22 



Present Varieties of the Horse, 



" dead pull " render them well adapted for. These enor- 

 mous animals are often of more than 17-i hands in height. 

 The Clydesdale, the Cleveland, the Midland Black horse, 

 and the' Suffolk Punch are the four most highly prized varie- 

 ties of this breed, and have now almost completely shoul- 

 dered out the old English black cart horse, with his coarse 

 head and mean, ungainly appearance. It has been tried, 

 again and again, to cross these four breeds with the Eastern 

 horse, but though in the first cross it has sometimes suc- 

 ceeded from the superior purity of the thorough-bred horse, 

 yet in future crosses the cart blood would show itself; 

 and there has always been a want of endurance, and a 

 tendency to throw out bony matter about the legs in the 

 shaoe of soavins, ring-bones, and splints. 



The Shire Horse. — The history of this animal 

 has been set forth in a most interesting book by Mr. 

 (now Sir) Walter Gilbey. The writer justly pronounces 

 him to be of " the most ancient breed in England . . . 

 whose gigantic proportions and magnificent symmetry 

 are at once the surprise and admiration of all be- 

 holders ; " * and his investigations lead to the conclusion 

 that the Shire Horse is the direct descendant in 

 the purest line, from what is described by ancient 

 writers as the Great Horse, probably originating in this 

 country, and further known as the War Horse, or the 

 old English Black Horse. Under these appellations he 

 has been variously known for centuries, and in the 

 statutes of Henry VIII. he appears to have acquired the 

 more homely title of the Shire Horse, his sphere of 

 distribution being especially in the rich fen lands 

 of Lincoln, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Northampton, 

 Leicester, Stafford, and thence westward to the Severn, 

 In later days removal has determined his birth and 

 existence in counties north and south of the above-named 

 limits, without serious variation of his typical character, 

 except such as is determined by climate, soil, and food ; 

 and each decade has witnessed a greater concentration 

 of interest in breeding and distribution. 



* "The Old English War Horse," &c, by Walter Gilbey. 

 London : Vinton & Co. 188S. 



