The Sun.
London, England, 1834-02-04 00:00:00

ENGLISH AND GERMAN HORSES.

DRAFT BY MUSCLE, AND DRAFT BY WEIGHT.—
" Many years have elapsed since I first observed
that, somehow or other, the horses on the Continent
manage to pull a heavy carriage up a steep bill, or
even along a dead level, with greater ease to them-
selves than our English horses. Now, in English,
French, and German harness, there exist, as it
were, three degrees of comparison as to the manner
in which the head of the horse is treated; (or in
England, it is elevated, or borne up, by what we call
the bearing rein—in France, it is left as nature
placed it (there being to common French harness no
bearing-rein)—and, in Germany, the head is tied
down to the lower extremity of the collar, or else
the collar is so made that the animal is by it de-
prived of the power of raising his head. Now,
passing over, for a moment, the French method,
which is, in fact, the state of nature, let us consider
which is better—to bear a horse's brad up, as in
England, or pull it downwards, as in Germany. In
a state of nature, the wild horse, as everybody
knows, has two distinct gaits or attitudes. If a man, or
any still wilder beast,come suddenly upon him, up goes
his head; and as he first stalks arid then trots gently
avvaywith ears erect,snortingwith his nose, and proudly
snuffing up (he air, as if exulting in his freedom—as
one fore-leg darts before the other, we have before
us a picture of doubt, astonishment, and hesitation,
all of which feelings seen to rein him, like a troop-
horse, on his haunches; but attempt to pursue him,
and the moment he defies you—the moment, deter-
mining to escape, he shakes his head, and lays him-
self to his work—how completely does he alter his
attitude ! That instant down goes his head, and
from his ears to the tip of his tail there is in his ver-
tebrae an undulating action which seems to propel
him, which works him along, and which, it is evi-
dent, you could not deprive him of without materially
diminishing his speed. Now, in harness the horse
has naturally the same two gaits or attitudes, and it
is quite true that he can start away with a carriage
either in one or the other; but the means by which
he succeeds in this effort—the physical power which
he calls into action, are essentially different :—in the
one case he works by his muscles, and in the other by
his own dead, or rather living,weight. In order to grind
corn, if any man were to erect a steam-engine over
a fine, strong,running stream, we should all say to
him, Why do you not allow your wheel to be
turned by cold water instead of hot ? Why do
you not avail yourself of the weight of water, in-
stead of expending your capital it; converting it into
the power of steam ? In short, why do you not use
the simple resource which nature has presented
ready made to your hand ?" In the same way the
German may say to us, We acknowledge a horse
can drag a carriage by the power of his muscles,
but why do you not allow him to drag it by ilia
weight?'" Let any one observe a pair of English
post-horses dragging a heavy weight up a bill, and
he will at once see that the poor creatures are work-
ing by their muscles, and that it is by sheer strength
that the resistance is overcome; but how can it be
otherwise ?—their heads are higher than nature in-
tended them to be even in walking in a state of li-
berty, carrying no weight but therm-elves ; the
halarrce of their bodies is, therefore, absolutely turned
against, instead of leaning in favour of, their draught ;
and if my reader will pass his hands down
the back sinews of our stage-coach or post-
chaise horses, he will soon feel (though not
so keenly as they do) what is the cruel and
fatal consequence. It is true, that, in ascending a
very steep hill, an English postillion will occasionally
unhook his bearing-reins; but the jaded creatures,
trained for years to work in a false attitude, cannot
in one moment get themselves into the scientific
position which the German horses are habitually en-
couraged to adopt. Besides this, we are so sharp
with our horses—we keep them so constantly on
the qui viva, or as we term it, in hand, that we ase
always driving them from the use of their weisiht to
the application of their sinews. That the figure and
attitude of a horse working by his sinews are infia
nitely prouder than when he is working by his weight
(there may exist, however, false pride among horses
as well as men) I most readily admit; and, there-
fore, for carriages of luxury, where the weight bears
little proportion to the powers of the noble animals
employed, I acknowledge that the sinews are more
than sufficient; to bear up the head of a poor horse
plough, or any slow heavy work, is, I conceive, a
rtirtrarous error, which ought not to be persisted in,
Whether there is most of the horse in a German, or
of the German in a horse, is a nice point, on which
people might argue a great deal; but the broad fact
really is, that Germans live on more amicable terms
with their horses, and understand their dispositions
nfiu tely better, than the English ; in short, they
'Hat them as horses, while we act towards them
and drill them as if they were men ; and in case any
reader should doubt that Germans are better horse-
masters than we are, I beg to remind him of what is
perfectly 'veil known to the British army, namely,
that in the Peninsular war, the cavalry horses of the
Germanour
regimentsl seg i
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whileof

We have received from St. Petersbureh a
ta'de of exports from that city during the last year. y The
tollowing are the most prominent articles :—Copp,,r,
212.720 ponds ; iron, 828,935 ; hemp, 1.980.668 ; t 1 is,
246,911 ; cordage, 230,474 ; po'ass, 475.996 ; 1i ser~l
oil, 204,241 ; tallow, 1,083,657 ; eandlts, 36,358 ; wax,
9,233 ; snap, 8,077 ; isinglass, 5,625 ; leather, 129,602;
wool, 58,512 ; hogs' bristles, 64,020; horsehair,23,924;
feathers, 29,708 ; spices and drugs, 18 741 ; mats,
132 003 ; cloths, 205,470; tilde linen, 1,984,100;
ihcking cloths, 1,619,385 archines ; lin erd, 158,3t,9
tchetvet is ; and deals, 2,181,562.

NOBLE BEQUEST.—The late Mrs. Oliver,
of Long Me'ford, has lift by her will the interest of 4,0001.
Stock, to be laid out in coals, and distributed twice a eitt.
tor ever to the poor of that place by the cburchward,
.in i over,eers for the time being, who are left fie trut:et a,
—Norfolk Chronicle.