DRIVING 145 



varieties. In olden times, before the idea of elega.nce was 

 attached to lightness, we had a horse which truly deserved 

 the name of the coach-horse, rather than the more modern 

 one of the carriage-horse ; for as we have already said, 

 when treating of this variety, the old coach-horse was 

 merely the modern lighter cart-horse, as we see him in the 

 wheel-plough or in the unicorn railway waggons of London 

 streets. 



Someone may ask what has become of the sort of horse 

 specially bred for the fast coach. Like other articles for 

 which a remunerative demand has died out, they are not 

 now produced on a grand scale. The nearest horse to the 

 stamp is that used in our horse artillery, and a very good 

 sort it is. These horses, bought when young, though they 

 are thick and strengthy, learn such habits of activity, that 

 no one who has watched their evolutions at Woolwich, 

 Portsmouth, Chatham, or elsewhere, can help admitting that 

 great strength and great activity are contained in them. 

 But where there is want of " blood," sustained speed must 

 not be looked for. Doubtless, where mere activity for short 

 distances is wanted, the less highl3^-bred horse may seem not 

 to suffer from the comparison, but a speed kept up is not his 

 forte. Heavy as a loaded omnibus looks, if you wanted it 

 bowled along at great speed for a long distance, four 

 thoroughbreds would beat four of these artillery horses ; but 

 for work on London stones or in a bad road, where stopping 

 and starting would fret the high-bred cattle, specific gravity, 

 strength, and short legs carry the day. The wind and game 

 of the thoroughbred carry him through his task better than 

 any other horse, but it is only where these are called upon 

 that he shines so pre-eminently. 



There is, however, another perfection that the highly-bred 

 horse has : he does any work with more willingness and 

 cheerfulness than the coarse horse ; and this is why, for any 

 purpose to which his strength is adequate, he will be found, 

 on an average, so much pleasanter than the coarser animal. 

 It is true, the inferior-bred horse is quite as free, and per- 

 haps even more inclined to frisk about while quite fresh, 

 than the thorough or higher-bred one ; but this only lasts 

 while work is play to him. At real labour, his energy leaves 

 him ; and once tired, the game is up. This has long since 

 been found out ; so, as our expectations as to distance and 

 pace have more than gone hand-in-hand with the increased 



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