60 THE HORSE. 



as in flat-racing, steeple-chasing, hunting, &c, — yet he is not so 

 well qualified for some kinds of harness-work, or for road-work of 

 any kind, as the horse expressly bred for these purposes. There 

 is no doubt that thorough-bred horses might be selected and bred 

 expressly for this kind of work, and would excel all others, because 

 originally their limbs and constitutions were at least as sound as, 

 or perhaps even sounder than, any other class of horses ; but while 

 they are selected and bred solely for speed, without much reference 

 to these other qualities, it is useless to expect much improvement ; 

 but on the contrary, they may be expected to become yearly more 

 and more soft and yielding. For many purposes the Eastern horse 

 is wholly unfit — as, for instance, for heavy and dead pulls; here 

 his high courage, light weight, and hasty temper are adverse to 

 the performance of the task, and he is far excelled by the old Eng- 

 lish, or modern improved cart-horse. No thorough-bred horse 

 would try again and again at a dead pull like many of our best 

 breeds of cart-horses ; and therefore he is little calculated for work 

 which requires this slow struggling kind of exertion. The pull of 

 the Eastern horse, or his descendant, is a snatch; and though it 

 may to a certain extent be modified by use, yet it can never be 

 brought up to the standard of the English cart-horse, even if the 

 weight of carcase and size and strength of limb of the former 

 could be sufficiently increased. 



ESSENTIALS IN THE THOROUGH-BRED. 



Such then are the oeneral qualities of the thorough-bred 

 horse and the purposes to which he can be beneficially applied. It 

 remains now to consider the formation and specific characteristics 

 best adapted to the turf, which is his chief arena; and also to the 

 hunting-field, which now absorbs a very large number of his breed. 

 Finally, it will be necessary to consider him as a means of improv- 

 ing other breeds, such as the cavalry-charger, hack and harness 

 horse, but these subjects will fall under the respective heads here 

 mentioned. 



PURITY OF BLOOD. 



In the first place purity of blood must be considered as a 

 sine qua nun. for without it a horse cannot be considered thorough- 

 bred, and therefore we have only to ascertain the exact meaning 

 of the term " blood." It is not to be supposed that there is any 

 real difference between the blood of the thoroughbred horse, and 

 that of the half-bred animal ; no one could discriminate between 

 the two by any known means; the term "blood" is here synony- 

 mous with breed, and by purity of blood is meant purity in the 

 breeding of the individual animal under consideration ; that is to 

 say, that the horse which is entirely bred from one source is pure 

 from any mixture with any other, and may be a pure Suffolk 



