EXERCISE XLVIII. 



SCORING DRAFT HORSES. 



Ellis Rail, Professor of Agriculture, State School of Agriculture, 

 Curtis, Nebraska. 



Supplies for a Laboratory Section of Twelve. Three dozen score cards for draft horses — market class; two 

 or three draft horses suitable for scoring. 



DIRECTIONS. First learn where the points mentioned in the score card for draft horses 

 are located in the animal. Second, read the explanation and directions accompanying the 

 score card for draft horses. As you read the explanation and directions it will be well to make 

 a casual study of a draft horse. Third, score such horses as are provided for this study. 



EXPLANATIONS AND DIRECTIONS ACCOMPANYING THE SCORE CARD FOR 



DRAFT HORSES— MARKET CLASS. 



Height. The draft horse should be reasonably low-set. yet tali enough to show style, bal- 

 ance, and symmetry. The height of horses is measured at the witners. The unit of measure is 

 a hand, or four inches. Unless a measuring staff is at hand, the best method of estimating the 

 height of a horse is to learn first by actual measurement the height of the point of your chir 

 from the ground. Knowing this height, stand beside the shoulder of the horse on exactly the 

 same level, and estimate carefully the difference between the height of the animal's withers and 

 the height of your chin. 



Weight. The weight of the draft horse is much more important than is his height. On the 

 market, a horse weighing less than 1,600 pounds is not even classed as a draft horse, while ani- 

 mals weighing 1,750 pounds or more, bring much higher prices than do animals weighing less. 

 A horse under 1,750 pounds can scarcely be said to be a choice heavy drafter; therefore for 

 every 25 pounds under that weight, one point should be subtracted from the total score. The 

 weight of the animal should be due to massiveness of frame, and great muscularity rather than 

 to excessive fatness. 



Form. The form of the drafter is important. As a whole, the form should be compara- 

 tively close to the ground, wide, deep, compact and strongly put together in all parts. 



Quality. Quality is a very important consideration in horses. Superior quality, or a lack 

 of it, may easily make a difference of a hundred dollars or more in the selling price of a draft 

 horse. Horses of weight, bone and strength, but lacking the quality and finish necessary for 

 the heavy street work ot our cities, are classed as loggers, and sell for a much lower price 

 than they would bring if they possessed more quality and style. Quality refers to the dense- 

 ness and fineness of tissue structure in the bones and muscles of the animal. Quality is indi- 

 cated by many different parts of the animal. The head should be lean and shapely without 

 coarseness at the bridge of the nose. A meaty forehead, heavy ears, or throatiness at the angle 

 of the jaw and neck indicate coarseness. The hair of the mane and tail should be soft and fine. 

 The hair on the fetlocks and along the backs of the cannons should be very soft and fine. The 

 entire coat of hair should show sleekness and fineness. The character of bone as displayed in 

 the joints, and especially in the feet and legs, should be studied carefully for quality. Flat, 

 hard, clean, well-defined, cordy cannons indicate quality. Run the fingers over the front can- 

 nons to determine the softness of the skin, fineness of hair, and freedom from meatiness. The 

 knees should show their bony definition, sharply and clearly. The bones of the hock joints 

 should be very prominent and free from any coarseness, meatiness, or any sort of filling. 

 Refinement of the head; fine, soft, glossy hair, thin, velvety skin; freedom from meatiness at 

 the knees, hock, and pasterns; freedom from coarseness at the withers, hips and joints of the 

 legs — all indicate quality. Care must be taken not to mistake smallness of bone as an indica- 

 tion of quality. Drafters must have large, strong bones, but they must be clean cut, dense 

 and hard. 



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