J 084 New York State Breeders' Association 



won and costly experience, and not from sentiment. There is 

 not a man in tlic country to-day who has spent the time and money 

 that 1 have in trying to make the thoroughbred a, practical work- 

 a-day horse — and all in vain. I believed in him. I listened to 

 the theorists and sentimentalists, and I made myself poor, and 

 have kept myself poor trying to prove by actual demonstration 

 that they were right. You will hear of a few wealthy men who 

 breed thoroughbreds and sell developed hunters now and then for 

 big money — but you do not hear of their failures, and the pit- 

 tance they received ; and you must not overlook the fact that the 

 few horses they sell go to personal wealthy friends whose trade 

 you could not get, and if you could, would find it but a small 

 matter in the end. There are plenty of other states to take up the 

 breeding of thoroughbreds and saddle horses and fast trotters. 

 Let New York cater to other markets. 



The motor car has worked vast benefit to the horse breeding 

 industry in that it has opened every one's eyes to the narrow roads 

 of usefulness remaining to the horse; has greatly increased the 

 demand in those roads ; has made it utter folly to try to produce 

 anything but the very best; has provided a market for that best 

 at very profitable prices ; has demonstrated clearly that along these 

 lines the heavy horse has a far more dependable future than any 

 horse we breed — a future into which no element of speculation 

 enters, but which assures a steady, liberal, legitimate demand. 

 The time to prepare to fill that demand is right now; the time 

 to get busy to cut off that yearly unwaranted outlay for western 

 work-horses is this minute. 



There will doubtless be addresses made to you to-day upon 

 army-horse breeding, but I would warn any average farmer to bo 

 very careful what he attempts here. The Government gives you 

 no guarantee that it will ever buy your produce at all. It can 

 name you no other market for it. It does not agree to purchase 

 such young horses in any definite yearly quantity, for any definite 

 numl)er of years, at any definite places. It does, however, take 

 an option on any colt you may breed (remember it will not touch 

 the miics fit ;iny ])rice of $150 per head at three years, this may 

 moiiii uj) to the day before he is a four-year-old). This option 

 you can only clear by paying $25 stallion fee on a youngster you 

 cannot, then, tell anything about. Does all this look, or " listen," 



