520 Breeding and Management of Horses on a Farm. 
muscular power alone would not permit a smaller horse to move 
without the greatest exertion. 
The Clydesdale is a smaller and more active kind of horse, 
and is said to be an honest puller, and capable of going through 
a considerable quantity of work. There are not many of them 
that come very far south, as, unless they be purchased at a price 
that will repay the dealer, after deducting travelling expenses, 
they possess no particular feature that may not be found in any 
of the best cart-horses that are bred all over England. 
A farmer who merely seeks to become possessed of a stallion 
or mare of any particular breed, without reference to form and 
capabilities, and expects, on that account, that their stock shall 
show that superiority for which some of the breed are distin- 
guished, may find himself very egregiously mistaken, and, conse- 
quently, I have but little to say beyond the remarks I have just 
made on the principal breeds of cart-horses which, in this king- 
dom, have become, at one period or other, noted for any particu- 
larly good qualities ; being well convinced that, by due attention 
to form, constitution, action, and powers of draught, a good cart- 
colt may be bred from any of the various sorts of cart stallions 
and mares that are to be met with in every county, and that are 
not distinguished by any such particular feature as may have led 
to their being considered a distinct breed. The great reason 
why some counties can boast of a superior sort of horse for the 
purposes of draught is, that, at one period or other, a successful 
cross has produced animals of decided excellence, and this breed 
having been carefully kept up, many of the descendants of these 
horses still inherit the good equalities of their ancestors, and are 
prized accordingly ; but there cannot be a doubt that similar im- 
provements may be made in every county by careful selection, 
and sound judgment in appreciating the different points of sire 
and dam which are likely to confer superiority upon the off- 
spring. 
Although most of the principal points of the horse that have 
already been considered are desirable in the animal solely in- 
tended for slow draught, there are a few in which he should 
essentially differ from the horse of better blood, the principal of 
which is in the formation of the shoulder. Most people affirm 
that the shoulders of a cart-horse cannot be too upright, as such a 
position enables him to lean with most advantage against the 
collar in drawing a heavy weight. This assertion may be true, 
but it should also not be forgotten that when the shoulder is ex- 
tremely straight the step of the animal is shortened, and, conse- 
quently, what he gains in being ;ible to throw most of his weight 
into the collar he loses in quickness of motion. If a horse's foot 
on being put to the ground during progression do not extend 
