CHAPTER VIII 



THE HEAVY HARNESS BREEDS 



Six breeds are here included. They are discussed in the 

 following order : The Hackney, the French Coach, the German 

 Coach, the Cleveland Bay, the Yorkshire Coach, and the Rus- 

 sian Orloff. The American Carriage Horse, now being bred by 

 the U. S. Government, is of this type. 



THE HACKNEY 



Curiously enough, tliis horse, which is preeminently a show- 

 harness horse today and more generally criticised as deficient in 

 stamina than in any other one res]3ect, was originally a road horse 

 of most unusual endurance, used chiefly under saddle and carry- 

 ing gTeat weight. The very name " Hack " to which Hackney 

 was contracted is suggestive of this type of horse. The term 

 Hackney is adapted from the French Haquenee, originally de- 

 rived from the Latin Equus. 



Early Hackney history was set in Norfolk and adjacent 

 counties where there existed a remarkable family of distance 

 trotters as early as the latter part of the eighteenth century. 

 This was in the primitive days of roads and vehicles, so that 

 these ISTorfolk trotters, as they were called, were used chiefly 

 under saddle. Well-authenticated records of seventeen miles 

 an hour over ordinary roads exist. The fact that this was the 

 first line of trotters is most significant. England had already 

 developed the running race horse, and there had existed at one 

 time ambling riding horses, but tliis was the first horse in the 

 world to trot fast. This fact is emphasized, as it has a bearing 

 on the later evolution of our oyra Standardbred trotter. This 

 trotting instinct in the prototype of the modem Hackney has 

 been accounted for in various ways. Since these horses were 

 originally stoutly made, blocky, and heavy-fronted and have 

 remained so until comparatively recently, it is reasonable to 

 suppose that they carried, in addition to the Thoroughbred blood 

 which predominated at that time, some degree of cold blood. 



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