TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 455 



year-olds; "dry stuff," the three-year-olds and over, those not 

 suckling foals; and "mares and colts," the brood mares with 

 foals at foot. In the aution ring, the price is stated per head 

 and the buyer takes the entire lot. Most of the range horses 

 find their way to the country, where they are usually broken; 

 when educated, they may be returned to the market and may 

 fill the demand for some of the commercial classes. 



Ponies. Ponies of various grades and breeding are fre- 

 quently found on the market, and are usually bought for the 

 use of children and ladies. The characteristics distinguishing 

 ponies from horses are not easily described. The principal 

 distinguishing feature is that of height, a pony being 14 hands 

 or under. But there are dwarf horses that do not have pony 

 blood or characteristics that come within these limits. Other 

 pony characteristics are a deep body with rounding barrel, 

 heavily muscled thighs and quarters, croup not drooping, and 

 width well carried out, all of which the small horse does not 

 usually possess. The neck is often short and heavy, though 

 this is not a desirable quality. Ponies are essentially chil- 

 dren's horses, and they must be kind and gentle in disposition, 

 with as much spirit as is compatible for their use. There are 

 no special requirements for weight, the limits being quite wide. 

 They should be straight-line movers, and the more knee and 

 hock action they possess, the higher prices they will bring, 

 other things being equal. The Indian pony, or "cayuse" as 

 he is sometimes called, is larger; he is a descendant from the 

 native range stock, and is classed on the market as a range 

 pony. 



Plugs. Plugs are worn-out, decrepit horses with but little 

 value. This class is too well known to need description. 



Weeds. Weeds are leggy and ill-proportioned horses 

 lacking in the essential qualities, such as constitution and sub- 

 stance. They have little value for service of any kind. 



Prices for Horses at Chicago. 



Prices of the various classes compared. Prices during 

 1918 averaged as follows upon the Chicago market,* figures 

 for preceding years being given for comparison: 



* Year Book of Figures, 1919. 



