126 THE HORSE AND THE WAR 



years was on the Staff of the Iowa Agricultural College at Ames, where as 

 associate professor he taught classes in the history and development of all 

 draught breeds. This is what he says : — 



" It may interest you to know that the production of so large a number of 

 admirable artillery horses in the United States has been due to the breeding 

 up of small mares by the use of Percheron sires and to the conditions under 

 which a large proportion of these animals are reared. Small Western mares, 

 weighing from 800 to 1,000 pounds, have been bred to Percheron stallions. 

 The get, if liberally fed and reared under farm conditions, would mature at 

 1,400 or 1,500 pounds, but in virtually all cases the colts have been foaled on 

 the open range and have grown to maturity without any feed other than that 

 obtained from the dam and native pastures. The result is that such colts have 

 actually matured at i, loo to 1,207 pounds. The half-blood females of this kind 

 have been again bred to Percheron stallions, and their produce, reared under the 

 same general conditions, have matured at from 1,250 to 1,500 pounds, depend- 

 ing on the amount of nourishment available where they were reared. A very 

 large proportion of the horses which have gone for artillery purposes are such 

 three-quarter blood Percherons, reared without any feed other than that 

 which they obtain on pasture, and the outdoor life which such horses have 

 developed under has made them exceedingly hardy and able to endure unfavour- 

 able climatic conditions. The endurance of Percherons is proverbial, and it 

 has been accentuated by reason of the conditions under which these horses have 

 been reared. Even on the farms in the great Middle West a very large propor- 

 tion of the horses are reared in this manner ; for it is unfortunately true that 

 very few of our farmers feed foals, yearlings and two- 3/ear- olds liberally enough 

 on grain and hay, in addition to pasture, to make possible the full development 

 in size and strength. Some cross-breeding has, of course, been done, and in 

 addition to this the progress upward from the small foundation has oftentimes 

 been retarded by reason of the fact that many of our Western ranchmen have 

 not used pure-bred Percheron sires, but have been prevailed upon, on account 

 of financial reasons, to purchase and use grade Percheron stallions carrying 

 three-fourths or seven-eighths Percheron blood. There are many such grade 

 stallions produced in Illinois and Iowa, where breeding has been long con- 

 tinued, and a very large number of such grade horses have been sold for use on 

 Western mares. These have made marked improvement, but of course the 

 gain has not been as great as where pure-bred sires have been used, and for this 

 reason it not infrequently occurs that at least four crosses of Percheron blood 

 are to be found in animals purchased for artiller^^ or transport purposes. 



" One thing which has retarded American horsemen in producing good 

 horses is the fact that the demand for Percheron stallions has been so great 

 that a good many which should properly have been castrated have actually 

 been used for service. Colts occur in all breeds that are not up to standard, 

 and it has too frequently happened that animals deficient in feet or legs, 

 particularly with regard to position of hind legs, have been sold for breeding 

 purposes for the reason that the farmer could get twice as much for them when 

 rising two, if he sold them as stallions, as he could obtain for them if he were to 

 castrate said colts and keep them until maturit}-. Under the circumstances 



