ENGLISH BLACK CART-HORSE. lo7 



hard as iron itself. It is not unusual to find five 

 or six of them drawing those cumbrous diligences, 

 weighing perhaps six or seven tons, a twenty-mile 

 stage, at the rate of six miles an hour, preserving 

 their condition to the highest pitch ; and this with 

 hay and corn very inferior in quality to that grown 

 in England. To keep up the condition of the Eng- 

 lish black cart-horse, requires him to consume nearly 

 as much as his labour is worth ; and unless he lives 

 well, he is only half alive, which his sluggish action 

 denotes. In fact, his chief fault lies in his having 

 too great a body, and too little spirit, consequently 

 he exhausts himself in the mere act of carrying 

 that body. The nimbleness of the smaller kinds 

 of cart-horses to which we have alluded, is owing 

 to their moderate size ; and their immense powers 

 in lifting weight (with the Suftblk-punch, and 

 Clydesdale breeds, in particular) to the same cause, 

 combined with the low position of the shoulder, 

 which occasions weight to be acted upon in a just 

 and horizontal direction. The Welsh cart-horses, 

 especially those in use in the counties of Denbigh, 

 Merionith, and Montgomery, are eminently adapted 

 to all agricultural purposes, combiningmuch strength 

 with a great share of activity ; and the general 

 criteria of wide breast, with low shoulders, good 

 carcass, and small head, indicate their being good 

 workers, with hardihood of constitution. Their 

 height is about fifteen hands two inches ; and their 

 colour black or brown. 



