206 THE HORSE BOOK. 



gone by to catch the public eye with too large 

 individuals never did him any good. Evidence 

 nevertheless is on every hand that when the 

 French Coach stallion of the right sort is 

 mated with mares of running or trotting blood, 

 good quality and suitable shape, success fol- 

 lows consistently. 



The question is often asked if horses of this 

 breed are branded in France. Seldom if ever 

 is a government brand to be seen on one of 

 them. Most of the stallions are owned by the 

 government or by private individuals who 

 either can not afford to or do not care to com- 

 pete with it, but may use their stallions to their 

 own mares. Once in a great while a demi-sang 

 horse is presented for veterinary examination 

 and approval. In the -event of his being ac- 

 cepted he is branded with the five-pointed star 

 beneath the mane, but occasions of the sort are 

 so rare that the breed as we know it in this 

 country may be said to carry no governmental 

 brand at all. 



THE GERMAN COACHER. 



Beading the history of continental European 

 development and bearing in mind that the Ger- 

 man Empire of today is composed of numerous 

 states and principalities it is not strange that it 

 should be prolific of different types of coach 

 horses. For perhaps two centuries past efforts 

 at the improvement of the horse with a view to 



