HORSES FOR HEAVY DRAUGHT. 609 



living long in many a legend and tale of blood, and becoming 

 associated in the minds of the distracted people with ideas 

 of the anger of the gods and the power of demons. It was 

 carried into Italy, where its descendants yet exist, and into 

 Spain, whence it probably passed into Muritania with the 

 Vandals. In the middle ages these powerful Horses were 

 the steeds of knights and men-at-arms, and are used for 

 mounting the heavy cavalry of the great military govern- 

 ments of Europe in the present day. 



The race of the European Black Horse exists unmixed in 

 the countries of the Lower Rhine, of the Meuse and the 

 Scheldt, comprehending the States of Holland and the king- 

 dom of Belgium. It is in these countries, as in ancient 

 times, that the Black Horse of Europe retains the weight 

 and size which were regarded as characteristic of his race. 

 But the same stock extends from the Low Countries east- 

 ward through central Germany, diverging to the north and 

 south from Switzerland to the Baltic, and exhibiting those 

 diversities of size and aspect which differences of food, cli- 

 mate, and elevation, tend to produce. Its typical form is 

 round and massy, the chest is wide, the neck strong and 

 muscular, the limbs are short, stout, and hairy. It possesses 

 physical strength and safe action, but is wanting in lightness 

 and speed. It presents every variation of size, from the 

 little sturdy German Hackney, to the larger animals suited 

 for the waggon and heavier carriages. 



The same widely-spread race extends into England, where 

 it presents itself with the same general characters as in the 

 ancient countries of the Belgic Gauls, the Batavi, the Fri- 

 siandones, and others. It is found in numbers, from the 

 Humber to the Cam, occupying the rich fens of Lincoln and 

 Cambridge, and extending westward through the counties of 

 Huntingdon, Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, 

 Warwick, and Stafford, to the Severn. Although most abun- 

 dant in these districts of rich pastures, it has extended north- 

 ward, and very widely southward, into the countries of the 



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