The horse; with a treatise of draught / [William Youatt].

  • William Youatt
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The horse; with a treatise of draught / [William Youatt]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    960,000,000 francs, or 40,000,000 pounds sterling, as the gross value of this species of national property *. It must be supposed that so extensive a country as France possesses various breeds of horses. Auvergne and Poitou produce good ponies and galloways; but the best French horses are bred in Limousin and Normandy. From the former district come excellent saddle-horses and hunters, and from the latter a stronger species for the road, the cavalry service, and the carriage. M. Hoiiel lias recently published an interesting work on the varieties of the horse in France. He states that in the time of the Romans there were but two kinds of horses,—the war-horse, and the sumpter or pack-horse. The carriage, or draught-horse, was comparatively or quite unknown; and even men of the highest station suffered themselves to be indolently drawn by oxen. Great care was taken to preserve or to renew the strength and speed of the war-horse, and African or Arab blood was diligently sought. An animal, the type of the English Cleveland breed, the handsomest and strongest description of the coach- horse, was thus procured. By degrees, this horse was found too valuable for a hackney, and too high-trotting for a long journey, and a more smoothly-moving animal was gradually introduced. Still the charger did not grow quite out of fashion, and in Normandy the rearing of this animal became an object of much attention to the farmer. At first they were bred too slow and ponderous, but by degrees a horse was obtained of somewhat lighter action and considerable speed without much sacrifice of strength, and they now constitute a most valuable breed. “ I have not elsewhere,” says M. Hoiiel, “ seen such horses at the collar, under the diligence, or the post-carriage, or the farm-cart. They are enduring and energetic beyond description. At the voice of the brutal driver, or at the dreaded sound of his never-ceasing whip, they put forth all their strength, and they keep their condition when other horses would die of neglect and hard treatment.” The little Norman cart-horse is perhaps the best for farm- work. The Norman horses—and the same observation applies to all the northern provinces of France—are very gentle and docile. A kicking or vicious one is almost unknown there; but they are, with few exceptions, treated with tyranny and cruelty from first to last. The reign of terror may to a certain degree be necessary where there are many perfect horses; but the principle of cruelty should not extend, as it too often does, to the treatment of every kind of horse. Something must be attributed to both causes. There is more humanity among the French than the English peasantry; but, on the other hand, there are horrible scenes of cruelty to the horse hourly taking place in the streets of Paris, that would not be tolerated for a moment in the British metropolis. The breeding of horses has more decidedly become a branch of agricultural attention and speculation than it used to be; for it has been proved to the farmer that, with the proper kind of pasture, and within a fair distance of a proper market, instead of being one of the most uncertain and unprofitable modes of using the land, it yields more than an average return. The establishment of races in almost every part of France has given a spirit to the breeding and improvement of the horse which cannot fail of being exceed¬ ingly beneficial throughout the whole of the French empire. In fact, it may be stated without exaggeration, that the rapid improvement which is taking place is attributable principally to this cause. In order to effect the desired improve¬ ment, the French^ and with much judgment, have had recourse to the English thorough-bred horse far more than to the native Arabian. A great many of the best English stallions have been purchased for the French studs, and have been beneficially employed in improving, and often creating, the hunter, the racer, and almost all of the better class of horses used for purposes of luxury. * Journal dcs Ilaras, March 1337
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