528 



The Book of the Horse. 



more economical to put them to livery, taking care to reward the foreman of the yard 

 whenever, by late hours or otherwise, you give extra trouble. This arrangement is made 

 more perfect by employing a house-servant to drive, in addition to his other duties. Where 

 that can be managed, the combined coachman and footman has only to change his coat, is 

 always neat, is always at hand, and does not smell of tlie stable. 



I am quite aware that there are weak persons who pretend to despise all small econo- 

 mies in horseflesh, and weaker authors who write as if no stable were worth consideration when 

 not attached to an establishment of many thousands a year. Such is the tone of the toadies 

 to be found round the table of a sporting Dives, ready to sponge on any one who endures 

 their flattery, or to borrow from any one who cares for their spoken or written admiration. 



SOCIABLE LANDAU. 



THE LANDAU. 



The modern sociable landau is one example of the many improvements in wheeled carriages, 

 in the direction of lightness, cheapness, and general utility, which have been achieved since 1S51 

 for the benefit of the middle, and freely accepted by the wealthiest classes. 



"Since 1851 horses of a smaller breed have been used,* and a demand has arisen for 

 smaller and lighter carriages. It is probable that the carriages exhibited in the British depart- 

 ment in 1862 are one-fourth lighter than in 1851." 



The ponderous coach, still maintained as an object of hereditary state in a few noble 

 families, is built much on the same lines, although not of the same weight, as in the days of 

 "Good Queen Anne," when a team of "long-tailed Flanders mares" were required to make 

 the equipage complete. The Flanders mares were succeeded by the Yorkshire or Cleveland 

 bay coach-horse. When roads improved and carriages became less ponderous, by repeated 



* Report of Messrs. Holland, Hooper, and Peters, of London, Mr. Holmes, of Derby, on Carriage Department of Inter- 

 national Exhibition, 1862. 



