26 THE IIOKSE. 



English families of the horse ; treating them, however, far more 

 succinctly than I have done the Cleveland Bays, as they have 

 been less often imported into this country, and have contributed 

 little, if at all, to the formation of any part of the stock of the 

 United States, having left scarcely any perceptible trace of 

 their blood in any existing breed. This is not true of the 

 Cleveland Bays, whose mark is clearly discernible in the work- 

 ing horses of several of the Eastern States, Massachusetts, and 

 Vermont, more especially, into the former of which several 

 mares and one stallion were imported by the late Admiral Sir 

 Isaac Coffin, beside others, I believe, at a more remote period. 



The second distinct, old English breed is the Suffolk Punch, 

 which is said to be originally descended from the Korman stal- 

 lion and old Suffolk cart-mare. 



It is now, like the Cleveland, nearly extinct ; but has been 

 replaced by an animal possessing many of the characteristic 

 peculiarities and excellences of its ancestors, with higher blood 

 and more perfect finish. " The true Suffolk," says Mr. Youatt, 

 " stood from fifteen to sixteen hands high, of a sorrel color ; was 

 large-headed ; low-shouldered, and thick on the top ; deep and 

 round-chested ; long-backed ; high in the croup ; large and 

 strong in the quarters ; full in the flanks ; round in the legs, 

 and short in the pasterns. It was the very horse to throw his 

 whole weight into the collar, with sufficient activity to do it 

 eft'ectually, and hardihood to stand a long day's work." 



I should here observe, that what is in England called sorrel 

 is a very difterent color from that which we understand by the 

 same name ; which is, in truth, chestnut, in all its various tints, 

 from something nearly approaching to real sorrel, up to copper- 

 colored brown, with golden reflections. 



The real Suffolk sorrel trenches very closely on the dun, with 

 a kind of bluish or mud-colored under-tint running through it. 

 Their manes and tails are heavy, inclined to curl or wave, and 

 are invariably of a far lighter shade than the bodies ; they are 

 often cream-colored, and sometimes even pure white, though 

 without the silvery gloss and sparkle peculiar to tlie mane of a 

 gray or white horse ; and the legs, which are also invariably 

 light, from the knee downward, have a dull, dingy, whitey-brown 

 hue, which is the reverse of pleasing or beautiful. 



