248 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. r March 23,1882. 
POULTRY AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 
CROSS-BREEDING HORSES. 
(Continued from page 226.) 
Assuming that cross-breeding to be successful should be under¬ 
taken with a distinct and defined object; we, therefore, assign 
the highest praise and the first rank to those who maintain intact 
the purity of our best established breeds, because it is from these 
alone that we can obtain the best animals for cross-breeding. 
An opinion is very commonly entertained that there are only 
two breeds of horses in this country, ponies excepted—viz., the 
thoroughbred and the heavy cart horse, all the rest being but 
modifications of these races in various degrees. It is, however, 
probable that long before either of these extremes were known 
among us there existed a native breed of a very useful kind, pure 
examples of which are now scarcely to be met with. The pack 
horse, with his drooping hind quarters, good shoulders, strong 
fore legs, and sure action, existed in England, we have good 
reason to believe, for centuries before the Barb and Arab were im¬ 
ported for the chase or the racecourse by the Stuarts, or the intro¬ 
duction of carriages had led to the use of Flanders mares brought 
from the neighbouring continent. These heavy horses with their 
high action, slow, but sure and staunch, were naturally much 
prized for helping the ponderous coach out of deep ruts of the high 
roads which formerly prevailed in most parts of the kingdom. 
We find that there are but few specimens remaining of the pure 
pack-horse breed, and perhaps we may say we have only the cross 
with some of the old blood left to us. These, however, have been 
comparatively neglected and overlooked by agricultural societies ; 
and consequently, whilst the mares have for a while proved 
valuable for breeding half-bred hunters with the thoroughbred 
horse, the males have becom;i useless. 
This original breed, or ancient race, has no doubt been modified 
considerably in size according to the fertility of the soil on which 
it might have been raised. Sometimes it has developed into the 
upstanding harness horse, and at others dwindling down to the 
plain but useful Galloway or cob horse, as seen in many remote 
districts, and particularly in the little horses used in the Irish 
cars—the Welsh pony and the Clydesdale cart horse. The latter 
enlarged by rich pasturage and probably a cross also, will no 
doubt represent the opposite extremes of this same breed. In less 
civilised ages the most useful horse was that which could most 
* 
readily be adapted to all purposes. We see no good reason why, 
even in modern times, the more ancient breed, equally pure and 
more serviceable than the blood horse or dray horse, should be 
altogether neglected, not only by our sporting men, but by the 
patrons of the agricultural societies, particularly since magnificent 
hunters have been the result of the cross between the thorough¬ 
bred horse and the old pack-horse mare. Many years ago we had 
a saddle horse which we rode for some years. He was low in his 
hind-quarters, but with capital shoulder and good action. The day 
was never too long for him, and he was very fast and sure-footed ; 
but he would not go in harness, being of a nervous temperament. 
This animal was no doubt of the pack-horse blood, but probably 
bred from a dam of nervous temper. 
We have previously made slight allusion to the contour of the 
pack horse, but in order to thoroughly estimate his worth for 
cross-breeding we will describe the points which he possessed. 
The prevailing colours of the breed were bay and brown, which 
with black legs denoted hardy constitution, at least so far as 
colour can influence the constitution. Among the chief pecu¬ 
liarities were the flat fore leg with its well-developed back sinews, 
the sound foot, and capital shoulders and fore hand. The neck 
muscular, but not thick and heavy, was fairly arched, and the 
head, of moderate size, was well set on. This form was accom¬ 
panied, as we might expect, with safe action in the walk and trot; 
the horse rarely stumbled, and only fell from exhaustion or over¬ 
work. Whilst the heavier and coarser specimens of this breed 
were capable of carrying a 5-cwt. load throughout a long journey, 
the lighter and more active were used as the ordinary saddle 
horse, or even the hunter of the period. Many of these animals 
were extraordinary trotters, and as trotters are generally good 
walkers the quality was greatly prized and encouraged ; and thus 
a race of trotters was bred, which no doubt were the ancestors 
of the celebrated American trotting horses, such as the “ Tom 
Thumbs ” of later days. Although these horses were deep in the 
chest and ribs the hind quarters were comparatively inferior, the 
hips often ugly, the tail set on low, and sometimes the hocks were 
rather too straight. The celebrated trotting horses of Norfolk 
were evidently not true pack horses, although no doubt allied to 
them, for they, it is said, had some Spanish blood, and probably 
of the thoroughbred also. 
Let us now take a review of the peculiarities of the thorough¬ 
bred horse in order that we may be enabled to estimate his value 
for crossing purposes, and produce the effect in mating with 
other breeds which we are desirous of obtaining. Racing no 
doubt was known in this country long before, but received a fresh 
impetus from the introduction of the Barb, the Arabian, and the 
Turk. The modern blood horse is, however, of much greater 
average size than the Arab or the Barb either of the present or 
the past, and some doubt exists whether this is entirely due to 
selection or in part to early crossing with the native mare. This 
foreign influence, however, was not derived from one strain only, 
for the pedigree of the celebrated “Eclipse” himself shows, that 
besides his descent from the Darby Arabian and Godolphin Barb 
he had five or six crosses of the Turk ; and it is strongly surmised 
that the improved native horse, made up of the ancient British 
and Spanish and the Barb, is entitled to some share in the 
honours of his parentage. Be this as it may, the present English 
thoroughbred horse has proved himself faster than any of the 
breeds from which he is sprung, which circumstance is most 
important, as it most forcibly exhibits the value of cross-breeding 
when it is judiciously carried out with a well-defined object in 
view. Still it can be done only to the best advantage by mating 
animals of certain known pedigree or long-existent race. 
Many doubts have been cast of late on the powers of the tho¬ 
roughbred English horse as to his endurance in comparison with 
the smaller horse of some fifty or sixty years ago. The thorough¬ 
bred English horse, in common with the Arabian, possesses no 
doubt more muscular vigour as well as energy than any other 
kind of horse. It is to this circumstance that we attribute the 
fact that racing horses of the present can be brought out with 
safety on the turf at the early age of two years, and many of our 
best and most valued strains have been highly successful in their 
engagements at two years of age, and lived for some years as the 
most valuable racers of the period, and have afterwards proved as 
“ stud horses ” the basis of some of the most highly prized strains 
in the kingdom. From time to time it has been suggested, with 
the view of improving our breed of thoroughbred horses, and 
particularly as to their staying qualities, to resort again to the 
original or parent breeds ; but not to mention the ill-success of 
such attempts when made, it must be evident that the tendency 
of this cross would be to diminish the size and to shorten the 
stride, and probably to render the action too high ; we cannot, 
therefore, expect breeders for the turf to adopt the advice. At 
the same time it must be acknowledged that the Arab has been 
more successful with half-bred and under-bred mares than the 
third-class cast-off racer, inasmuch as with undeniable bottom 
there has been a hardier constitution, better fore legs, and higher 
action from this cross. As we can recommend these observations 
as sound in practice, no better encouragement for those who are 
desiring to breed hunters and hack horses can be given than is 
here pourtrayed as the result of the Arab cross when the sire is of 
the pure breed and pedigree ; for it is now well ascertained where 
the dam has been of sufficient bone and size that many good 
hunters and handsome harness horses have been so bred. Still 
more frequently this cross has been successful in producing 
capital ponies and Galloways, as we shall show when we come to 
the subject of breeding ponies further on. Arabs have, in pro¬ 
portion to their size and weight, larger bone and sinew than the 
majority of our thoroughbreds, and we have often observed their 
beneficial influence in the second and third generation both with 
hunters and horses for other purposes. 
