142 THR STAGE-COACH-HORSE. 



ever, require the nicest grooming, and the best ap- 

 pointed harness, otherwise all the good effect is lost. 

 The piebald looks conspicuous, and commands a 

 high price, as uo doubt he always did. Virgil was 

 partial to the piebald, or party-coloured breed, and 

 mounts young Priam upon one of them in the fifth, 

 and Turrus in the ninth, ^Eneid, both Thracian 

 horses. 



The stage coach-horse has undergone a still 

 gveater change in the last half century, and parti- 

 cularly the last twenty years. In fact, his physi- 

 cal condition may now be said to be better than 

 that of the man who lives by the sweat of his brow, 

 for he works but one hour in twenty-four, whereas 

 the man works twelve. The coach-horse also lives 

 on the best fare, which cannot be said of the labour- 

 ing man. As all kinds of horses of a light descrip- 

 tion find their way into coaches, it is useless to 

 attempt to fix a standard by which they should be 

 measured, as to height, length, width, or strength. 

 But as all horses draw by their weight, and not by 

 the force of their muscles, which could not act 

 against a load for any length of time, the object of 

 the breeder or purchaser of the road coach-horse 

 should be, to have as much power in as small a 

 compass as may be possible, combined with good 

 action. Substance is a sine qua non on roads that 

 are heavy or hilly ; for, as before observed, it is the 

 weight of the animal which produces the draught, 

 whilst the play and force of its muscles serve to 

 continue it. 



There are, however, a few points very necessary 



