HORSES 



195 



and between this date and 1865 it would appear to be a popular breed 

 for several were introduced into the county during that period. About 

 this time the northern part of the county took a decided preference 

 for heavy horses of the Scotch type, Clydesdales, a preference which 

 has become more pronounced ever since, till at the present time it 

 is the prevailing type of heavy horse, while Shires have come to the 

 front in the southern part of the county. In 18S9 of eight heavy 

 horses shown at Kendal, 6 were Shires ; at Penrith in the same year 

 the heavy horses, 8 in number, were all Clydesdales. 



For many years, about 1880, Robt. Reich, of Lords Plain, was 

 practically the only pure Clydesdale breeder in the southern part 

 of the county, and it might be noted here that he was using a team of 

 bullocks for ploughing about the same time. 



C. W. Wilson, of Oxenholme, now of Rigmaden, has done more 

 than any other single individual to develop horse-breeding in the 

 county, starting, as he did, in the early seventies. At his sale in September, 

 1880, he had catalogued 11 Clydesdale mares and stallions, 53 Hackneys, 

 2 Coach stallions, and 7 Roadster stallions, including " Lord Derby " 

 and " Star of the Garter " ; he was placed first with the former at the 

 Paris Exhibition in 1878, and in the following year, when the Royal 

 was at Kilburn, was placed first for his Cleveland stallion " Penzance " 

 for getting coach horses, and also took the principal prizes both for 

 mares and stallions in the pony classes ; indeed, for some years he 

 dominated at all the shows in these classes, and his famous sire, " Sir 

 George," will never be forgotten. To establish his breed, Wilson 

 selected the best Fell ponies (mares) of the hill districts and crossed 

 them with Sir George, and turned the produce out on the fells and 

 moors round Rigmaden to fend for themselves ; his ponies became 

 eligible for the Hackney Stud Book. 



The Hackney Stud Book was first published in 1884, according 

 to which " Wroots Pretender" was the first Hackney in the county coming 

 to Kirkby Stephen from Long Sutton in Lincolnshire, being brought 

 by a break-neck-dealer from Yorkshire. Although there was a class 

 for Hackneys at the Kendal Show in 1868, it was not till 18S0 that 

 the Society included them in their Spring Stallion Show as " Horses 

 for getting Hackneys," but there were still only two classes in 1885 

 at their annual show — Thoroughbreds and Cart stallions. In the 



