372 OBSERVATIONS UPON THE PRESENT STATE OF HORSES 
to which they belong, viz. the Noitli Riding of Yorkshire, and 
the counties of Durham and Northumberland. The most com¬ 
mon feature at all these places, is, a great scarcity of any thing 
like good horses of any sort, ancl abundance of bad ones of all kinds. 
In making this assertion, I by no means trust to what I myself 
have seen. I am borne out by persons of far greater experience 
than myself in these matters ;—men who have been in the habit 
of the most constant attendance at these northern fairs, even for 
a much longer period than I have named. “These fairs,” say 
they, “ are sadly falling off; every year they are getting worse and 
worse ; they are now scarcely worth going near.” 
Some people suppose the farmers may not bring their best 
cattle to market; but this is mere imagination. Upon this point 
I think our old friend, Mr. Thomas Harris, who, in mounting his 
Majesty’s cavalry for so many years, may be said to have lived 
all his life in the midst of these northern districts, is to be con¬ 
sidered pretty good authority. “The farmers,” he observes, 
“cannot bring what they have not got: the horses are not in the 
country.” And this I believe to be tire true state of the case. 
It is a fact, then, admitted by persons of the greatest practical 
experience, and of which there can hardly be a doubt, that our 
breed of horses, calculated for general purposes, has greatly de¬ 
generated and fallen off, particularly of late years. This is a cir¬ 
cumstance, every one will own, much to be regretted. For my 
own part, I cannot help looking upon it as a kind of national mis¬ 
fortune : and it may be worth while to enquire into the causes 
which have tended to produce this state of things. 
The farmers complain that breeding horses does not suffi¬ 
ciently repay them ; and yet we find large sums of money always 
given at fairs for any they produce that are really good. Those of 
a certain quality are sure to fetch high prices : such prices as one 
would think must remunerate them, under any circumstances. 
Bad ones are not, at any time, likely to pay for rearing; and cer¬ 
tainly less now than ever, because of the advanced rate of land 
and the increased expense of production. But the truth is, that 
the farmers, now-a-day, do not breed horses so generally good as 
they used to do; that, in short, they produce much fewer good 
ones, and an infinitely greater proportion of bad ones than for¬ 
merly : and this I take to be owing, in a great measure, to the 
inferior quality of the mares they now most commonly employ in 
breeding. Of late years they have been tempted to part with all 
their best mares, and have been breeding from the refuse. The 
stock consequently deteriorates and disappoints them. 
The great demand for mares, withing the last fifteen or twenty 
years, in the London market, for the army, and to go abroad, 
