176

ON THE LIVE-STOCK

give an account of any other horses than such as belong tothe husbandry of Scotland ; and in treating of these, the fol-lowing arrangement has been adopted. I. The differentbreeds, in so far as they can be distinguished, and then themanner in which they are bred and reared till put to labour,shall be described. II. It will next be necessary to state thelabour they perform, and the expences of their maintenance;and in this Section reasons may be assigned for the generalpreference given to horses over oxen for agricultural labour:And III. The most common distempers of horses may bementioned very concisely; this department of the veterinaryart having engaged the attention of professional men, in agreater degree than the distempers of cattle and sheep, it isnot to be expected that any information can be communica-ted in a work of this nature of much interest or utility.

SECT. I.

OF THE BREEDS, AND THE BREEDING AND REARING,OF HORSES IN SCOTLAND .

r f he several varieties of horses in Scotland may be arran-ged under three general divisions; First, The small High-land horse ; Second, The Galloway; and, third, The mixedbreed of the low country, commonly known by the name ofthe Clydesdale breed.

1. The Highland Breed.

The small horses of the Highlands and Isles of Scotland aredistinguished from larger breeds, by the several appellationsof Ponies , SAelties, and in Gselic of Garrons, or Gearrons;they are reared in great numbers in the Hebrides or Western