134 THE BEIDLE BITS. 



superiority in other respect?. These horses are so full of 

 life and spirit that they become yicious in their stalls ; 

 no stranger would venture up beside one of them with- 

 out asking the groom, ^^Does this horse kick ? " But 

 this comes from the temper, spirit and high-strung dis- 

 positions and force that such hard and invigorating food 

 creates, and which are necessary for these horses to en- 

 able them to perform such wonderful feats in the course 

 of the severe and peculiar work they have to perform. 



The objection to the Norman and Clydesdale breeds is 

 in their disposition to fatten, and the evil that follows 

 their importation to this country is the ambition of their 

 owners to feed them to excess, as if for beef and not for 

 work was the object in keeping them. If fattening these 

 horses to such a degree strengthened their feet in pro- 

 portion to the extra flesh they carry, there would be 

 some reasonable excuse. But, on the contrary, it weak- 

 ens the feet, and besides wearing them out in advance of 

 the natural wear and tear of the rest of the horse, it is a 

 loss to the owner — for the fat horse, being lazy, is conse- 

 quently slower than the properly well-fed, slim and 

 lively animal, that is ambitious to get over the ground. 

 One load more or less per day makes a difference in the 

 truckman's financial receipts ; but to look well, as he con- 

 siders it, rather than do well is the error and where the 

 leak comes in. 



As regards the appearance of small, short-legged 

 Clydesdales, we admire them as wonderful on account of 

 their extraordinary roundness and weight of flesh, and 

 their apparent unconsciousness that the only difference 

 between one of them and a Berkshire is that one is a 

 horse and the other is a pig. As work horses, the 

 greatest advantage we see in some of them is that they 

 keep on little and live out in a straw yard all winter 

 without suffering. Notwithstanding, we value them as 

 a mere ingredient necessary in crossing to produce a 



