438 
THE NORTON FARMERS’ CLUB. 
long and oval on the top, so that, when we stand behind the horse, 
the haunches shall be as wide as or wider than the hips. In a 
brood mare, a little more latitude is allowable in the hips, but in a 
stallion it is exceedingly ugly and objectionable. The hocks (as a 
most important part, and frequently liable to disease and mal- 
formation) should be particularly attended to, and the shank bone 
and sinew, both in the hind and fore leg, should be well developed 
and straightly dropped immediately below the hock joint. 
In cart-horses the same rules apply, except that the circular 
chest, and greater width and depth of carcass generally, are not 
only allowable, but desirable. For the farm, I should say cart- 
horses are frequently bred of too heavy a description, and might 
be got equally strong, and much more active, by judicious crossing. 
We see horses of the description I refer to, for the most part, in 
porter carts, hucksters’ carts, brewers’ carts, and the like, for which 
they are bought up, and frequently at high prices, on account of 
their superior strength, activity, and durability. Do not, how- 
ever, even in a cart-horse, overlook the importance of an animated 
eye and countenance, and a bold upstanding carriage, as sure tests 
of courage and other valuable properties. 
Having thus pointed out what is to be avoided, and what to be 
desired, in the parent-stock of the horse, we will proceed a step 
farther, and consider how the observance of these rules may still 
do but little towards obtaining a valuable offspring, unless the 
male and female are well assorted, and the attention directed to- 
wards the production of an animal of some distinctive character 
and description. How common and how fatal is this error ! How 
constantly, or almost universally, do we see little, light, weedy 
mares, of mongrel breed, put to great, overgrown, heavy horses, of 
no definite breed or description ; and, reversing the subject, great 
coarse cart-mares put to well-bred or thorough-bred horses, merely 
because the owner has determined on having a foal, and some 
horse is convenient to get, or cheap in price, or happens to take 
his fancy, without reference to his aptness as a cross for the mare. 
If animals are put together that are ill assorted in size or descrip- 
tion, or of distinct breeds and character, the breeder can never 
calculate with any security on the character and description of the 
produce ; and mongrel- bred horses are, for the most part, wanting 
in courage, constitution, form, action, and every other property 
which renders them valuable. I would reduce the various kinds 
of horses, leaving race-horses out of the question as not within 
the legitimate sphere of our inquiry as a farmers’ club, to four 
classes, viz., the hack or roadster; the hunter; the carriage or 
harness horse ; and the cart-horse. The various modifications in 
size and character, which the vagaries of nature produce in our 
