CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 65 



the sign has long been destroyed, and the only portrait of 

 Skyrocket which is in existence is engraved on a glass in the 

 possession of my brother, the said glass being one of half-a- 

 dozen which Mr. Masterman had engraved. The portrait, 

 which can scarcely be expected to be an accurate likeness of 

 the horse, shows him to have been of exceptional quality, in 

 many respects not unlike a thoroughbred horse. He is also 

 represented as short of substance, and it is highly probable 

 that the artist had drawn considerably on his imagination, as 

 is frequently the case with portraits of our older horses. The 

 horse is nicely turned, and has a remarkably fine outline. 



Another gentleman who did much for the breed was the 

 late Mr. John Richardson, of Langbarough Hall, near Great 

 Ayton. Mr. Richardson was an enthusiastic breeder, and 

 spent much time and money in endeavouring to raise the 

 standard of Cleveland Bays. Strange to say, although he 

 bred many stallions, he does not seem to have had any of 

 any great merit with the exception of Drainer, from whom 

 descend many famous horses and mares, amongst the latter 

 Tommy Peart's Darling. But Mr. Richardson's mares 

 achieved a wide celebrity, and perhaps no man did more in 

 his day than he to bring the breed into prominence. 



About the same time Cleveland Bays were taken into both 

 north and south, with a view to the improvement of other 

 breeds, and the results alike in Scotland and the south- 

 western counties were highly satisfactory. Indeed the breed 

 was recognised and valued all over the country, and those 

 practical farmers in the north, of whom the Farmers 1 Magazine 

 spoke, were amply rewarded for their enterprise and energy. 



From the time of which I have been speaking, up to the year 

 1867, Cleveland Bays flourished exceedingly, and there seemed 

 to be no likelihood of the breed again falling into desuetude or 

 decay. Mr. Hansill, Mr. Thomas Peart, Mr. York, of Worsall, 

 Mr. John Smith, of Long Newton, the late Mr. Robinson 

 Watson, Mr. John Robinson, of Hutton Rudby, and others, 

 bred largely, and were the owners of valuable animals. But 

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