has a share. The massive cart-horse,
weighing it may be as much as eighteen hundred or two thousand pounds,
heavy limbed, big headed, unwilling to move at a pace faster than a slow
trot, yet not without the measure of beauty seemingly inseparable from
the species, contrasts very markedly with the alert saddle animal bred
for speed and grace, and for the easy movement which makes it
comfortable to the equestrian. Between these extremes we may note minor
differences which, though they may not strike those persons who take
only a commonplace view of the creatures, are most marked to the
initiated. The trotter, the coach horse, the strong but nimble animals
which are used in fire-engines and other heavy carriages which have to
be swiftly moved, mark the results of breeding designed to insure
particular qualities, and show how readily the physical features of the
animal can be made to fit to our desires.

Although from an early day a certain amount of care has been given to
breeding horses for saddle purposes, the careful and continuous choice
which has led to the modern variations is a matter of only a few
centuries of endeavor. So far as we can judge from the classic
monuments, the olden varieties were mere varieties of the pony--the
small, compact, agile creature which had not departed far from the
parent wild form. It seems to me doubtful whether any of the horses
possessed by the Greeks or Romans attained a weight much exceeding a
thousand pounds, or had the peculiarities of our modern breeds. The
first considerable departure from the original type appears to have
been brought about when it became necessary to provide a creature
which could serve as a mount for the heavy armored knights of the
Middle Ages, where man and horse were weighted with from one to two
hundred pounds of metal. To serve this need it was necessary to have a
saddle animal of unusual strength, weighing about three-quarters of a
ton, easily controllable and at once fairly speedy and nimble. To meet
this necessity the Norman horse was gradually evolved, the form
naturally taking shape in that part of Europe where the iron-clad
warrior was most perfectly developed. In the tapestries and other
illustrative work of that day, when the knight won tournaments and
battle-fields, gaining victory by the weight and speed which he
brought to bear upon his enemies, we can see this splendid animal, in
physical form, at least, the finest product of man's care and s