height, which is very little above 

 the average. An inspection of the horse will 

 convince any one that this race is the origin 

 of the Canadian pony, about whose valuable 

 properties little need be said, as they are well 

 known and highly prized in this section of the 

 country, and still more to the North, where 

 they have, undoubtedly, given that stamina 

 and character to the horses of Vermont, New 

 Hampshire, and the northern section of New 

 York, which makes them so highly valued all 

 over the Union as road horses ; while it is a 

 remarkable fact, that in those states where the 

 attention of breeders has been exclusively de- 

 voted to the English race-horse, the carriage 

 and the stage-horse is almost universally sup- 

 plied from the North. It remains, therefore, 

 for breeders to determine whether it is not bet- 

 ter to resort to the full-sized Percheron to cross 

 upon our light and already too highly-bred 

 mares, than to use the degenerated Canadian 

 (degenerate in size only, through the rigour of 

 the climate, for it must be admitted that the 

 little animal retains all the spirit and nerve of 

 his ancestors, and lacks strength only in pro- 

 portion to his size). My own opinion is, that 

 a due portion of the French blood mixed with 

 the English will produce a stock of horses in- 

 valuable, as combining all the properties that 

 are required for quick draught on the road or 1 

 the farm. I need not assure you, who are ac- 

 quainted with the success of Diligence as a 

 stud-horse in this place, that such too is the 

 opinion of the farmers of New Jersey. 



"I have frequently been questioned as to my 

 reasons for selecting this horse for farmers' 

 use in preference to the English draught-horse. 

 My reply has always been, that the draught- 

 horse of England, whenever brought to this 

 country, must prove a failure; he wants the 

 go-ahead principle ; he cannot move out of a 

 walk, which is saying quite enough for him, 

 without dwelling upon his defects of form, 

 which can only be concealed by loads of fat, 



