58 LIGHT HORSES '. BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



this point Darwin is very clear. " It is probable that seme 

 breeds," he states, " and some peculiarities, such as being 

 hornless, &c., have appeared suddenly owing to what we 

 may call in our ignorance spontaneous variation," and that 

 through selection in breeding, these spontaneous variations 

 have come to possess a powerful hereditary tendency. " It 

 is admitted by all authorities," say the authors of an 

 invaluable work on Polled Cattle, " that while deviations 

 from the original or typical form or race of animals may 

 arise spontaneously, some sort o: artificial method or selec- 

 tion in breeding is necessary to impart to those spontaneous 

 and isolated deviations such fixity of character, or strong 

 hereditary power, as would insure their perpetuation." 



It seems only reasonable to suppose that the Cleveland 

 Bay may have had its ori b !n in a similar natural selection 

 as that which has developed the Galloway and the Aberdeen- 

 Angus cattle. Such an origin would be far more consonant 

 with the principles of physiology than any elaborate system 

 of crossing, and the prepotency of the Cleveland Bay seems 

 to confirm the fact that the breed has been produced in some 

 such manner as I have suggested. There are writers who, 

 anxious to account for every characteristic and good quality 

 which the breed possesses by deriving it from some other 

 source, maintain that the hardihood of constitution, the 

 courage, and the activity of the Cleveland Bay could only 

 spring from a strong infusion of Eastern or thoroughbred 

 blood. But the native breed of horses was undoubtedly 

 hardy in constitution, very active, and possessed of com- 

 paratively a fair turn of speed. It was especially valued by 

 patriotic Englishmen, and so late as 1739 the introduction of 

 Eastern horses into England was bitterly deplored in a 

 curious article to be found in the Gentleman's Magazine. The 

 writer, speaking of horse-racing, says: "The original de- 

 sign of this entertainment was not only for sport but to 

 encourage a good breed of horses for real use, and the Royal 

 Plates are supposed to be given for that purpose, the horses 



