FORM AND COLOUR. 141 



bit ; and the act of drawing is not unfavourable to 

 it. Light work in harness, indeed, is favourable 

 to all action, that of galloping excepted. 



The county of York may be called the modern 

 Epirus, as in that and Lincolnshire are the greater 

 part of the London coach-horses bred. The most 

 usual cross is between the thorough-bred horse and 

 the Cleveland-bay mare ; but the appearance of too 

 many of them incline us to believe, that, losing 

 sight of their own interest, breeders have recourse, 

 oftener than they should, to the half-bred horse, a« 

 well as to the half-bred mare. This, added to the 

 rich grass land they are bred upon, accounts for 

 the coarse, ill-placed shoulders, and flat, fleshy feet 

 that so many of the London coach-horses exhibit. 

 For road- work, in noblemen and gentlemen's car- 

 riages, horses cannot be too nearly of full blood, 

 provided they have strength equal to their work. 

 Here, as over a country, " it is the pace that kills ;" 

 and as, in considerable velocity, the power of a 

 horse is nearly exhausted in moving his own body, 

 he needs every advantage we can give him. 



The colour of the gentleman's coach-horse is, for 

 the most part, bay ; but by far the most imposinir 

 in harness is the silver-grey, with black mane and 

 tail, and at the present time it is very fashionable, 

 as well as the iron-grey, for town work. This 

 colour was held sacred by the ancients ; and Ca- 

 millus is said to have given great oflence to tlie 

 Romans by being drawn through Rome, in his 

 triumph, by four grey horses, no general having 

 before ventured to do so. Grey coach-horses, how- 



