HORSES. 251 



affairs arc now conducted, the time of the committees is need- 

 lessly wasted, and their attention distracted, so that really fine 

 animals are sometimes quite overlooked, and none can be sub- 

 jected to a critical examination. Could a judicious selection 

 of the best horses in each class be made, it would then be pos- 

 sible and very desirable for the committees, (who ought to bo 

 good judges of horses,) to give each one of them a fair trial, a 

 thing of rare occurrence under the present arrangement. 



In deciding upon the merits of draught horses, for instance, not 

 only should the breed, age, soundness, size, form, and ability to 

 move the load forward and backward, be regarded, but more 

 attention should be given to training and temper. Let the 

 brake be applied, and the willingness of the horse to exert his 

 utmost strength, even when the effort to move the load is 

 unavailing, be considered. A perfect draught horse, well broken 

 and driven, will only show to the best advantage on what is 

 nearly, or quite, a dead pull. 



All of the large horses bred within the limits of this society 

 are of mixed breeds, and generally coarse and long-legged, their 

 principal recommendation as draught horses being that they 

 are too large and clumsy for any thing else. We need greatly 

 for use around the railroad stations, and for heavy teaming, an 

 improved breed of draught horses. Probably the best and only 

 successful method of procuring them would be to import a 

 stallion and several mares of the Clydesdale, or some other 

 suitable variety, and breed them pure, or nearly so. To expect 

 much improvement by crossing the stallions of large breeds 

 with native mares, would be to hope for success in contravening 

 well-known laws of nature. To breed good animals of unusual 

 size, the dams must be large and of the desired form. 



In the examination of the breeding mare, regard is very 

 properly paid to her colt, which is required to be exhibited by 

 her side. The same rule ought to apply more forcibly even to 

 stallions. The fitness of a horse for the stud depends much 

 more upon pedigree and unseen qualities than upon his out- 

 ward appearance. No horse ought to draw a premium who 

 has not good blood in his veins, and whose stock are not on the 

 ground by his side to show it. 



The third and fourth division of horses, as classified in the 

 premium list, are family horses, and travelling horses. Would 



