474 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



findings, its awards, carry a significance above and beyond the awards 

 of all previous shows, great or small. 



Knowing these things, lowans are entitled to feel a vast and just pride 

 in the achievements of Iowa horses at this last grand gathering of the 

 clans, marking the end of the show season of 1916. They had been con- 

 spicuous among the winners at the fairs the last three months, county, 

 district and state, and the winnings at the International capped the 

 climax of show-ring honor and glory. 



Three grand championship ribbons fell to Iowa horses, two for the Bel- 

 gians and one, the stallion championship, to the Percherons. These two 

 breeds were shown in about equal strength and numbers, and it was a 

 toss-up which was the more popular with the throngs of horse lovers. The 

 Singmasters, Casey Bros., Hoit and Sons, Crawford & Griffin, and Harry 

 Early contributed to the Percheron show, while Lefebure, Wm. Crown- 

 over, Chas. Irvine, C G. Good and Crawford & Griffin showed the lordly 

 Belgian. The Iowa State College presented some excellent specimens of 

 the feather-legged breeds and H. Harris Ford carried the Clydesdale 

 banner. 



The famous Singmaster Percherons were the first to greet the eye as 

 the visitor entered the barn. Mostly black, with a few grays for variety, 

 the stalls presented a striking and majestic array of equine beauty and 

 massiveness. While practically all prize winners at various shows of the 

 year the one outstanding animal of the exhibit, the one that caught and 

 held the visitor's attention and admiration above all others, was the 

 splendid dapple gray stallion, Lagos 99093 (102389). The picture shown, 

 while an excellent one, the best ever taken of this horse his owners 

 assert, still fails to do the animal full justice. He is one of those rare 

 specimens that reveal the limitations of camera. Type, color, general 

 character and excellence of bone and conformation are delineated to per- 

 fection, but the photo fails to bring out the amazing thickness and mas- 

 siveness that characterize this horse and put him in a class by hrni- 

 self. It also pictures him a trifle too high from the ground in the rear, 

 for he is a lowhung fellow, a real "Dutchman's horse," if ever one 

 came out of France. He weighs in present condition 2,350, and carries 

 it as handily as a chunk of two-thirds the weight. 



Chas. Irvine's grand chestnut, Alfred de Bree Eyck 7959 (73424) 

 carried off the championship honors in the Belgian division, winning 

 over what was perhaps the greatest ring of Belgian stallions ever 

 brought together in this country. Alfred weighs 2,430 pounds, and faced 

 the judge in perfect bloom and condition. The world has seen few horses 

 like this one. It is extremely doubtful if his equal can be found today, 

 certainly no superiors. Conceding equal excellence on the part of his 

 competitors in matters of type, weight, style, quality and action, he then 

 easily teats them all between the body and the ground. The picture 

 shows fairly well the great set of legs that carries his ton and a quarter 

 weight. They are as clean, hard and flinty of bone as the legs of a 

 racer. Knee and hock are of the sort rarely seen beneath a drafter, 

 while the big, round, open-heeled hoofs are absolutely beyond criticism. 



