[133]CHAPTER VII.THE BAROUCHE, LANDAU, AND BROUGHAM HORSE.Thebarouche is always drawn by a pair of horses; the landau and brougham are also pair-horse carriages, except when especially built for single harness. I shall first suppose all three of these carriages are intended to be drawn by pairs of horses. The horses required for this work are chiefly bred in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Shropshire, being, as a rule, a cross between cart-mares—especially if of the Cleveland breed, now rarely met with—and the thoroughbred horse. A good horse of this sort should be lengthy, and yet have a tolerably short back; should have oblique and muscular shoulders, long, straight, and strong[134]quarters, besides having good knee and hock action; the head should be neat, and the neck gracefully curved and well set on. He should be deep in the girth, have a good round barrel well ribbed up, and should not be less than 16 hands high. For single harness, in a landau or brougham, the horse must have all the above points, but must besides be a heavier and larger built animal; in height he must not be less than 16 hands, nor much above that standard, for a horse which stands 16 hands 3 inches, or 17 hands high, is generally long-legged, long-backed, and weak in comparison to his height.For the Victoria, T-cart, light Waggonette, Phaeton, or Dog-cart, a better bred horse is required; he may be nearly or quite thoroughbred, but must be of good conformation, and have good and moderately high action; in height he may be 15 hands 3 inches, or 16 hands. Norfolk supplies the best horses for this kind of work, they being strong, handsome animals, high-actioned, and fast trotters, as far as fast[135]trotting and high action are compatible with speed.The Omnibus and Van-horseis rather a nondescript sort of animal, being something between a carriage-horse and that used for heavy draught. There is no distinct breed of this class of horse; but a great many of our omnibus-horses come from abroad, especially from Normandy, whilst the van-horses are chiefly chance gets, picked up here and there wherever found. Colts got by a carthorse out of a half-bred mare are very apt to develop into van-horses. An omnibus-horse should be capable of drawing a heavy load at a speed of about 8 miles an hour, whilst a van-horse should do about 6 miles in the same time.The Cart-horse.—The Lincolnshire dray-horse is a large and magnificent animal, being the produce of a cross between the old English black and the Flemish horse, but being very slow, he has for some time been superseded by the Suffolk and Clydesdale horses. In his day he was in great request for brewers’ drays, but[136]owing to his want of speed he has now been almost discarded. The Lincolnshire dray-horse is now used for the production of carriage-horses by thoroughbred sires, and also some breeders of Clydesdale horses in Scotland are rather fond of crossing them with the Clydesdale, and selling the produce as thoroughbred Clydesdales, thus realising a thoroughbred price for a crossbred animal.The Suffolk Cart-horseis chestnut, varying from a sorrel to a moderately dark chestnut colour; he is rather long in the back, deep-chested, full in the flank, and deep-bellied, having clean and wiry legs and a full crest. He is often seen in the South of England, but the Clydesdale is fast superseding him. Taking into consideration his make and shape, I do not see why the mares should not produce good carriage-horses, if mated with suitable thoroughbred sires.The Clydesdalecertainly is at present the king of the cart-horses in Great Britain; he is generally of a bay, brown, or black colour, the[137]bay and brown predominating. He has a neat well-bred head, a good neck, deep girth and round middlepiece, is short in the leg, the bone of which is remarkably large, and the fetlock covered with long hair. Much fashion depends upon the growth of hair at the fetlock; formerly it was curly, but now a Clydesdale will not pass muster unless he has about six inches of quite straight hair on these parts. Great prices are given for these horses, even when yearlings; when thoroughbred orsupposedto be so, some good sires being let for the season at 500l.In Scotland they are all the rage, great care being taken with their breeding, although occasionally a breeder does sell a crossbred one as a thoroughbred, thus putting a nice little sum into his pocket.Note.—Since the above was written, a Clydesdale Society has been formed, and a Clydesdale Stud Book is being compiled.Spottiswoode & Co., Printers, New-street Square, London.
Thebarouche is always drawn by a pair of horses; the landau and brougham are also pair-horse carriages, except when especially built for single harness. I shall first suppose all three of these carriages are intended to be drawn by pairs of horses. The horses required for this work are chiefly bred in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Shropshire, being, as a rule, a cross between cart-mares—especially if of the Cleveland breed, now rarely met with—and the thoroughbred horse. A good horse of this sort should be lengthy, and yet have a tolerably short back; should have oblique and muscular shoulders, long, straight, and strong[134]quarters, besides having good knee and hock action; the head should be neat, and the neck gracefully curved and well set on. He should be deep in the girth, have a good round barrel well ribbed up, and should not be less than 16 hands high. For single harness, in a landau or brougham, the horse must have all the above points, but must besides be a heavier and larger built animal; in height he must not be less than 16 hands, nor much above that standard, for a horse which stands 16 hands 3 inches, or 17 hands high, is generally long-legged, long-backed, and weak in comparison to his height.
For the Victoria, T-cart, light Waggonette, Phaeton, or Dog-cart, a better bred horse is required; he may be nearly or quite thoroughbred, but must be of good conformation, and have good and moderately high action; in height he may be 15 hands 3 inches, or 16 hands. Norfolk supplies the best horses for this kind of work, they being strong, handsome animals, high-actioned, and fast trotters, as far as fast[135]trotting and high action are compatible with speed.
The Omnibus and Van-horseis rather a nondescript sort of animal, being something between a carriage-horse and that used for heavy draught. There is no distinct breed of this class of horse; but a great many of our omnibus-horses come from abroad, especially from Normandy, whilst the van-horses are chiefly chance gets, picked up here and there wherever found. Colts got by a carthorse out of a half-bred mare are very apt to develop into van-horses. An omnibus-horse should be capable of drawing a heavy load at a speed of about 8 miles an hour, whilst a van-horse should do about 6 miles in the same time.
The Cart-horse.—The Lincolnshire dray-horse is a large and magnificent animal, being the produce of a cross between the old English black and the Flemish horse, but being very slow, he has for some time been superseded by the Suffolk and Clydesdale horses. In his day he was in great request for brewers’ drays, but[136]owing to his want of speed he has now been almost discarded. The Lincolnshire dray-horse is now used for the production of carriage-horses by thoroughbred sires, and also some breeders of Clydesdale horses in Scotland are rather fond of crossing them with the Clydesdale, and selling the produce as thoroughbred Clydesdales, thus realising a thoroughbred price for a crossbred animal.
The Suffolk Cart-horseis chestnut, varying from a sorrel to a moderately dark chestnut colour; he is rather long in the back, deep-chested, full in the flank, and deep-bellied, having clean and wiry legs and a full crest. He is often seen in the South of England, but the Clydesdale is fast superseding him. Taking into consideration his make and shape, I do not see why the mares should not produce good carriage-horses, if mated with suitable thoroughbred sires.
The Clydesdalecertainly is at present the king of the cart-horses in Great Britain; he is generally of a bay, brown, or black colour, the[137]bay and brown predominating. He has a neat well-bred head, a good neck, deep girth and round middlepiece, is short in the leg, the bone of which is remarkably large, and the fetlock covered with long hair. Much fashion depends upon the growth of hair at the fetlock; formerly it was curly, but now a Clydesdale will not pass muster unless he has about six inches of quite straight hair on these parts. Great prices are given for these horses, even when yearlings; when thoroughbred orsupposedto be so, some good sires being let for the season at 500l.In Scotland they are all the rage, great care being taken with their breeding, although occasionally a breeder does sell a crossbred one as a thoroughbred, thus putting a nice little sum into his pocket.
Note.—Since the above was written, a Clydesdale Society has been formed, and a Clydesdale Stud Book is being compiled.
Note.—Since the above was written, a Clydesdale Society has been formed, and a Clydesdale Stud Book is being compiled.
Spottiswoode & Co., Printers, New-street Square, London.
Transcriber’s NoteInconsistent hyphenation has been retained: break-in/break in, carthorse/cart-horse, flying-trot/flying trot, headstall/head-stall meantime/mean time, mouthpiece/mouth-piece, racecourse/race-course rocking-horses/rocking horses.
Inconsistent hyphenation has been retained: break-in/break in, carthorse/cart-horse, flying-trot/flying trot, headstall/head-stall meantime/mean time, mouthpiece/mouth-piece, racecourse/race-course rocking-horses/rocking horses.