their  Breeding  and  Management. 
13 
stepping,  heavy-shouldered  trotter,  all  action  and  no  go,  dragging 
his  hind-legs  after  him  instead  of  pushing  them  along ; one  of 
those  animals  that,  with  nothing  to  be  proud  of,  are  very  proud. 
Concerning  mares  generally  ; we  breed  from  the  refuse,  the 
worn-out  and  worthless.  Yet  by  putting  even  inferior  mares 
to  good  sound  horses  the  breed  gradually  improves.  Foreigners 
prefer  to  purchase  mares,  formerly,  when  not  so  much  in  favour, 
they  were  kept  and  worked  on  the  farms  and  bred  from.  Yes, 
mares  fit  for  the  hunting-field.  Forty  years  ago  Harris,  a 
well-known  dealer  largely  employed  in  the  purchase  of  army 
remounts,  used  to  buy  better  mares  * for  the  cavalry  than  you 
can  find  now  in  many  hunting-stables.  A thoroughbred  horse 
can  get  a valuable  general-purpose  horse  from  an  active  cleanly 
cart-mare : or  you  may  reverse  the  order : in  breeding  from 
a cart-mare  you  must  have  one  with  quality,  a good  game  head, 
silky  mane,  good  sloping  shoulders,  good  action  : in  short,  one 
that  you  can  ride  if  by  accident  you  should  throw  your  leg  over 
her.  There  is  a great  difference  in  the  produce  of  the  same 
mare  in  different  years — a breeding  back  to  a weedy  ancestor. 
But,  do  bear  this  in  mind,  you  must  have  game  and  mettle 
in  the  mare : a sluggish,  coarse,  heavy  mare  will  assuredly 
breed  a slug — to  any  horse  a sluggish  mare  will  breed  a slug. 
The  old-fashioned  and,  unhappily,  virtually  extinct  Cleveland 
could  ride,  hunt,  plough,  and,  to  a short-legged  thoroughbred 
horse,  breed  the  best  of  hunters.  A pure-bred  Cleveland  was 
usually,  if  not  invariably,  a bay  with  black  legs.  The  old- 
fashioned  Cleveland  stallion  often  got  admirable  hunters  out  of 
thoroughbred  mares.  To  a thoroughbred  horse  the  Cleveland 
mares  were  the  very  best  of  breeders  : there  was  nothing  better 
than  Cleveland  mares  before  they  were  crossed  ; it  was  a saying 
they  gained  a cross  of  blood  about  every  50  miles  they  went 
towards  London  or  Malton.  These  famous  Yorkshire  horses 
were  ruined  by  the  fashion  that  prevailed  about  the  year  1820 
for  big  flashy  16'2  to  17-hand  London  carriage-horses they 
crossed  the  old-fashioned  Clevelands  with  all  sorts  of  leggy, 
useless  brutes.  I knew  a Cleveland  mare  that  carried  a man 
70  miles  a day  for  a week  together.  Tommy  Miles  of  Harlsey, 
near  A orthallerton,  rode  his  Cleveland  mare  to  York  for  a week 
together,  to  have  his  name  called  over  in  Court  as  a juryman: 
he  was  in  \ ork  by  9 o’clock  every  morning  (35  miles),  and  slept 
in  his  own  bed  at  Harlsey  (35  miles)  every  night. 
I now  have  to  offer  as  the  result  of  my  experience  a few  prac- 
tical suggestions.  The  causes  of  the  decline  in  breeding 
superior  horses  I attributed  in  my  letter  to  Phillips,  (1)  to 
“ The  cavalry  are,  or  were,  1873,  chiefly  mounted  on  mares.” — Phillips. 
