BEIEF HISTOEY OF THE HORSE. . 17 



Sucji ever has been, and such ever will be, the history of 

 the domesticated horse. 'New races are produced by breed- 

 ing and mixing the different races, yet not more than one 

 out of %e will be an improvement of a medium of the two, 

 and the others will fall far below it, and, in combination of 

 bloods, the days will be shortened and the infirmities in- 

 creased. 



In our own country the same law governs, and may be 

 seen to a large extent. But his treatment is so much better, 

 and on our farms he is so much nearer his natural condition, 

 that the same evil results are not seen. Yet the horse of the* 

 present will not compare with those of the days of the Revo- 

 lution. The history of the late terrible war proves this but 

 too plainly. The qualities of the cavalry horse of the present, 

 and his powers of endurance, in comparison with those of 

 McDonald and Marion, are largely in favor of the revolu- 

 tionary times. We have many fine horses in our country, 

 and many of these are among the farmers, but is the general 

 character of the horse what it was in former times? It cer- 

 tainly is not. Many of the horses are larger now, but they 

 are generally coarser, more flabby and loosely made, and do 

 not possess the compactness of form or the powers of endur- 

 ance of the horse of the last century, and, from some 

 source, a fountain of disease has sprung that is deluging our 

 land with its dreadful virus, and disease and degeneracy are 

 terribly on the increase. From whence does this all come, 

 and what has caused it? are questions that interest the his- 

 torian of the horse, and should be made a part of his record, 

 as it properly belongs" to his department. 



We introduce a short account of a very remarkable race 

 of horses, as given by Mr. J. S. Skinner, formerly Assistant 

 Postmaster at Washington City. They are "very small, 

 compact, hardy horses, called beach horses, on the islands 

 along the seaboard of Maryland and Virginia. They run 

 wild throughout the year, and are never fed. When the 

 ' snow sometimes covers the ground for a few days in winter, 

 they dig through it in search of food. They are very dimin- 

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