478 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



and intelligent, with a sparkle that age can not dim, giving to his 

 countenance an expression that is human in its intensity. No horse 

 that ever lived possesses a more imposing front, a neck better set 

 or a head more proudly carried. In action and courage he is the 

 equal of his great progenitor, Ethan Allen, and no more could be 

 said. The cut accompanying this article was made from a photo- 

 graph taken after the horse had passed his twentieth year. It 

 shows him a little drawn at the girths and with back swayed, 

 structural faults that were not apparent when in his prime and that 

 have never re-appeared in any of his get ; but age has not impaired 

 his action, speed or prepotency. In fact, as an individual he is in 

 every respect Lafon's dream come true. 



A more important question remains : Has his get established 

 the theory of the value of an infusion of thoroughbred blood and 

 the ability of an inbred trotting sire to control character and ac- 

 tion? Unfortunately, in the community where this horse is located, 

 there were and are few mares of the breeding necessary to give this 

 theory a fair test; but in instances where Reade went to mares of 

 proper blood lines results were all that could be desired. Take the 

 case of Mrs. Cleveland, owned by the McAlesters of Columbia. She 

 was by Riggs Abdellah, by Kimbros Abdellah, by Abdellah 1, out 

 of Fannie Bowling, a thoroughbred, by Imported Glendower. This 

 mare produced Ruth, a sensational actor of speed and beauty that 

 sold for $3,700; Starlight, a heavy harness horse of the best type 

 that W. H. Leonard, a dealer, paid $1,000 for when hardly broke; 

 Dr. Mack, one of the greatest light harness geldings ever in Mis- 

 souri; Cleveland Reade, for which his owner has refused four fig- 

 ures; and a yearling that sold for $500. In fact, this mare has 

 never produced anything that was not first class, all her colts pos- 

 sessing speed, action and beauty and of a type demanded by the 

 fancy trade. A significant fact in this mare's pedigree is that she 

 traces back in the third generation to Abdellah 1 as does Charles 

 Reade. In this mare's get we have a strong infusion of thorough- 

 bred blood controlled and made perfect in action and character by 

 an inbred trotting sire. Again, take the mare Alice S, dam of 

 Sometimes and Always, champion harness pair at the World's Fair. 

 Also the dam of Highball and a promising filley, a winner as a two- 

 year old, and yet to be heard from. Highball was a most sensa- 

 tional high acting gelding. He won many premiums at the World's 

 Fair, and was never defeated in local shows in the harness class 

 until the judges put him second to another Reade. A glance at 

 the pedigree of Alice S is instructive. She was standard and regis- 



