Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 425 



Turk, Barb, and Spanish horses.— The Turk, or Turkish horse, 

 found in portions of European Turkey, but principally in Asia Minor, 

 was of considerable importance in the seventeenth century, but it has 

 deteriorated very much since then. The Barb is a native of the 

 Barbary States, whence its name. It was found in its greatest perfec- 

 tion among the Moors, who introduced the Barb blood into Spain 

 during their rule in that country, and so improved the Spanish horse 

 that for several centuries it occupied the first place throughout Europe. 

 Spanish horses of this stock brought to America by the Spaniards were 

 progenitors of the wild horses once common to Mexico and California. 



Origin of the running horse. — One of the first types of horses de- 

 veloped in England was the running horse, the sport of racing having 

 been fostered there from an early date. Long before an Arabian, 

 Barb, or Turk stallion set foot on English soil, a strain of running 

 horses of considerable excellence had been developed, hence the Oriental 

 stallions which were later imported cannot be given more than half 

 the credit for founding the running horse or Thoroughbred. The 

 Thoroughbred owes his origin jointly to the native running mares of 

 England and to the Arabian, Barb, and Turk stallions imported at the 

 close of the seventeenth century. 



The Great Horse or War Horse. — The first tj^De of English horse 

 was the "Great Horse" or "War Horse" used during the Crusades and 

 up to about the year 1600 to carry the warriors clad in their suits of 

 heavy armor. A knight in heavy armor, together with the armor for 

 his horse, weighed about 400 pounds, hence the necessity for a big, 

 strong horse. The native English horse was small, and in order to 

 increase the size and strength, Flemish stallions were imported from 

 Normandy, and for nearly 500 years English breeders centered their 

 attention on the matter of size. With the appearance of gunpowder 

 and firearms in warfare, armor was made useless and the heavy war 

 horse gave way to much lighter animals with more speed. 



Origin of draft type. — When displaced in warfare, the ponderous 

 war horse did not become extinct, but was put to work at tilling the 

 soil. Prior to this, field labor had been performed solely by oxen, and 

 the ox continued in use as a draft animal even after horses were in- 

 troduced for farm work. The war horse thus became an agricultural 

 horse and in time was utilized as the foundation of the British draft 

 breeds — the Shire and Clydesdale. The Percheron breed was built up 

 from the heavy diligence (stage-coach) horses used in France in the 

 early days when roads were deep in mud. The railroad later displaced 

 the diligence horse and he found a place on the farm. When a demand 

 arose from cities for a horse suited to moving heavy freight through 

 the streets, these agricultural horses in England, Scotland, France, and 



