302 THE H0K8E. 



purity of the breed ; such as they are they have been for cen- 

 turies ; and could you find another race of horses of entirely 

 different form in the same category as regards their pedigree, 

 my belief is, that wlien you should see the first colt from them, 

 you would see the model of all that were to follow. 



" 4. Can you breed carriage-horses sufficiently fashionable 

 for the city markets ? I do not hesitate to say that it cannot be 

 done with the first cross. There is too much coarseness about 

 them, which must be worn down by judicious crossing; and I 

 think a stallion got by Diligence upon a lai-ge-sized throughl)red 

 mare, would go very far towards producing the desired result. 

 Should this fail, I feel very confident that another cross from 

 these colts on the thoroughbred mare, will give you the Mor- 

 gan horse on a larger scale. I still hold to the opinion I ex- 

 pressed to you years ago, that the action of our common horses 

 would be improved by this cross. His colts have higher action 

 than their dams,, and generally keep their feet better under 

 thein ; in other words, they pick them up quicker, not suffering 

 them to rest so long upon the ground. 



" Your fifth and sixth questions will be answered by what I 

 have further to say in regard to the progeny of Diligence. 



" I may safely say they are universally docile and kind, at 

 the same time spirited and lively. They break in without any 

 difficulty. As regards their speed, I do not know of any that 

 can be called fast horses, though many smart ones among ordi- 

 nary road horses. Diligence, as I have said elsewhere, was 

 chosen — for obvious reasons — as a full-sized specimen of the 

 breed. As for speed in trotting, we cannot doubt its being in 

 the breed, when we look at the instances among the thorough- 

 bred Canadian ponies. Could I have made my selection from 

 the stallions which I rode behind in the diligences, I could have 

 satisfied the most fastidious on this point ; but, unfortunately, 

 these horses all belonged to the government, and are never sold 

 until past service. My main object was to produce a valuable 

 farm-horse. The chance of fast colts is not very great ; because 

 those pei-sons having fast mares to breed from, naturally look 

 for a fast stallion, and failing to find him, take one of the best 

 English blood they can find; and should they occur, they will 

 1)0 mares, or, ten to one, horses, gelded before their good quali- 



