CART HORSES. 223 
bat. The gray stallions that have for many years 
drawn the omnibuses of Paris were always of Per- 
cheron, or of the kindred Norman stock. 
It has frequently occurred to me that a family of 
superior road, and perhaps coach, horses might be 
developed by crossing the Percheron with the original 
Arab breed. Horses thus bred could not fail to be 
sound, tough, gentle, and, I should think, handsome. 
Certainly, if the Percheron is really derived from the 
Arab, such a cross would give size to the latter with- 
out introducing any element so foreign as to result in 
a hybrid, heterogeneous sort of animal. The cross 
between the thoroughbred and the cart horse does not 
usually turn out well; occasionally, to be sure, the 
produce preserves the strength and size of one family 
with the action and courage of the other, some noted 
hunters having been bred in this way. More often, 
however, the half-bred horse of this description is a 
slab-sided, nerveless beast, of little good for any pur- 
pose. But between the Percheron and the Arab there 
is an affinity sufficient to prevent such a result from 
their union. In one instance, at least, this has been 
tried, Mr. Parker, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, 
having bred a colt by the Jennifer Arabian, out of 
Rosa Bonheur, an imported Percheron mare. The 
horse thus bred is described as “a wiry, handsome 
colt, who was sold to go to Oregon, where he 
proved a valuable sire.” A cross between the Mor- 
gan and the Percheron ought to be equally good. 
Large numbers of Clydesdales, and Percherons in 
still greater abundance, have been imported to this 
country, but, unfortunately, the demand, especially at 
the West, has been for very big horses. The conse- 
