162 
COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
made both charger and knight immortal. Justice requires the 
statement, however, that Don Quixot’s Rozinante, “ qui tantum 
pellis et ossa fuit ,” was hardly a fair specimen of the Anda¬ 
lusian blood ! 
The horse of the chivalric period had been greatly improved 
by the introduction of the fine blooded Barb, to which indeed 
it owes its most notable qualities, though since the decline of 
Spain, so little attention has been paid to keeping up the blood, 
that the horse of the present is not very desirable. 
The English Horse, previous to the twelfth century, 
was an ordinary, indeed rather inferior animal; but through 
the enterprise of King John, who imported stallions from 
Flanders,—and thus initiated the production of the powerful 
draught horse , now so well known throughout the world,— 
of Edward II, who made importations from Lombardy ; and of 
Edward III, who introduced the finer Spanish blood, and thus 
originated the roadster and the race horse , which are yet more 
characteristic of England ; through these successive and judi¬ 
cious importations the foundation was laid for all these breeds 
which have made the English horse famous. Subsequently the 
stock of English horses was still further improved, and, we 
might almost say, brought to perfection, by the mingling of 
pure Arabian blood. 
The present English Breed of Horses is decidedly com¬ 
posite, being made up of nearly all other races ; yet it now 
presents a clear type of its own, and until America went into 
successful competition with England, probably excelled all other 
countries in the production of both fancy and utilitarian horses. 
Divided according to their adaptation to different uses, there 
is the Thorough-bred , (a horse designed for the turf and to 
sustain the national credit), the Roadster, the Hunter, the 
Coach Horse, the Farm Horse, the Draught Horse and so on. 
The American Breeds of Horses are evidently derived 
from four principal sources : 
The Canadian , familiarly kn#wn to everybody as heavy- 
