HORSES AND MULES 



293 



admixture of Thoroughbred blood. The 

 Yorkshire coach horse is very similar 

 to the Cleveland bay and is considered 

 by some as a family of the latter. It 

 shows more of the Thoroughbred, occa- 

 sional white spots and does not breed as 

 true as the Cleveland bay. About 1,700 

 Cleveland bays have been registered in 

 the United States. (For secretary, see 

 appendix.) 



The hunter is not a distinct breed, nor 



three-quarter-blood horse makes a better 

 animal for hunting. The back should be 

 of medium length, front leg upright, 

 loin broad, knee and hock rather large, 

 head carried low. Ontario, Canada, is 

 noted for this class of horses, and the 

 English government obtains many cav- 

 alry remounts from that province. Hunt- 

 ers are also raised in West Virginia, 

 Virginia, Missouri, Maryland and else- 

 where in the United States. These 



Fig. 205 — FRENCH COACH STALLION. HIGHCLIFFB 



even a definite type. Peer suggests that 

 "almost any well-bred farm mares of 

 suitable conformation, even grade draft- 

 mares and such general purpose animals, 

 as found on all farms, make very excel- 

 lent brood mares for producing this 

 class of animals." Raising hunting sad- 

 dlers is therefore a line of breeding which 

 the farmer may undertake with assur- 

 ance of reasonable profit. The Thor- 

 oughbred stallion should be used in all 

 cases in order to give endurance and 

 low action. Some of the hunters are 

 nearly Thoroughbred, but a half-blood or 



horses bring good prices; the demand 

 is active on account of the increasing 

 number of hunt clubs. Moreover, the 

 hunter is not an artificial product with a 

 fictitious value. He is an excellent gen- 

 eral-purpose horse about the farm and 

 a roadster. The jumping or hurdling 

 habit comes naturally to the Thorough- 

 bred blood. Such horses readily take 

 hurdles 4 to 6 feet in height and more 

 rarely 8 feet. 



Influence of Thoroughbred — From the 

 above discussion of light breeds of horses, 

 the immense influence of the blood of the 



