156 THE CART-HORSE. 



road waggons, he commands a price that leaves a 

 handsome surplus to the breeder. 



The chief desiderata in the cart-horse are sub- 

 stance and action. If possessed of the latter, his 

 shoulders and fore-quarters can scarcely be too 

 coarse and heavy ; for drawing being an effort of 

 the animal to preserve himself from the tendency 

 which his weight gives him to the centre of gravity 

 when he inclines forward, so the more weighty he 

 is before, and the nearer he approximates this centre, 

 the more advantageously will he apply his powers. 

 Notwithstandinjj this, we are not advocates of heavv 

 horses for farmer's work, much less on the road. 

 The lighter horse gets over in eight hours what 

 would take the heavy one ten ; and the great im- 

 provement in the present mode of culture, and the 

 implements used for agricultural purposes, do not 

 require more weight or strength than what the Suf- 

 folk, Clydesdale, Cleveland-bay, and other lighter 

 breeds, are masters of. Besides, there are periods 

 of the year when despatch of business is of great 

 moment to the farmer, which he cannot command 

 in those mountains of horse-flesh which we see 

 labouring in most of the finest districts in England, 

 tiring themselves by their own weight. 



Travellers on the Continent, occupying land in 

 England, should carry in their eye the form and 

 action of the horses which draw the public car- 

 riages, particularly those bred in Normandy and 

 Picardy, in France. The prevailing colour is iro7i 

 roan, and their nature appears to sympathise with 

 that colour ; for, speaking figuratively, they are as 



