STALLIONS, BROOD MARES AND FOALS. 109 



actly bought and sold by the pound, like hogs 

 and steers; yet frequently the first thing one 

 of these draft-horse breeders will speak of is 

 the weight of his horse. "That stallion weighs 

 1,900." "This filly weighed 1,400 at two years 

 old," and similar remarks are specimens of the 

 "horse talk" most common among breeders of 

 draft horses; and they feed to produce weight, 

 just as the man does who is feeding hogs or 

 cattle for pork or beef. It is an easy matter to 

 add 200 Ibs. weight to a fair-sized horse when 

 in ordinary flesh; and a draft horse that has 

 less than two inches of adipose tissue on his 

 ribs is not fit to show anywhere at least so 

 the fashion runs. 



It is not strange that horses so overfed and 

 loaded down with fat should be unable to work 

 in warm weather, or that their reputation for 

 endurance should suffer. A good roadster 

 weighing 900 Ibs. when in condition for work 

 will make his mile in 2:30 or go for hours at 

 the rate of ten miles per hour; but load the 

 same horse with fat, until his weight is 1,200 

 which can easily be done and you can "break 

 his heart" in three minutes on the road. Gold- 

 smith Maid was a marvelous trotter, and her 

 easy, cat-like strides carried her to the front in 

 2:14 when she was in good condition to trot; 

 but if she had been made as fat as a show-yard 

 Clydesdale she would have waddled like a duck 



