108 THE HORSE, ASS, AND MULE 



small. Pure-bred stallions mated to the larger type of grade 

 mares, of drafty conformation, furnish most of our best draft 

 teams. Prepotent Percheron stallions mated to mares of other 

 draft breeds also usually give satisfactory results, and this is a 

 favorite combination in some localities where legs with feather 

 hairs are found on mares of Clyde or Shire ancestry. The result- 

 ing offspring are usually smooth-legged and more easily satisfy 

 the common market demands. In the South, Curtis has not re- 

 ported so favorably on the mating of Percherons on native mares, 

 finding that the " half-blood colts " were somewhat prone to 

 bone and leg diseases. This, however, is not a general difficulty 

 with Percherons, for if it were the popularity of the breed would 

 long ago have suffered severely. The most prominent buyers 

 in the Chicago horse market have testified in the highest terms 

 to the demand for Percheron grades and crosses, and repeatedly 

 grade geldings of show-ring form have sold for $500 per head 

 and over. 



Famous Percheron sires. Naturally during the history of the 

 breed there have been many sires of excellence in America. 

 Among these the following ten stallions may be regarded as of 

 special importance, mainly on account of their influence as 

 breeders, although some of them were famous show horses. 



Louis Napoleon 281 : foaled, 1848; imported, 1851. 



Normandy 351 (also known as Pleasant Valley Bill): foaled, 1849; im - 



ported, 1851. 



Success 452: foaled, 1864 ; imported, 1868. 

 Vidocq 483 (732): foaled, 1869; imported, 1874; sire, Coco II (714); 



dam, by Cheri. 

 Brilliant 1271 (755): foaled, 1876; imported, 1881 ; sire, Brilliant 1899 



(756) ; dam, Ragout, by Favori I (711). 

 French Monarch 205 (734): foaled, March, 1865; imported, 1874; sire, 



Ilderim (5302) ; dam, by Vieux Pierre (894). 

 Fenelon 2682 (38): foaled, 1880; imported, 1883; sir e, Brilliant 1271; 



dam, Ernestine, by Duke of Perche 173 (740). 

 La Ferte 5144 (452) : foaled, 1881 ; imported, 1886; sire, Philibert (760); 



dam, Julie (7594), by Brilliant 1899 (756). 

 Gilbert 5154 (461): foaled, 1882; imported, 1886; sire, Brilliant 1271 



(755) ; dam, Sophie (7694). 

 Seducteur Z^v (7057): foaled, 1884; imported, 1888; sire, Fenelon 2682 



(38) ; dam, Rosalie (5688) by Brilliant 1899 (756). 



