46 HOW TO BREED A HORSE. 



teristic fault of whicli is, to be somewhat flatsided, and not 

 •unfrcquentlj too long; excellent loins; a round, fleshy 

 croup; muscular thighs; and, above all, the soundest, 

 most undeniable, flat-boned legs that are to be found in 

 any race of horses not thorough-bred, and the toughest, 

 hardest and most iron-like feet that are to be found in any 

 race whatsoever. In fact, immunity from disease of the 

 legs and feet, under the most unfavorable circumstances, — 

 when ill-groomed, ill-shod, and subject to every trial and 

 hardship, — appeals to be the distinguishing mark of the 

 French Canadian horse. There is no horse, probablj^, in 

 the known world, to which all ordinary diseases of the 

 foot, and especially that which is knowu as foot-founders, 

 are so nearly unknown ; and it has been well stated by 

 an intelligent writer, well versed in the peculiarities of 

 this particular race, that " tliere are numbers of horses in 

 Canada that, under a mass of shaggy hair, never trimmed, 

 and rarely cleaned or dried, possess dry, sinewy legs, on 

 which the severest service never raises a wind-gall." 



In addition to these characteristics, the Canadians arc 

 generally distinguishable by their colors, of which the pre- 

 vailing one is black ; and, probably the second, rich dark 

 brown, often dappled with lighter brown on the shoulders 

 and quarters. After these colors come chestnuts of differ- 

 ent shades, but generally running to the sorrels and duns, 

 with manes, tails and legs of lighter color than the bod}^ ; 

 and lastly, dark iron-greys with black legs. The last, how- 

 ever, which in Normandy is at the present day, with the 

 single exception of black, the commonest color, is, in Cana- 

 da and the United States, the least common. The true 

 Canadians are remarkable for the great volumes of their 

 manes and tails, which are also distinguished by the pecu- 

 liar wavy and almost curly texture of the hairs composing 

 them, and for the shaggy coating of their back sinews 



