DRAFT HORSES 189 



nature, in bringing about a change in the animal 

 in which not only the skill of man but the influence 

 of soil and climate have been pressed into service, 

 there have been certain great and unavoidable 

 losses — for it must be remembered that the loss of 

 grace, of activity, and of endurance at other gaits 

 than the walk, have all been incidental and were 

 not matters of intention with those who developed 

 him. It was simply that, if all these things had 

 been considered, it would have taken a great deal 

 longer to breed him to his present size, if it could 

 ever have been done at all ; and so, in making size 

 and strength, always the chief aim, much had to be 

 sacrificed and other qualities were lost along the 

 way. 



With his increase of size also came a greater 

 coarseness of structure, most noticeable, perhaps, 

 in the feet, which never average as good as those 

 of road horses. But the defects of conformation 

 we so frequently see in draft horses, such as up- 

 right shoulders, long backs, drooping rumps, and 

 ill-proportioned limbs, were never an evolutionary 

 necessity; they came about through the insane 

 striving of the breeder for great size, to the 

 sacrifice of everything else and should not be 

 tolerated in a draft horse any more than in any 

 other. 



With these facts in mind we can better judge 



