1 62 The Book of the Horse. 



sidering always that most his business is all to be done at a walk ; in towns at the present day 

 a good deal of the work of cart-horses has to be done at a trot. " With double-furrow ploughs 

 fast coming into use, horse-engines requiring speed, good size — not at the expense of activity and 

 compactness — is essential." 



The famous black horse no longer exists with sufficient distinctness to claim a class, like the 

 Suffolks, but crops up from time to time in his native county, Lincolnshire. And colour is never 

 an objection in any cart-horse otherwise well shaped, not being a Suffolk. Many breeders 

 of Shire horses are steadily selecting browns or bays. 



Mr. James Howard, of Clapham Park, Bedford, who, as a plough manufacturer (James and 

 Frederick Howard), had so often, before steam cultivation was established, to compete in 

 ploughing-matches with such famous horse-masters and plough-makers as Messrs. Ransome of 

 Ipswich, and Hornsby of Grantham, gives the following idea of a very perfect 



AGRICULTURAL CART-HORSE. 



" Captain was one of a pair of cart-horses with which I took the first prize and gold medal 

 at the Grand International Exhibition in Paris in 1867. He was a dark bay with black points 

 (no white), as clean in the legs as a thoroughbred, height 16 hands and \ in., weight, in good 

 working (not show) condition, 14 cwt. He girthed 7 ft. 2 in., the circumference of his thighs 

 was 2\\ in., and that of his fore-arms 24^ in. The length of his fore-legs 31 in. The other 

 horse was an excellent match. The pair showed immense power, accompanied with great 

 elasticity and quickness of movement, always an indication of pluck. 



" I prefer a cart-horse under than over i6i hands. The three cardinal points are quality, 

 symmetry, substance, and action — that is, a firm, quick, not too long and striding action. Some 

 breeders say a draught-horse cannot well be too short on the legs. I differ from this opinion ; 

 if very short their pace is sure to be slow. Captain was not too short, for he could walk pretty 

 well as fast as a man. 



" The legs should be outside the animal, so that each bears its fair share of the weight of 

 the carcase. You cannot well have too much bone ; the thighs and fore-arms in particular 

 should be large and muscular ; the hocks big, clean, and well defined ; the knees should be 

 broad and large. I do not like much hair about the heels, although some breeders say it is 

 a sign of constitution. Some of the strongest and best constitutioned horses I have had have 

 been as clean as a blood horse. 



"The body of a cart-horse should be cylindrical, or well arched in shape, broad across the 

 loins, and deep in the girth. The back ribs should also be deep ; a shallow-back-ribbed horse, 

 in nine cases out of ten, has not endurance, and is seldom or never of a robust constitution. 

 I never buy a narrow horse — breadth of frame is essential, and a horse split up far behind 

 should be avoided ; a good posterior is a very important consideration. 



"The head should not be small or nag-like, but of fair size without coarseness; a long, fine 

 ear, full eye, and intelligent expression. The neck if too short is a great hindrance to the 

 animal grazing. I don't like shoulders made as a hunter's ought to be, but more upright, so 

 as to take the collar at the proper angle ; sloping shoulders are not good for moving much 

 weight, neither are long joints. The foot of a horse is a very important point. A broad, flat 

 foot is objectionable ; such feet cannot stand the road, and on the land it is difficult to keep 

 the shoes on. 



" As to quality, it is a thing that is to be understood rather than expressed — it cannot b« 

 put upon paper. 



