Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-06
SOME LONDON HORSES
GROWING POPULARITY OF THE
AMERICAN-BRED ANIMAL
London Dealers Complain That He %
riage Horse of the Futare.
III. @. Mcrwin in Harpers Weekly.

III. Q. Mcrwin In Harpers Weekly
We hear much Of London dray horses.
and they are certainly OF immense bulk,
but In beauty they do not compare with
the draught horses OF Boston and New
York. Our type is a lower-standing short
er, rounder. more smoothly turned animal
The typical London dray horse is a Shire
horse, and that family have rather long
bodies and straight necks. They are i'm
posing from their height. from the mas
siveness of their bones, from the wealth OF
hair about their legs. Ii was such a horse
that carried Hugh in the Lord George Cor
Don riots. and the big. fiery steed ridden
by that wild figure. and decked out with
string OF manacles jangling about hts
Eeck. must have been a grand sight. 1t is
remarkable that artist has endeavored
To nix Ii upon canvas.
Among the largest and handsomest cart
horses In London are the vestry horses.
USED Tor carrying away ashes and the like
Eeing fed and worked by persons who do
not pay Tor their grain. these animals have
ance.
1t may be said with little or no exassera-
ton that all the carriage horses sold in
LONDON TO private persons are sold as Eng
iisn bred In reality. however only a frac-
ton, perhaps not more than one-eighth
are raised in England: probably a half
come from Germany. and the rest mainly
from Ireland and the United States
The American Horses Defects.
The London dealers criticise the Amer
lean horse being deficient in breadth
across the loins; but they find no other
fault in his construction. Indeed he is not
only far more speedy, but more graceful
than the English horse. having what is
technically called round" gait. his fore
legs appearing to describe a racefuI curve
and his feet lightly touching the ground
The hackney, on the other hand may be
SAID without much exaggeration to jerk his
feet straight up and then slam them down
Ia the same spot. apparently, whence they
were taken.
One London dealer assured us that he
should never have any but American horses
for his own use, and probably IL will not be
long before the Yankee" as they call him
IT. London. though he may come from Mon
tana, will sell better under his own than
under false name. Even now, at latter
sails when an American horse is put up
catalogue. there is noticeable futter Of
interest In the ring. and the bidding is
brisk.
Hard Bits and Rough Hands.
The only complaint which the London
dealers make of the American horses is
that they are ''nappy"-by which is meant
that they act badly at starting rear. run
pieh' anu SO Iortn- Now, this is very I'M
usual conduct in America, and no doubt the
explanation Is that the horse is irritated
and confused by the harsh bit and heavy
handling to which he is subjected English
ceachmen have the worst hands In the
world, and the English bits are far more
severe than ours
1t seems to be admitted In London that
our horses are. as a rule. better broken
and safer than the English prad and m
.rls De SO; II Is because we endeavor to
train the horse in self-contrrl ana to in
sp1re MIN with trust in his lriver The
english bit their horses more thoroughly
thah we DO, but treat them more roughly
anu Win less familiarity and Confidence.
The Patrician Carriage Horse.
There is. 1t must be confessed, one tyne OF
London carriage horse which We cannot
match in the United States, and that is
the big. rangy, landau horse-a ~ery pa
ti1cian kind OF animal. with long limbs, a
graceful top line long neck and we'll
bred head. The color Is almost invariably
Day, and the action good but not excessive.
Driven by bewigged coachman, and draw
ifs an aristocratic family coach, these
horses seem very much in place They are
commonly either of the Cleveland bay or
Yorkshire coach horse breed-tha two fam
lies being now scarcely distinct.
Some patriotic persons are now crossing
the hackney with the American trotter and
ii Is possible that In this manner NAV be
produced type OF carriage horse more ex-
cellent than any that has yet been seen
either in Hyde Park or in Central Park.
discover an image OF what might result
from a union of the two main branches OF
the Anglo-Saxon race.
The American-bred horse has certainly
been no small factor In the so-called Amer
lean Invasion Of London