CHAPTER VIII 



THE HEAVY HARNESS BREEDS 



Six breeds are here included. They are discussed in the 

 following order: The Hackney, the French Coach, the Genuan 

 Coach, the Cleveland Bay, the Yorkshire Coach, and the Rus- 

 sian Orloff. The American Carnage Horse, now being bred by 

 the U. S. Government, is of this type. 



THE HACKNEY --^-v^t 



Curiously enough, tliis horse, which is preeminently a show- 

 harness horse today and more generally criticised as deficient in 

 stamina than in any other one respect, was originally a road horse 

 of most unusual endurance, used chiefly under saddle and carry- 

 ing great Aveight. The very name '' Hack '^ to which Hackney 

 was contracted is suggestive of tliis type of horse. The term 

 Hackney is adapted from the French Haquenee, originally de- 

 rived from the Latin Equus. 



Early Hackney history was set in Norfolk and adjacent 

 counties where there existed a remarkable family of distance 

 trotters as early as the latter part of the eighteenth century. 

 This was in the primitive days of roads and vehicles, so that 

 these l^orfolk trQtters *v as they were called, were used chiefly 

 under saddle. Well-authenticated records of seventeen miles 

 an hour over ordinary roads exist. The fact that this was the 

 first line of trotters is most significant. England had already 

 developed the nmning race horse, and there had existed at one 

 time ambling riding horses,, but this was the first horse in the 

 world to trot fast. This fact is emphasized, as it has a bearing 

 on the later evolution of our own Standardbred trotter. This 

 trotting instinct in the prototype of the modern Hackney has 

 been accounted for in various ways. Since these horses were 

 originally stoutly made, blocky, and heavy-fronted and have 

 remained so until comparatively recently, it is reasonable to 

 suppose that they carried, in addition to the Thoroughbred blood 

 which predominated at that time, some degi'ee of cold blood. 



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