CHAPTER III 



HEAVY DRAUGHT HORSES 



Under the heading of this chapter the author has con- 

 sidered it advisable to place those horses which are 

 capable of performing the heaviest class of haulage, and 

 which constitute horses derived from not only the 

 British Isles, but from the United Sates, Canada, and 

 from the Continent. During the last few years huge 

 quantities of horses have been brought into Great Britain 

 from Canada and the States, many of which animals are 

 of a very useful type, but certainly very few indeed are 

 equal to the class of heavy draught horses bred in Great 

 Britain. The writer has examined thousands of these 

 horses, and it is surprising the small percentage that can 

 be classified as being of real good conformation, to say 

 nothing of their slovenly action and bad manners. 



Horses which have played a significant part in making 

 the breeds of heavy draught horses, both in the United 

 States and in Canada, are the Shire and the Clydesdale, 

 the Percheron and the Suffolk, all of which are directly 

 or indirectly responsible for the heavy draught horses 

 im.ported into the British Isles from the United States 

 and Canada. A great many of the best sires have been 

 exported by enthusiastic breeders, but the indiscriminate 

 mating of animals is largely responsible for the production 

 of the indifferent specimens which have been brought into 

 Great Britain from overseas. 



The Shire 

 This is the heaviest type of cart horse, and one that is 

 largely employed for the heaviest class of haulage. It is 



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