730 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



DRAFT HORSES. 



The draft horse show at the Iowa State Fair this year demonstrated 

 that Iowa farmers are becoming interested more and more in pure-bred 

 draft horses. A few years back the larger part of the exhibits was by 

 large importers. This year the small breeders came to the front. The 

 majority of the horses shown were American bred, and a great many of 

 them Iowa bred. In total numbers the horse-show was not up to the num- 

 ber of last year. This is due partly to shortage of feed and also to some 

 of the importers not having their stock ready for show. The large 

 importers present were Dunhams, Trumans, Lefebure and Finch Bros. 

 Each had some choice material, as is shown by their winnings. How- 

 ever, the champions of two of the breeds were American-raised horses. 

 Another thing that showed up well and around which the interest of 

 tne horsemen centered was the futurities. This year classes were opened 

 for fillies and a total of forty-one were shown. The futurities serve a 

 triple purpose — to increase the interest in the young colt, so that it is 

 better cared for; to furnish valuable prizes and a place to compare 

 the yearlings, and then as a market place for the horses, as the 

 breeders watch the ring close for the good ones. Iowa is to be congratu- 

 lated on having this feature as part of her show and the outlook for 

 next year is brighter than ever before, for the breeders realize that it 

 means something to land in the futurity money. It is interesting to 

 note that many of the animals shown at the fair have been winners 

 at smaller shows over the state. This is especially true of the grade 

 classes and the exhibits show in a way the value of the small shows, 

 for they arouse the people's interest to something bigger. 



PERCHERONS. 



The Percherons presented the largest number of horses of any breed, 

 but were not as numerous as in some former years. This shortage 

 is due partly to shortage of feed and partly to the importers being 

 unable to bring their horses over early. Dunhams were the leading 

 exhibitors of imported horses and their horses had not become entirely 

 acclimated yet, so were showing to some disadvantage. The show did 

 present, however, some of the strongest home-bred animals that have ever 

 been exhibited in Iowa. According to recent figures approximately one- 

 fourth (24.2 per cent) of the Percherons in America are raised in 

 Iowa. Many of these colts with some of the best from Illinois made an 

 unusually good showing in the futurity classes. It was here that W. 

 S. Corsa, with the get of the noted sire, Carnot, showed up prominently 

 ind won the choice prizes in both the colt and filly classes. However, 

 he did not have things all his own way, for he was closely pressed in the 

 colt class by the McMillan colt. Matador, a colt with excellent feet 

 and legs combined with lots of substance. This was the first year for 

 the fillies in the futurity and a splendid showing was made. It was 

 very encouraging to see many of the smaller breeders showing and 

 many of these men were up well towards the top. The champion 

 mare, Rosdne, is called by many a better mare than the light-colored 



