HIGH-CLASS CARRIAGE HORSES. 65 



hands 2 inches to 17 hands high. The large ones of the proper qual- 

 ity are the ones most difficult to get, and consequently sell for the 

 highest prices. In breeding, therefore, and especially on our small 

 mares in the United States, only the larger type coaching stal- 

 lions should be used, but quality and finish must in no instance be 

 sacrificed. 



One would naturally suppose that in England, where they have 

 bred horses for so many years, there would be a sufficient supply of 

 high-class carriage horses, but there is not. They are scarcer than 

 any other kind, and the main reasons of this are, first, the great demand 

 for them, and second, the fact that the English have been too eager 

 to breed a hunter — that they have too much blood in their fine look- 

 ing horses to have action. We can profit by the lesson this teaches, 

 as the majority of our horses as yet have little blood, and by the 

 judicious use of large, high-acting, breedy-looking coach stallions, 

 we should be able to produce a good quality of carriage horses, and 

 at least ones that will fill some of the numerous callings just below 

 this high position. Diligent investigation and research has only con- 

 firmed my former opinion in this matter, but I must acknowledge my 

 surprise at the scarcity of fine large carriage horses in England. 



On this point I quote from an article which appeared in the Live 

 Stock Journal Almanac, of London, for 1897 : 



There is not the smallest doubt that England is nnable at the present time to 

 supply a quarter of the harness horses required even in London, to say nothing of 

 the other parts of Great Britain. The reason of this is, that breeders do not 

 attempt to do so. Some breed thoroughbreds, others hunters or hackneys, and 

 others heavy Shire horses, but no one seems to try to breed for color, size, height, 

 and trotting power. The consequence is that our great dealers and job masters 

 have to go to Canada, America, Austria, Germany, and Prance, where they study 

 the above points, to supply an ever-increasing demand. England is essentially 

 a riding-horse producing country, and these are bred by the ordinary farmer with 

 so little thought as to what is required that, if they fail in being a race horse or hun- 

 ter, they are fit for nothing. One of the greatest, if not the greatest, mistakes 

 made by breeders in England to-day is that they will not breed for size, color, and 

 action. We all know that about a thousand Canadian and American horses 

 come to our shores every week. These are chiefly bay horses, a color much liked 

 and sought after. They are as a rule 16 hands, and have substance and length, by 

 which they " fill " the harness and make valuable animals for town use. 



The above must be accepted as good English authority, and conveys 

 some idea of the scarcity of high-class carriage horses in England ; but 

 the most exhaustive article on this subject was written recently by 

 Sir Walter Gilbey, one of England's most eminent authorities upon 

 the subject of carriage horses, and which appeared in the Live Stock 

 Journal Almanac for 1898. 



Sir Walter says ; 



It may be accepted as a fact easily demonstrable, that at the present time, as 

 for long past, the best carriage horses in use in England are not home-bred 

 products. 



S. Doc. 35 5 



