88 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



length of pastern may cause a weakness, but it should be of sufBcient 

 length and slope to insure springiness. 



The construction and set of the hind legs is of vital importance. A 

 great many of the diseases to be found in these regions are largely due 

 to a wrong set of the limbs. In a correctly constructed hind limb, view- 

 ing it from the side, a line dropped from the hindermost point of the 

 slope should strike the top of the hock and continue parallel with it 

 until the pastern joint is reached. If the conformation of the leg be 

 such that the lower part of the leg is thrown more under the body, 

 thus making it more subject to a strain of a tendon or ligament just 

 below the hock, it is termed sickled hocked, and is very likely to be- 

 come curby. If the opposite conformation be present where the leg ex- 

 tends backwards of a line dropped as previously described, fullness of 

 the hock or bog spavin is likely to be the result. Spavins and ringbones 

 are very often found on legs of this kind because of the fact that the 

 bones do not have the proper slope in relation to each other. Viewed 

 from behind, the legs should be set in a straight line, and if there be 

 any deviation from a straight line the hocks should be inclined to- 

 gether, but never outwards, as a wide hocked horse is a drug on almost 

 any good horse market. 



The feet should be large, round, wide at the hoof head, not too shal- 

 low nor too high in the heels, and above all, constructed of a good dense 

 horn, which indicates ability to wear well. 



The action of a draft horse is a point which is receiving more atten- 

 tion than it formerly did. A horse, to command the very highest price, 

 must move well. He must be good at the walk, and also do the trotting 

 act fairly well. Length of stride and straightness of stride are the two 

 most important points to be considered at the walk. Snappiness is also 

 an essential. Height of action and flashiness are attractive, but not 

 necessarily utility points. Winging, paddling or rolling action in front, 

 and wobbling hocks are all features which every good horseman con- 

 demns, thus are discriminated against at all of the leading horse markets. 



In breeding draft horses, too much attention cannot be given to the 

 question of weight. At all of the leading draft horse markets, horse 

 flesh sells at the rate of 25 cents per pound for each additional pound 

 from 1,600 to 1,800 pounds; for 50 cents per pound from 1,800 pounds to 

 2,000 pounds; for $1.00 a pound from 2,000 to 2,200 pounds; and from $2.00 

 to $2.50 per pound from 2,200 pounds upwards, providing, of course, that 

 the horse is sound, well made and desirable in every other respect. Thus 

 the heavy ones are the kind we should all aim to produce because at 

 best we will get plenty of the lighter weights to meet the demands for 

 the same. 



While a good horse can never be of bad color, still some colors such as 

 the nicely dappled gray or blue roan are more in demand than others, 

 thus commanding fancy prices. In discussing the advisability of the 

 average farmer keeping pure bred draft mares, a somewhat new, but very 

 timely topic is opened up for consideration. Just why the average farmer 

 has not been keeping pure bred draft mares for a decade or more is one 

 of the questions which amazes almost every man who has had any ex- 



