LECTURES AND ESSAYS READ AT INSTITUTES. 13*^ 



able to h'ot a mile in 3^ or 4 miuutes, or go eight, ten, or twelve miles an 

 hour if necessary. He should be a stylish bay, standing 16 hands or over, and 

 weighing 1,200 pounds. He should stand erect on his forelegs, hold his head 

 and tail high, and be perfect in symmetry and form. He must be large and 

 broad in his hind quarters. He should be proud of himself, and dignified and 

 elegant in his bearing, easy and graceful in motion, full of nerve and ambition, 

 but of pleasant disposition, firm of flesh, sound in bone, not liable to spavin, 

 straight in limb and standing squarely on his feet." 



SCALE OF POINTS FOR JUDGING HOESES APPLIED TO THE PARK HORSE. 



1. Size, IG hands being the standard; weight, 1,200 pounds 8 



2. Proportions, general symmetry and perfection of form 10 



3. Elegance and loftiness of style and carriage 10 



4. Color dark, free from bad markings on the face or feet 5 



5. Head clean, broad, expressive, and not too large 5 



6. Eye and ear bright, cheerful, and expressive of docility 5 



7. Neck, length, shape, and quality, with character of shoulders 5 



8. Back and loins - 6 



9. Hip and whirlbone, and setting on of tail __ 5 



10. Quality of limbs and feet 10 



11. Action lofty, free and bold, knee well bent at speed 6 



12. Speed equal to a mile in 4 minutes to road wagon 5 



13. Docility and kindness of temper 5 



14. Pedigree, showing an inheritance of the quality desired, and the 



consequent ability to transmit it.. 15 



100 



Such horses are as marketable as fat steers, and in well matched spans at 

 'four or five years old will bring from $600 to $2,500, or even more. 



This stately coach horse, identical with what is best adapted to farm pur- 

 ^poses, must be evolved from the various strains of best blood and brought to a 

 perfect type. Large in form, elegant in carriage, finished in outline, bold and 

 commanding in action, he is eagerly sought for by the wealthy classes at 

 fabulous prices; and closely matched teams will bring any sum within the 

 range of conscience. Of the varieties of horses that have been imported into 

 this country, first and last, what is still called the Cleveland Bay comes the 

 -nearest filling this description ; and he has the size, the color, the bone, and 

 the general form of the ideal farmer's horse. He has sufficient size, for the 

 ordinary span to plow even stiff clay soil, and work the improved implements 

 now used, and speed enough to do the road work, either in marketing or in 

 the carriage. The uniformity of size, color, and action makes them easily 

 matched and salable. But the Cleveland Bay is practically unattainable, and 

 there is no breed on the face of the earth to take its place. It isn't in Europe, 

 it isn't in America. Individual horses that answer the description, and they 

 are numerous, are essentially accidental productions. Horses have been bred 

 for every quality under the sun except for elegance of form, combined with 

 style and size, and as these are the prime qualities of the farm horse, the 

 farmer must make a breed by judiciously selecting and breeding for a specific 

 type. The ordinary horse can be built up, gradually, through successive 

 generations, by judicious development, to the size, style, power, speed, and 

 -temper required. We have the raw material here at home in tolerable 

 IB 



