954 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



fore-end low, back long sometimes, but always very straight, sides flat, shoulders too far forward, hind- 



825 



quarters middling, but rather high about the hips, 

 legs round and short in tlie pasterns, deep-bellied, 

 and full in the flank. Here, perhaps, lies much of 

 the merit of these horses ; for we know, from ob- 

 servation and experience, that all deep-bellied 

 horses carry their food long, and consequently are 

 enabled to stand longer and harder days' works. 

 However, certain it is, that these horses do perform 

 surprising days' works. It is well known, that the 

 Suffolk and Norfolk farmers plough more land in a 

 day than any other people in the island ; and these 

 are the kind of horses every where used in those 

 districts." {Culley on Live Stock, p. 27.) Since 

 CuUey's time much pains have been taken to im- 

 prove this useful breed, and to render them, by cul- 

 tivation, fitted not only for heavy but for light work. 

 It is no uncommon thing for a Suffolk stallion to 

 fetch from 200/. to 300/. The best show of these 

 stallions in England is at Woodbridge Lady-day fair, 

 where Suffolk cart mares have brought from 100/. to 

 150^., and one mare and her offspring a few years 

 ago at this fair brought 1000/. The figure (825.) 

 hardly does justice to the animal. (M.) 

 The Clydesdale horse (fig. 826.) has been long in high repute in Scotland and the north of England ; 

 and, for the purposes of the farmer, is probably equal to any 

 826 y<r^^^^^^v other breed in Britain. Of the origin of this race, various 



accounts have been given, but none of them so clear, or so 

 well authenticated, as to merit any notice. They have got 

 this name, not because they are bred only in Clydesdale or 

 Lanarkshire, for the same description of horses are reared 

 in the other western counties of Scotland, and over all that 

 tract which lies between the Clyde and the Forth, but be- 

 cause the principal markets at which they are sold, Lanark, 

 Carnwath, Rutherglen, and Glasgow, are situated in that 

 district, where they are also preserved in a state of greater 

 purity than in most other parts. They are rather larger than 

 the Suffolk punches, and the neck is somewhat longer ; their 

 colour is black, brown, or grey, and a wiiite spot on the face 

 is esteemed a mark of beauty. The breast is broad ; the 

 shoulder thick, with the reaching cartilaginous portion of 

 the blade-bone nearly as high as the withers, and not so 

 much thrown backwards as in road horses ; the hoof round, 

 and usually black, with wide heels: the back straight and broad, but not too long; the bucks visible, 

 but not prominent, and the space between them and the ribs short ; the tail heavy, and well haired ; 

 the thighs meeting each other so near as to leave only a small groove for the tail to rest on. One most 

 valuable property of this breed is, that they are remarkably true pullers, a restive horse being rarely found 

 among them. 

 6244. The Welsh hoise {Jig, 827. a) bears a near resemblance, in point of size and hardiness, to the best of 



the native breed of the highlands of Scotland, and other hilly countries in the north of Europe. It is too 

 small for the present two-horse ploughs; but few horses are equal to them for enduring fatigue on 

 the road. " 1 well remember," says Culley, " one that I rode for many years, which, to the last, 

 would have gone upon a pavement by choice, in preference to a softer road." {Observations on Live 

 Stock, p. 35.) 



6245. The galloway {b), properly so called as being found chiefly in that province of Scotland, has now 

 become very rare, the breed having been neglected from its unfitness for agricultural purposes. Galloway 

 is, however, used as a term for any horse between the pony size and the hack ; and in this point of view 

 is suificiently numerous, and very commonly bred by small farmers on commons and wastes. The true 

 galloway is somewhat larger than the Welsh horse, and is said to resemble the Spanish horses ; there is 

 alsoa tradition, that some of the latter, that had escaped from one of the vessels of the Armada, wrecked 

 on the coast of Galloway, were allowed to intermix with the native race. Such of this breed as have been 

 preserved in any degree of purity are of a light bay or brown colour, with black legs, and are easily dis- 

 tinguished by the smallness of their head and neck, and the cleanness of their bone. 



6246. The still smaller horses qf the Highlands and isles of Scotland, (c) are distinguished from larger 

 breeds by the several appellations of ponies, shelties, and in Gaelic of garrons or gearrons. They are 

 reared in great numbers in the Hebrides, or western isles, where they are found in the greatest 

 purity. Different varieties of the same race are spread over all the Highland districts, and the northern 

 isles. This ancient breed is supposed to have been introduced into Scotland from Scandinavia, when the 

 Norwegians and Danes first obtained a footing in these parts. ' It is precisely the same breed that 

 subsists at present in Norway, the Feroe Isles, and Iceland, and is totally distinct from every thing of 

 horse kind on the continent of Europe, south of the Baltic. In confirmation of this, there is one peculiar 

 variety of the horse in the Highlands, that deserves to be noticed : it is there called the eel-backed 

 horse. He is of different colours, light bay, dun, and sometimes cream-coloured; but has always 

 a blackish list that runs along the ridge of the back, from the shoulder to the rump, which has a 



