426 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



BRITISH AND IRISH HORSES. 



The Thorough-bred— Half-bred Horses— The Shire Horse- The Sufifolk Horse 

 — The Hackney — The Cleveland Bay — The Yorkshire Coach-horse — The 

 Exmoor Pony — The Dartmoor Pony — The New Forest Pony — Welsh Ponies 

 and Horses — The Clydesdale — The Athole Garron — The Shetland Pony — 

 Hebridean Ponies — The West Highland Pony — Irish Horses and Ponies. 



The Thorough-bred. — The distinguishing quahties of 

 any speciaUzed breed of domesticated animals depend 

 on the particular purpose for which it is bred, as 

 we can see in the case of the thorough-bred, American 

 trotter, Hackney, Shire Horse, greyhound, foxhound, 

 merino sheep, and Berkshire pig, all of which have been 

 submitted to artiticial selection for many generations. 

 On referring to the Racing Calendar of last year (1902), 

 we find that the number of horses of different ages which 

 ran during that season was as follows : 



Total 



3,83° 



The relatively large number of two and three-year-olds 

 which compete on the Turf, is the result of the numerous 

 racing prizes that are respectively reserved for these two 



