HEAVY DRAUGHT HORSES 49 



The Shire horse of fashionable strain is an exceedingly 

 handsome animal, short on the legs and with abundance 

 of feather below the knees, over the pasterns and fetlock 

 joints ; but for work on the land, this is rather detri- 

 mental than otherwise. 



Too much feather or hair about the fetlock causes a 

 lot of mud and wet to adhere to it, finally resulting in 

 cracked and greasy heels, therefore the farmer should 

 bear this in mind when contemplating purchase. Fully 

 75 per cent of the horses working as cart horses and 

 vanners are either half or three-quarter-bred Shires, 

 whilst a great many of the imported Canadian horses 

 have some Percheron blood in them. 



Quite recently we have heard a lot of rubbish talked 

 about the Percheron in relationship to soundness, and 

 the merits of this as compared to the Suffolk. There is 

 plenty of room for both varieties, but when an analysis 

 is made of conformation and soundness, it will be found 

 that the Suffolk is an easy first. 



The writer has examined Percheron and Boulonnaise 

 horses in France for this purpose, with the results as 

 above stated. No lay mind can appreciate these com- 

 parisons in relationship to soundness. The Suffolk is an 

 exceptionally valuable horse for all van work, for light 

 dray work of brewers ; for carting work on the farm — in 

 other words, for draught up to half a ton, either at a fast 

 walk, or slow trot. 



The colour of the Suffolk is either chestnut or sorrel. 

 A half or three-quarter-bred Suffolk is distinctly inferior 

 to the pure-bred animal, hence in purchasing a horse of 

 this breed it is better to get into direct communication 

 with a breeder of repute. This can easily be done by 

 reference to the announcements in some of the Live 

 Stock Journals. 



The best age to buy a cart horse is between 6 and 9 

 years, but if required for work on the land, such as 

 harrowing, etc., 4 or 5 years is a suitable age, so that by 



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