by Brown, that "though horses, neat cattle, sheep, and swine are of equal importance to the British farmer with corn crops, yet we have few treatises concerning the animals, compared with the immense number that have been 'written on the management of arable land, or the crops produced upon it. But though so little has been written, the improvement of those animals has not been neglected; on the contrary, it has been studied like a science, and carried into execution with the most sedulous attention and dexterity. We wish it could be stated, that one half of the care had been applied to the selecting and breeding of wheat and other grains, which has been displayed in selecting and breeding the best proportioned and most kindly feeding sheep. A comparison cannot, however, be made with the slightest degree of success; the exertions of the sheepfarmers having, in every point of view, far exceeded what has been done by the renters of arable land. Even with cattle considerable improvement has taken place. With horses, those of the racing and hunting kinds excepted, there has not been correspondent improvement; and as to swine, an animal of great benefit to the farmer, in consuming offal which would otherwise be of no value, it is to be regretted that very much remains to be done."

5547. The first important effort in the improvement of live stock, was made by Robert Bakewell, of Dishly, about 1730; and the first scientific work which appeared on the subject, was by George Cully, in 1782. Bakewell wrote nothing himself; but the principles on which he acted in selecting and breeding cattle and sheep, have been developed, by his contemporaries, in various agricultural reports. Some excellent observations on the subject have also appeared from the pens of Cline, Dr. Coventry, Sir. J. Sebright, Hunt of Leicester, and others. The improvement in the sciences of comparative anatomy and physiology has also led to an amended practice both in breeding and in pathology. The example of various opulent proprietors and farmers in all parts of the empire, tended to spread this improvement, by which the pursuit became fashionable. Add to these the accounts of the management of live stock in almost every county of the British Isles, as contained in Marshal's Works and the County Reports. From these sources we shall draw the information we are about to submit, and shall adopt the arrangement of the horse, the ass, the mule and hinny, the bull family and the dairy, the sheep, the swine, minor stock, and injurious animals or vermin.

CHAP. I.

The cultivated Horse.-Equus Caballus, L.; Mammalia Belluæ, L.; and Pachydermes Solipedes, Cuvier; Cheval, Fr.; Pferde, Ger. ; Caballo, Span.; and Cavallo, Ital. 5548. The horse family, by far the most important among the brute creation as a servant to man, includes several species both in a wild and cultivated state, as the Equus hemionus or wild mule, a native of Arabia and China, and which it is supposed would form an excellent race of small horses, could they be reduced to a state of domestication; the E. asinus, or ass, well known; the E. zebra, or striped ass; the E. quagga, by some considered a variety of the zebra; and the E. bisulcus or cloven-footed horse, a native of Chili, and by many supposed to belong to a distinct genus.

5549. The common horse, justly considered as the noblest of animals, is found in a wild state in the deserts of Great Tartary, in the southern parts of Siberia, and in other parts of Asia, and in the interior of Africa. He is of the greatest antiquity, and has long been domesticated and cultivated in most parts of the earth, for the various purposes of war, hunting, parade, the saddle, or draught; and in some piaces, partly for his flesh and the milk of the female. The parts of a horse, when no longer endowed with life, are applied to various useful purposes: the blood for manure; the bones are broken and boiled, to produce oil, and afterwards are ground into an excellent manure; some of the bones are also used in the mechanical arts. The flesh supplies food for the domestic carnivorous animals, the cat and dog; for carnivorous birds, as the hawk, eagle, &c., kept for amusement or curiosity; and for fish and various similar purposes. We shall consider the horse, in regard to its varieties, organology, anatomy, physiology, diseases, breeding, rearing, training, feeding, and working.

SECT. I. Of the Varieties of the Horse.

5550. The varieties of the domestic horse vary exceedingly in different countries. The Arabian horse (fig. 603.) is a portrait of one brought by Buonaparte from

Egypt, and now living in the royal garden of Paris,) are reckoned the best, and their inhabitants the most expert in horsemanship. The care taken by the Arabs in preserving the breeds of their horses, is most remarkable. None but stallions of the finest form and purest blood are allowed access to their mares, which is never permitted but in the presence of a professional witness or public officer, who attests the fact, records the name, and signs the pedigree of each. The Persian horses are considered next in value; and after them the horses of Andalusia in Spain. The Barbary horses are descended from the Arabians, and much esteemed. Jackson (Empire of Morocco, p. 42.) mentions one very fleet variety, used for hunting

the ostrich, and fed entirely on camel's milk. In Algiers they are said not to like to castrate their horses, but only squeeze their testicles when they are about three months old, which renders them incapable of propagation. The horses of India are small and vícious, the climate being unfavorable to their greater developement. Those of Tartary are of a moderate size; but strong, muscular, full of spirit and active. The Tartars are considered skilful riders. Like the Kalmucks, they eat their flesh as we do that of oxen, and use their milk either in curd or fermented.

5551. Of the European varieties of the horse, those of Italy were formerly in greater esteem than at present; but still, those of the Neapolitans shine both under the saddle and in traces. Great numbers are bred in Sicily; those of Sardinia and Corsica are small, but active and spirited. The Swiss horses partake of the same qualities.

5552, The Spanish horses are much commended: some make them second to the Arabians, and place them before the Barb. Those of the finest breeds are generally finely carcassed and well limbed horses, active, ready and easy in their paces, docile and affectionate to their owners, full of spirit and courage, but tempered with mildness and good nature; they are for the most part, of a moderate size. Those which are bred in Upper Andalusia are deemed the most valuable. The Portuguese horses, or rather mares, were famous of old for being very fleet and long-winded; but of late it is said they are much degenerated.

5553. France abounds in horses of all kinds, but does not excel in native breeds; the best of those fit for the saddle come from Limousin: they resemble the Barbs in many particulars, and like them are fittest for hunting, but they are supposed not to be fit for work before they are seven or eight years old. There are also very good "Bidets" or ponies, in Auvergne, Poitou, and Burgundy. Next to those of Limousin, Normandy claims precedence, for a well formed and useful breed. Lower Normandy and the district of Cotentin furnish some very tolerable coach horses, and which are more active and appear more elastic in their motions than the Dutch horses. They have, however, a noble race of large draught horses equal to any seen in England, and, among which, the chestnut color seems to prevail. The French horses generally are apt to have their shoulders although oblique, yet too loose and open, as those of the Barbs are usually too confined and narrow.

5554. The Flemish horses are inferior in value to the Dutch, having usually large heavy heads and necks; their feet also are immoderately large and flat, and their legs subject to watery humours and swellings.

5555. Holland furnishes a race of horses which are principally serviceable in light draught work: the best come from Friesland.

5556. Germany is not destitute of good horses, and such as prove useful for many purposes; but they are reckoned to be heavy and defective in wind. The Germans possess, however, finer breeds obtained from Turks and Barbs which are kept as stallions; they obtain also some good specimens from the Italians and Spaniards. As racers and hunters they are inferior to the Hungarian and Transylvanian horses. The horses of Bohemia are not distinguished by any eminent qualities. The Hussars and Transylvanians are accustomed to slit the nostrils of their horses, under a notion of giving their breath a free passage, and improving their wind, as well as to render them incapable of neighing, which, in the field, would be often inconvenient. The Croatian horses are nearly allied in qualities and character to the Hungarian and Bohemian: these, as well as the Poles, are remarkable for being, as the French term it," Begut," or keeping the mark in their teeth as long as they live.

5557. The Polish horses are hardy, strong, and useful, but they are generally of a middling size. In the marshy parts of Prussia, and towards the mouth of the Vistula, there is a breed of tall, strong horses, resembling those of Friesland, but of inferior value.

5558. The horses of Russsia are not much regarded by other nations. They are small but hardy, and capable of enduring great fatigue. Great attention is, however, paid to such as are very fast in their trot, and such a breed is much encouraged for trotting matches on the snow and ice. Those of the Turkish breed are handsome and finely shaped, but too slight and weak for heavy cavalry. The Kalmuck horses are somewhat higher than the Russian common horses, and are so lasting and constitutionally strong as to be able to run three or four hundred English miles in three days. They subsist, summer and winter, solely upon grass in the great deserts which are between the rivers Don, Volga, and Yaik, where they are collected in great herds of four hundred, five hundred, or even a thousand. They are excellent swimmers, and pass the river Volga, where it is from one to two miles broad, with great ease.

5559. The horses of Sweden are low and small, and the Norway breed may be comprehended under the same description, but they are strong, hardy, and active. Denmark, and also Holstein and Oldenburg, boast a large variety of horses, which has long been esteemed as peculiarly adapted for heavy cavalry and carriage uses, though they are apt to fail with respect to elegance of limb and symmetry of parts; their heads being large, their shoulders heavy, their backs long, with croups too narrow to correspond with their fore parts. In the islands of Feroe there is a race of horses of small growth, but strong, speedy, and very sure-footed. They are never shod, and feed abroad without shelter both summer and winter. In Suderoe, one of these islands, they have a peculiarly swift breed, of great use to the inhabitants, who catch their sheep, which are wild, by hunting them with a dog, pursuing them at the same time with their horses. The horses of Lapland are small of stature, but active and willing; they are used only in

the winter season, in drawing sledges over the snow, and transporting wood, forage, and other necessaries; but in summer they are turned into the forests, where they form separate troops, strictly confined to their own quarters.

5560. The British varieties of saddle horse may be reduced into the racer, the hunter, the improved hack, the old English road horse, the galloway, and the pony; the two latter of which we shall consider in another place.

5561. The race horse (fig. 604.) is descended, some from Arabians and others from Barbs, but principally the former. Races or courses were very early a part of British sports; and it is natural to suppose that on this account, endeavors would be made to improve and enlarge the breeds of the native horses. Roger de Bellesme, Earl of Shrewsbury, is the first on record who imported a Spanish stallion, whose progeny was afterwards extolled by Michael Drayton, in his Polyalbion. In the reign of Henry IV., public ordinances were made favorable to the improvement of the breeding of horses The courses of those times were, however, probably little more than ordinary trials of speed between the indigene or the slightly improved breeds; and it was not until the days of Henry VII. and VIII, that the true Arabian horses were imported. During these reigns, stal.

lions from Arabia, Barbary, and Per ia were procured, their progeny were regularly trained to the course, and from these periods we trace that gradual cultivation of the English race horse, which has, at length, produced a breed unrivalled throughout the world for symmetry of form, swiftness of progression, and durability under exertion. The accounts on record of feats performed by some of our horses on the turf are truly astonishing. Bay Malton, ran at York, four miles in seven minutes and forty-three seconds. Childers, known by the name of the flying Childers, moved through a space equal to eighty-two feet and a half in a second. After these Eclipse, Highflyer, Matchem, Hambletonian, and others, have contributed to keep up the reputation of the English racer.

5562. Climate has a great influence over the form of animals, and that form is found indigenous to each, which best fits it for the purposes required of it. In the arid plains of the east where herbage is scarce, a form is given which enables its brute inhabitants to readily transport themselves from one spot to another; and as in every situation the flesh of the horse is greedily sought after by the predatory tribes, so here, where those are peculiarly strong and active, the horse is formed peculiarly agile and swift to escape their attack, as well as peculiarly light, that his weight might not sink him in the sandy plains, nor his bulk retard him in his flight. Removed, however, to more temperate climes, where vegetation affords by its luxuriance more nutriment, and where the restrictions of danger have ceased to operate, we no longer see him equally small and slender, but with equal capacity for swift progression, we find him expanded into a form capable of keeping up that progression with a durability unknown to the original breeds from whence he sprang Symmetrically formed as we now see him, he at once evinces his claim to great speed. His osseous or bony skeleton exhibits a base founded on the justest geometrical principles, presenting a series of lengthened levers acting by means of a condensed muscular and tendinous organization of great power, on angles capable of great flexion and extension: while his pointed form fits him to cleave that atmosphere, from which his deep chest enables him to draw by extensive inspirations wind and vigour to continue his exertions. Purity of blood, by which is meant the resu t of confining to particular races or breeds the means of continuing their species, is observed with equal care and jealousy by the breeders of the English race, as by the Arabians; 605 and turf jockies assert they can discover a taint or departure from this purity to the sixteenth remove.

5563. The hunter (fig. 605.) is derived from horses of entire blood, or such as are but little removed from it, uniting with mares of substance, correct form, and good action. In some instances hunters are derived from large mares of the pure breed, propagating with powerful stallions of the old English road horse. This favorite and valuable breed is a happy combination of the speed of the Arabian, with the durability of the native horse. More extended in form, but framed on the same principles, he is able to carry a considerable weight through heavy grounds with a swiftness equalk d only by the animal he pursues, and with a perseverance astonishing to the natives of every other country. Hence the extreme demand for this breed of horses in every European country; our racing stallions being now seat to propagate in the eastern climes, from whence they were some of them originally brought.

5564. The improved hackney (fig. 606) is derived, like the former, from a judicious mixture of the blood breed with the native horse, but exhibiting a greater proportion of the latter. Hacknies are now, 606

race.

however, mostly bred from stallions possessing nearly the same proportion of blood with the hunter; but with a form and qualities somewhat differing In the backney as safety is as requisite as speed, we look particularly to the fore parts to see that they are high and well-placed; that the head is not heavy, nor the neck disproportion. ately long or short; that the legs stand straight, that is, that a perpendicular line drawn from the point of the shoulder should meet the toe); and that the elbows turn out: and although a perfect conformation in the hinder parts is necessary to the hackney, it is in some measure subordinate to the same perfection in the fore parts; whereas in the racer and hunter, but particularly in the former, the form of the hinder is even of more consequence than that of the fore parts.

5565. The old English road horse. This most useful breed is now nearly extinct, although some northern agriculturists appear to be making efforts to revive the

It has so long been known in this country that it might almost be reckoned among its indigens: although it is probable that it originally sprang from a judicious culture from horses of Norman, German,

or Flemish extraction, which horses were very early imported to enlarge our smaller breeds, and to render them equal to the heavy loads they were accustomed to carry as pack-horses; and of which kind the old English road horse unquestionably is. (fig. 607.) 607 Neither is it at all impossible, that in the more fertile parts of the island, an original breed existed of considerable power and bulk. Athelstan expressly prohibited the exportation of English horses, and the" scythed chariots drawn by fiery steeds" of the ancient Britons struck terror even into Cæsar's legions. These accounts of the antiquity of the English horse, receive additional strength from the notices we obtain of the fossil bones of horses having been found, according to Parkinson, in various parts of the island. The old English road horse possessed great power, with short joints, a moderate shoulder, elevated crest, with legs and feet almost invariably good. The heights varied from fifteen hands to fifteen hands two inches; and the colors were frequently mixed.

5566. The objection, however, to English horses

Commerce

both of the original and of the more early improved breeds, and which is even still seen among them, is, that they want grace or expression in their figure and carriage; that they are obstinate and sullen, and that a certain stiffness in their shoulders, and want of suppleness and elasticity in their limbs, renders them unfit for the manege. As this is an important charge against the excellence of our breeds, it may be worth consideration how far it is founded in truth. requires despatch, and England as a great commercial country makes every thing subservient to an economical use of time. Conformable to these principles, many of the qualities of our horses, but principally those of flexibility and safety in progression, are certainly sacrificed to speed, in which they undoubtedly excel all horses in the world. It is well known that all animals intended by nature for quick progression, are formed low in their fore parts, and have usually narrow upright shoulders; and which defects are too common in English horses in general. On the contrary, in most of the improved breeds of continental horses, the fore hands are elevated, and the shoulders wide and oblique; by which, flexibility and safety in progression are gained at some expense of celerity; for the strong lumbar muscles of such formed horses, operating on the lengthened spinous processes of the dorsal vertebrae with increased advantage, elevate the fore parts higher; and even in default of this form in the fore parts, yet a corresponding effect is produced in foreign horses by the great strength and expansion of their haunches and croups, and by the greater inclination in their hinder extremities towards the common centre of gravity of the body: for as speed depends first on the extent to which the angles of the limbs can be opened, and secondly, on the efforts of the body in its transit to counteract the tendency to the common centre of gravity, the earth; so it is evident that the form which is the most favorable to speed, is less so to safety or flexibility in progression.

5567. The Irish road horse, or hunter, coeval with, or probably in some measure subsequent to the culture of the old English road horse, was a still more excellent breed. With similar properties, but an improved form, with a great acquired aptitude for leaping, it gained the name of the Irish hunter; and when the dogs of the chace were less speedy than they now are, this horse was equal to every thing required of him as a hunter; even now the possessors of the few which remain find, particularly in an enclosed and deep country, that what others gain by speed these accomplish by strength to go through any ground, and activity sufficient to accomplish the most extraordinary leaps. As roadsters, these horses have ever proved valuable, uniting durability, ease, and safety with extreme docility. In form they may be considered as affording a happy mixture of an improved hack with our old English roadster. 5568. The British varieties of saddle horse of more inferior description are very numerous, as cobs, galloways, and ponies. Cobs are a thick, compact, hackney breed, from fourteen hands to fourteen hands two inches high, in great request for elderly and heavy persons to ride, or to drive in low phaetons, &c. Galloways and ponies are lately in much request also for low chaises; a demand which will lead to a cultivation of their form; the number bred requires little increase, as several waste districts or moors throughout England are already appropriated principally to the purpose of rearing ponies.

5569. The British varieties of war or cavalry horse, and of carriage and cart horse, are considered to have been derived from the German and Flemish breeds, meliorated by judicious culture. Most of the superior varieties contain a mixture of Arabian or Spanish blood. Cavalry horses are found amongst the larger sort of hacknies; and the observations made in the late wars sufficiently shew the justice of the selection. Except in a few unhappy instances, where a mistaken admiration of the Hulans had led to selecting them too light, the English cavalry horse possessed a decided superiority over the best French horses in strength and activity, as well as over the Germans, whose horses, on the other hand, by their bulk and heavy make, were incapable of seconding the efforts of the British dragoons. The coach, chariot, and stage horses are derived, many of them from the Cleveland bays, further improved by a mixture of blood. Others are bred from a judicious union of blood and bone, made by the breeders in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and other midland counties.

5570. The varieties of draught horse were originally as numerous as the districts from whence they were bred, each having its favorite breed; but since the intercourse among farmers and breeders has been greater, those in common use are so mixed as to render it difficult to determine of what variety they partake the most. At present, the principally esteemed draught horses are the Suffolk punch, the Cleveland bay, the black, and the Lanark or Clydesdale. The native breeds of draught horses of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, are much too small for the purposes of agricultural draught as now conducted; but by cultivation, the improved breeds pointed out, have furnished such animals as are equal to every thing required of them.

5571. The black horse (fig. 608), bred in the midland counties of England, is a noble and useful animal; and furnishes those grand teams we see in the coal, flour, and other heavy carts and waggons about London; where the immense weight of the animal's body assists his accompanying strength to move the heaviest loads. But the present system of farming requires horses of less bulk and more activity for the usual agricultural purposes, better adapted for travelling, and more capable of enduring fatigue; consequently this breed is seldom seen in the improved farms. The black cart horse is understood to have been formed, or at least to have been brought to its present state, by means of stallions and mares imported from the low countries; though there

appears to be some difference in the accounts that have been preserved, in regard to the places from whence they were originally brought, and to the persons who introduced them, (Culley on Live Stock, p. 32., and

Marshal's Economy of the Midland Counties, vol. i. p. 306.) Marshal, under too confined a view, and probably prejudiced against the breed on account of its fancied want of spirit, as well as for the alleged tendency to become flat and pommiced in the feet, is most unreasonably severe on it, when he says, "the breed of grey rats, with which this island has of late years been overrun, are not a greater pest in it than the breed of black fen horses; at least while cattle remain scarce as they are at present, and while the flesh of horses remains to be rejected as an article of human food." (Marshal's Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 164). The present improved sub-variety of this breed is said to have taken its rise in six Zealand mares, sent over from the Hague by the late Lord Chesterfield, during his embassy at that

court.

5572. The Cleveland bays (fig. 609.), which owe some of their most valuable properties to crosses with

thick, with the reaching cartilaginous portion of the blade-bone nearly as high as the withers, and not so much thrown backwards as in road horses; the hoof round, and usually black, with wide heels; the back straight and broad, but not too long; the hucks visible, but not prominent, and the space between them and the ribs short; the tail heavy, and well haired; the thighs meeting each other so near as to leave only a small groove for the tail to rest on. One most valuable property of this breed is, that they are remarkably true pullers, a restive horse being rarely found among them.

5575. The Welsh horse (fig. 612 a) bears a near resemblance, in point of size and hardiness, to the best of the native breed of the highlands of Scotland, and other hilly countries in the north of Europe. It is too small for the present two-horse ploughs; but few horses are equal to them for enduring fatigue on the road. "I well remember," says Culley, "one that I rode for many years, which, to the last,