CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 6l 



district. Horses of which he was the sire, and of whom no 

 record remains, may have been kept as stallions and trans- 

 mitted his stoutness and quality to another generation ; mares 

 by him may have, and probably they did become, famous as 

 brood mares, and their stock would probably show more than 



k ordinary elegance and style. 

 It is interesting to pause for a moment and recall this 

 famous old horse. He was bred in 1735 by Mr. Osbaldeston 

 the grandfather of the well known " squire," who was after- 

 wards to make such a name in the world of sport and was a 

 bay colt by Partner, dam by Almanzor. Out of the six races 

 in which he took part, and of which a record exists, he won 

 four, and was disqualified for another on account of a cross, 

 and it certainly seems curious that after so successful a 

 career on the Turf he should come to be travelling in a 

 country district at a very nominal fee. Fortunately some 

 of his half-bred stock showed promise, the Duke of Cleveland 



fand Mr. Shafto sent some good mares to him, and he became 

 the sire of Dainty Davy, Squirrel, Lass of the Mill, and other 

 good race horses. 



In the middle of the eighteenth century horses of the highest 

 character stood at remarkably low fees ; indeed, well into the 

 middle of the present century, classic horses were occasionally 

 to be found whose fees for half-bred mares did not exceed two 

 guineas and a half. It is therefore not unlikely, nay, it is 

 very likely, that occasionally a man might cross some highly 

 prized mare with one of these horses. But it is remarkable that 

 in few of the old pedigrees that I have examined have I ever 

 seen the acknowledgment of a foreign strain of blood. It 

 seems to have been looked upon with a certain degree of sus- 

 picion even in those days, and though it may have been of 

 occasional, it was by no means of frequent, occurrence. The 

 traditions of the old breeders who boasted of their long line 

 of horses in whose veins was neither "blood nor black " were 

 in the main respected, and though there might be an occa- 

 sional use of the thoroughbred, I am inclined to think that 



