Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 427 



demand for such a horse did not arise until city streets were improved 

 and carriages made elegant and comfortable, so that driving became 

 a pleasure rather than a painful necessity. From what was called the 

 Norfolk Trotter, which was a fast-trotting, plain, serviceable, moder- 

 ate-sized horse formerly used by English farmers as a road horse (and 

 used by them under saddle), there was developed in England the 

 Hackney, which is today the foremost breed of carriage horses. The 

 Norfolk Trotter originated at about the same time as the Thorough- 

 bred, being the result of crossing Arabian and other Oriental sires on 

 mares showing aptitude for the trotting gait, just as the Thoroughbred 

 resulted from the crossing of these same sires on native running mares 

 of proven ability on the turf. 



The polo pony. — The game of polo was introduced into England 

 in 1874, and to America two years later. This sport calls for an active, 

 rugged pony of about 14-2 hands, and those which best serve the pur- 

 pose are small-sized or dwarf Thoroughbred horses. 



The horse in America. — From an equine standpoint, history re- 

 peats itself to a considerable degree in America and also records the 

 creation of at least two new and distinct types of horses. There were 

 no horses on this continent at the time of its discovery, hence American 

 horse history dates from 1492. The first horses were brought to this 

 continent by Cortes and Ferdinand De Soto. Cortes used but few 

 horses in his conquest of Mexico, some of which undoubtedly became 

 the progenitors of the wild horse of the western plains. Similarly, 

 horses abandoned by De Soto near the Texas border no doubt survived 

 and were the principal foundation of the American wild horse. 



In colonial times, the most common type of horse was a small 

 saddle horse measuring not more than 14 hands. These were the 

 descendants of the small, unimproved European horses brought over 

 by the first settlers and were of no particular breed or breeding. This 

 little colonial saddle horse was indispensable as a utility animal, being 

 practically the sole means of transportation in those early times. He 

 was likewise a source of amusement and recreation, being used in 

 running matches of short distances. For this latter purpose, however, 

 the little saddler soon gave way to the English Thoroughbred imported 

 quite extensively by the early settlers of the Carolinas and Virginia. 



Field labor was performed by oxen, except in Pennsylvania and 

 New York where Flemish horses had been introduced from Holland. 

 This Flemish horse was, as we have already seen, a large and rather 

 ungainly animal, and when the colonies expanded westward, this horse 

 was used to haul freight over the mountains from eastern ports to 

 Pittsburgh and Wheeling. It required 12,000 wagons annually, each 

 pulled by four or six horses, driven tandem, to carry on the vast freight- 



