Tlire  City  Dray  Horse. 
63 
should  be  kept  moderately  close  together,  should  be  lifted  and 
not  dragged  behind,  and  should  be  brought  forward  with 
freedom  and  power,  the  whole  movement  of  the  limbs  being 
perfectly  straight  and  true.  The  city  cart  horse  has  often  with 
one  quick  effort  to  throw  his  whole  weight  into  the  collar  so  as 
to  move  his  load,  which  at  times  will  get  into  the  most  awkward 
places,  also  when  going  up  some  steep  siding,  or  round  some 
specially  greasy  turning. 
Though  his  total  length  is  great  he  should  have  a short 
broad  back,  tremendous  muscular  development  of  quarter,  and 
a powerful  shoulder  which  should  not  be  too  slanting.  We 
also  like  to  see  a massive  neck,  allowing  collar  room,  which 
should  be  at  the  same  time  sufficiently  long  to  allow  of  his 
reaching  well  forward  to  his  work  ; the  whole  animal  being 
well  set  off  by  a large  well-shaped  head. 
The  other  breeds  more  in  evidence  further  north  are  of  the 
same  type  but  are  lighter  in  build,  especially  in  the  limbs,  and 
lack  the  feather  of  the  Shires. 
The  most  popular  colours  are  bays,  browns,  and  blacks, 
with  a few  greys  and  roans  ; chestnuts,  from  the  prevailing 
idea  that  they  are  not  so  hardy  as  the  darker  colours,  are  little 
favoured. 
Supply.- — The  majority  of  the  horses  are  imported  from 
Lincolnshire,  the  midland  counties,  and  north  Wales,  only  a 
small  proportion  being  bred  in  Lancashire,  and  those  chiefly 
in  the  Fylde  district.  The  horses  bred  by  the  farmers  in  the 
rest  of  the  county  are  not,  as  a rule,  weighty  enough  for  heavy 
work  in  the  large  cities. 
Regarding  the  breeding,  the  weightiest  animals,  and  there- 
fore, for  city  draught  work,  the  best,  are  bred  by  Shire  stallions 
out  of  Shire  mares  ; the  majority  are  probably  by  pedigree 
Shire  stallions  out  of  Shire  bred  mares  which  have  not  been 
considered  worthy  of  entering,  or  which  their  owners  have 
been  too  casual  to  enter,  in  the  Stud  Book.  A large  quantity  of 
really  good  Shire  stallions  travel  all  parts  of  Lancashire  and 
Cheshire  at,  in  many  cases,  small  fees  of  21.  2s.  to  3Z.  3s.,  and 
serve  a great  number  of  these  non-pedigree  Shire  and  light 
cross-bred  mares.  ' 
The  best  horses  that  are  bred  in  Lancashire  may  be  said  to 
be  produced  by  farmers  holding  land  of  100  acres  upwards. 
As  a rule  the  small  farmer  does  not  trouble  to  breed,  but  buys 
second  hand  or  young  animals  as  he  requires  them.  It  may 
here  be  mentioned  that  owing  to  the  somewhat  inferior  class 
of  mares  in  central  and  south  Lancashire,  the  animals  pro- 
duced are  not,  as  a general  rule,  good  enough  to  find  their  way 
to  the  big  cities,  but  are  bought  by  dealers  and  distributed 
over  the  country.  In  the  Fylde  district  of  Lancashire,  where 
