56 LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



the late Mr. Lumley Hodgson than whom no one was better 

 able to form an opinion, and who was perhaps possessed of 

 as much horse lore as any man of his time -say that when in 

 the early years of the century he went buying young horses 

 in the East Moor Dales, old men used to tell him of the 

 bright bays, " clear of blood and black," that were recognised 

 as a pure breed by their forefathers before the days of the 

 Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Barb. The following 

 passage from Tuke's "General View of the Agriculture of the 

 North Riding" is of interest as bearing on this part of the 

 subject : " Yorkshire has long been famed for its breed of 

 horses," says he, " and particularly this riding, in almost 

 every part of which numbers are still bred, the prevailing 

 species of which are those adapted for the coach or the 

 saddle. In the northern part of the vale of York the breed 

 has got too light in bone for the use of farmers, by the intro- 

 duction of too much racing blood ; but the most valuable 

 horses for the saddle, and some coach horses, are there bred. 

 In Cleveland the horses are fuller of boije than those last 

 described; they are clean, well made, very strong and active, 

 and are extremely well adapted to the coach and the plough." 

 Tuke goes on to say that in the southern part of the vale 

 of York, the Howardian Hills, Ryedale, and the Marishes, 

 a greater admixture of " black," i.e., carting blood, prevails, 

 but that the district still produces a considerable number 

 of coach horses; whilst the East Moorlands, he assures us, 

 though possessing a hardy and active breed of horses, did 

 not produce many that were big enough to horse a coach. 

 One more quotation from Tuke may prove of interest : " The 

 horses which are sold for the London market, if for the 

 carriage, are chiefly bay geldings, with but little white on 

 their legs and faces; those which have much white, with 

 chestnut, roan, and other unusually coloured horses and 

 mares, generally do not bear an equal price in the London 

 market, but, w r ith other slight and undersized horses, are 

 more sought after by foreigners, and eagerly purchased by 

 them for exportation." 



