Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-11-14
EQUALITY" IN FRENCH HORSES.
An English Horseman's Comments on the
French Horse and His Points.

An English HOrseman's Comments on the
French Horse and His Points.
Speaking of the quality of the native
French horses exhibited at the Paris
show last spring, Mr.. Burdette-Coutts, in
London Livestock, Sports and Pastimes,
says: Il have two general remarks to
make. First, that up to 15-2, or possibly
up to 1873, hands our English horses,
particularly now when the study and at
tentiOn given to the Hackney breed has
in five or six years produced such
marked Improvement are immeasurably
superior in every respect to any thing
that is bred in France. For barouche
horses from IL to II hands high l re-
luctantly admit that the French breeder
takes the briOche. The French have a
race of carrossiers-that is, by constant
| ly crossing the Hackney stallion with
the big mares of Normandy, the latter
probably enlarged by az earlier admixt-
ure of Cleveland or Yorkshire coach
horse blood, they have created race
| from which their barouche horses are
produced. / am by no means satisfied
with them. Their hind action is indiffer-
ent, their shapes are vastly inferior to
our best Yorkshire type, showing Meth
er the lengthy and level quarter nor the
long, elegant top line of the latter. But
that which really shows a horse in har-
ness, and which sells him at a high
| price for that purpose, viz: high action
in front, is very much more marked
! throughout the French-bred barouche
horses than in our own.
''It is not the best of action; it is often
up and down, 'fioppety,' and 'dishing,'
but there is no doubt about it they do
pop it up A pair of Yorkshire coach
horses or of Cleveland bays-of that fine
quality which my friend Mr.. A. E.
PeaSe, NJ P, does not appear to consider
either natural or valuable character
istic of the latter breed, but which l be-
lieve, by careful attention can easily be
produced from tiff they had really
high action in 'front.' would be worth, in
the eyes of any one who knows horses
tail from his head, double the money
that any French-bred pair ought to
fetch. But, as a rule, in our big horses
of this type we have not got the action.
There are one or two famous exceptions,
and if these should succeed in reproduc-
ing their own action while preserving
their fine shapes we shall have solved
the difficulty which to my mind should
be a matter of grief and CONSERVATION to
English Observation-Disclosures: that we
can not or do not at the present time
produce big carriage horses suitable fol
the London state carriage.
sit is a well-known fact that most Of
the big bay horses which we see in tbs
Mall on a drawing-roOm day, whatever
black blood may be in their veins, are
strangers in strange land. I do not
deny that some big horses with action
are produced in Great Britain, but for
the most part they are 'carriagey' hunt
ers from Ireland or the produce of Hack.
pey stations and cart mares, and in
neither case do they possess the curvili'
near and sweeping form which, to prac'
ticed eye, is most beautiful for pig
harness horse. l have little doubt t hat
some of the coarSeness of shape, and par
ticularly the low-set tail in the French
carrosSier. is due to the fact that many
big so-called Hackney stations have
been imported into that country which
get their size from cross of carting
blood. 1t remains to be seen whether in
this country we can not produce an uni
NAL with the requisite action and shap
by crossing the Cleveland bay or the
Yorkshire coach horse with pure Hack
ney possessed of extra size and quality.
Without the latter we shall do nothing
in this business.
'One noticeable feature in French
horses is that in all sizes they are bred
for speed in trotting. The composition
of the ground in the Palais de lIndustrie
is suited to this popularity, being hard
and not covered with tan, as in the case
of our shows. This is point which We
seem to have lost sight of in favor of
show action. And yet trotting speed must
be inherent in the breed that comes from
the loins of Marshland Shales,
who did his II miles in SO
minutes, carrying Is ST., or from
Wroots Pretender, who is credited with
16 miles to the hour, carrying 10 ST., as
we'll as in the stock of that Yorkshire
coach horse, brother to Wonderful, of
whom we find the almost incredible
record of IS miles in the hour, carrying
Is st. In our competitions the pace
which will make horse raise his knee
to the highest point is the only one
sought after, but any one who has visited
one of the real Old-faShioned Yorkshire
breeders and seen these horses trotted
without breaking on long rein to a
galloway, the latter galloping alongside
as fast as he can lay heels to the ground,
or any one who remembers the large
part which old Bellfounder played in
the creation of the American trotting
horse, will understand how easily the
characteristic of speed could be resus-
citated in these English breeds. -
Breeders Gazette.
Box Sluice.