THE HORSE—INTRODUCTION. li 
produce itself and the other will very likely beget something as different as 
one could well imagine. 
Now the Arab horse has a comparatively short thigh-bone, with a long 
hip; the European horse has a long thigh and a short hip; the cannons of 
the Arab are long, while those of the European are short—and a like dif- 
ference is seen in other parts of the skeleton. By breeding a stocky native 
stallion to a fine Arab mare one might get almost anything. The produce 
rnay take on the long bones of both parents, or the spongy tissue of the one 
and the length and looseness of the other. The extreme vital and nervous 
temperaments may be neutralized in the offspring and the bilious and 
lymphatic temperament predominate, the produce then becoming coarse, 
and gross, and thereby characterized by a tendency to excessive growth. 
This is one of the physiological influences mentioned as productive of 
variations. We may be pardoned for believing, sincerely enough to advance 
the conviction, that such was the foundation of the heavy horses now found 
all over Europe and the United States, which were first known in Flanders, 
and are still called by the general term “Dutch horses.’? By taking such 
individual horses as were of more than normal size and breeding them by 
judicious crosses with a view to preserving those specimens which are most 
capable of reproducing those qualities of size and power, we now have a 
variety of horses which is quite common, They were first extensively 
known in Flanders, were introduced into England in the time of William 
the Conqueror, and all the famous British breeds are by some attributed to 
those importations. The breeds now known to be thus descended are 
designated as Suffolk Punch, a sorrel breed, Lincolnshire Blacks, Cleveland 
Bays, English Cart-horses and the Clydesdales of Scotland, but all are of 
the same stock as the Norman of France, the Belgian and Hanoverian 
breeds, and also the Danish draught horse from which the Conestoga horse 
of the United States is sprung. These horses have been imported into 
America so largely of late that their form and character have become gen- 
erally known. Bulk of bone and hair are cultivated, as well as breadth and 
compactness of frame. The largest specimens weigh over a ton. 
The famous Norman draught horse of France and the heavy breeds of 
the Netherlands are from the same Flemish stock. These monstrous horses 
have been imported into the United States so largely of late years that their 
characteristics are familiar to nearly every one. The most popular importa- 
tions are the Normans, Clydes, English draught and Cleveland Bays. The 
Normans tend to gray in color and some of the darkest grays are very beau- 
tiful, The predominance of their iron-gray color is a strong point with the 
Normans. The Clydes are usually bay, sometimes marked with white legs and 
faces. Their bulk of bone is immense, and they are distinguished for the 
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