CHAPTER IV 



HEAVY DRAUGHT HORSES — AGE, SEX, COLOUR, SELECTION 

 SOUNDNESS, ETC. 



According to the classification as adopted by the 

 British Army the heavier type of horses are divisable 

 into heavy draught and hght draught in accordance 

 with the duties assigned to these animals. 



For the heaviest class of haulage, horses of the Clydes- 

 dale, Shire, or a cross derived from these, are those 

 which are usually selected, whilst for artillery work with 

 the lighter guns, stocky horses of the light draught or 

 Suffolk type are required. 



Both the Percheron and the Boulonnaise make excel- 

 lent gunners. 



The hght draught horse is merely the ordinary type of 

 vanner, as used by Carter Paterson, Pickford, etc. 

 When a large number of horses are collected together, as 

 in the various Remount Depots, and immediately re- 

 quired for service, it follows that a certain amount of 

 discrimination is required in selecting horses according 

 to the classification allocated; hence one often finds 

 some departure from the strictly recognised type of 

 animal required for the purpose. The indiscriminate 

 mating of stallions and mares has always been, and still 

 is to a great extent, one of the most baneful influences in 

 horse breeding. 



It is astonishing to note how very few people, profess- 

 ing to know, and with a large amount of experience in 

 addition, really understand " Horse Conformation " 

 either at rest, or in action, and the relationship the 



47 



