158 TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART III 



policies of your Board of Directors whom you select, have been largely 

 and altogether responsible for the signal success of the American Trotting 

 Association. When it was first organized there were three hundred meet- 

 ing in all this country and Canada that were members of an organized 

 institution. The next year after its organization the year book reported 

 nearly twelve hundred organizations, race tracks and fairs that were 

 members of organized racing. 



A great deal has been said about the scarcity of horses and what should 

 be done to help the breeder and we see that constantly in the papers and 

 often they find fault with these organizations and with the members 

 thereof for not doing more and systematical breeding. If anybody has 

 done anything to stimulate breeding and help the breeder it has been the 

 county fair and particularly in the last few years as has become prevalent 

 in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin, the material reduction of entry fees and 

 the added money plan of racing, which is becoming more popular every 

 day and securing a larger earning capacity for the harness horse. So far 

 as the profits of the breeding are concerned we had a very good demon- 

 stration of that during this recent deflation of prices. I think you will 

 all agree with me that all classes of pedigreed stock were largely reduced 

 in price. That has not been true of the harness horse. I saw yesterday 

 a filly sell that I knew very well was sold two years ago for $200 when 

 she was perfectly sound. She sold yesterday with blemishes on her for 

 $550 and she has not got a standard record even now. There is nothing 

 that can be so profitable at the present time to the farmers and the small 

 breeders as to breed harness horses. It is true that among the harness 

 horses there is a large percentage that are not capable of doing what we 

 would like to see them do on the tracks. It is also trtie that the horses 

 that are not capable of performing satisfactorily have an income earning 

 capacity as general utility horses on the farm. There is no horse bred 

 anywhere in this country or any other that can so successfully under 

 present farm conditions serve the farmer as the harness horse. If it were 

 possible — and I guess there are some gasoline cultivators, and we will put 

 them in a class with the heavy horses, — the difference between the num- 

 ber of hills of corn that the gasoline cultivator or large footed heavy 

 horse will break down at the end of the row when turning him around 

 would feed every farm horse in America. Gentlemen, I thank you. 



President Hoffman: The discussion will be led by Mr. E. J, 

 Curtain. 



Mr. Curtain: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: There 

 was not much of anything to discuss in that, he stated facts. We 

 all agree, I guess ; most everybody at least does. 



We, here in Iowa, belong to the American Trotting Associa- 

 tion, all our associations do, and we should. Two or three years 

 ago under the conditions that existed the fairs were not paying 

 enough for their racing to enable them to get horses to race. 

 That caused the formation of an organization among the horse 



