THE HORSE 



117 



Normandy. They raised war horses, 

 ponderous but rapid, and they even 

 estabHshed races and formed race 

 courses, an example followed later 

 by monasteries and abbeys. The 

 stud farm of the Abbey of Mont 

 Saint Michel was long celebrated. 

 Private studs were also set up by 

 knights in the Middle Ages to sup- 

 ply their own needs. These were 

 established all along the shores of 

 the North Sea and the Baltic, and 

 are the places whence the cool- 

 blooded horses of the present day 

 originally came. 



In 1843 stud farms were made 

 a part of the government administra- 

 tion of Russia, and twenty-six such farms were 

 established, with sixty stallions in each, which 

 were placed gratuitously at the service of breed- 

 ers. A very celebrated stud farm was estab- 

 lished in 1732 in eastern Russia. At first only 

 the Teutonic breeds were raised, but an im- 

 portation of Neapolitan, Turkish, and English 

 blood produced fine carriage horses, which 

 further importations only bettered. During 

 the Napoleonic wars this establishment suffered 

 severely and came near to being broken up, but 

 in 18 14 a fresh importation of English and 

 Oriental blood revived it. Russia now possesses 



6i..^NnF.R Ponies, Sweden 



Jutland Horse 



a vast number of such establishments where 

 pure-blooded, half-blooded, and sometimes cool- 

 blooded animals are raised. In the province of 

 Rosen there has long been a small stud farm 

 of Percherons. Such farms belong partly to the 

 state and partly to private owners. 



Breeding establishments in the United States 

 ha\'e been owned and managed by private 

 parties entirel)', the government never having 

 assisted in the work. Importing companies 

 and private individuals have imported for the 

 past century many animals of various breeds 

 for breeding purposes, these animals being 

 sold to farmers direct or kept for 

 use by those importing them. There 

 is scarcely an important European 

 breed that is not represented by many 

 superior individuals in our country, 

 either by direct importation or by 

 the descendants of many individuals 



f_i^ brought here, the French Draft, 

 Percheron, and Clydesdale being 

 very numerous and scattered over 

 farms throughout the country. The 

 Belgian, English Shire, and Suffolk 

 Punch have also gained in friends 

 and numbers during recent years. 



Of the carriage breeds, the French 

 Coach, German Coach, Hackney, and 

 Cleveland Bays are the most popular 

 and are gaining in numbers and fa\or. 



