804 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Of roadsters and heavy harness horses there was a large exhibit and 

 the character of the entries was unusually high. Thos. Bell, Chicago, 

 111., and John Garrison, Des Moines, Iowa, tied the ribbons. They con- 

 sidered that some of the entries were equal in appearance and perform- 

 ance to candidates for honors at the New York and Chicago shows. The 

 horses were nearly all of standard-bred stock. The principal prizes in 

 the roadster and runabout classes were taken by J. R. Peak & Son of 

 Illinois; Thos. Bass of Missouri, and O. J. Mooers of Missouri. Among 

 the high-stepping horses the most conspicuous entries were those of Roe- 

 buck Farms of Indiana; Trumans' Pioneer Stud Farm, Bushnell, 111., 

 and J. R. Peak & Son and V. R. Crane, both of Illinois. 



THE SHETLAND PONIES. 



Never before has such a magnificent exhibition of Shetland ponies 

 been seen at a state fair, or probably anywhere else. The crowded rings 

 contained not a single discreditable candidate for judicial preference. 

 Some larger aggregations of ponies have been assembled before, but com- 

 pared in quality and bulk combined this would make some of our national 

 exhibitions look like county fairs. J. Deane Willis declared that never 

 in England had he seen anything to compare with this exhibition of the 

 little horses. So interested did he become in the workout of the 

 nineteen single ponies in harness that it was with great reluctance that 

 he left the ring to meet other engagements. The type chosen here is 

 somewhat less blocky but more sprightly and flash than the English 

 winners, and the ability of the little fellows to step away high and fast 

 round and round the ring like clockwork captured the heart of the Eng- 

 lish Short-horn breeder. 



There were 160 ponies, and with the repeated appearance of the same 

 animals in breeding, harness and saddle classes Prof. W. J. Kennedy, 

 Ames, Iowa, had an arduous task in selecting the winners. He sought a 

 trifle more substance and bone than have sometimes been given promi- 

 nence at American shows, but for the most part the ringside talent and 

 the exhibitors were satisfied that no more worthy representatives of the 

 breed could be chosen. Some idea of the keen competition is apparent 

 when it is considered that there were twenty-four aged stallions lined 

 up before the judge; thirty-three mares, fifteen of which were probably 

 as good as any ever placed here before; thirty foals, ten of which were 

 placed; nineteen single ponies in harness; nine pairs, eight tandems, 

 four four-in-hands and a whole arena full of ponies under the saddle. 

 The saddle ponies excited no end of fun as a number of inexperienced 

 children of light weight and tender years had been placed on the 

 smaller ponies and their mounts scurried hither and thither in wild con- 

 fusion. One little fellow perched up in a dirninutive model of a western 

 stock saddle on a wee two-year-old furnished a veritable bucking exhibi- 

 tion in miniature. Twice the little fellow remounted amid the wild ap- 

 plause of his efforts to cling to the playful Shetland, but the third time 

 around the ring the bucking performance sent him rolling on the tan- 

 bark a frightened though uninjured boy. 



