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of them were as neatly groomed as any coach horse, decked 

 with ribbons and with their clean harnesses with brass and 

 ivory mountings, making altogether a very fine appearance. 



While your Committee commend the competitors for their 

 good taste and pride, in making a good show at the fair, and 

 take special delight in seeing a pair of noble work horses in 

 their gorgeous trappings, we are of the opinion that some of 

 the horses would have performed better in their " every day 

 clothes." For example: — one of the finest, if not the finest 

 pair of horses exhibited, wore a new harness which had never 

 been worked in, and which, in the judgment of the committee, 

 was not properly adjusted ; on this account, they failed to 

 accomplish all they might have done had they been accus- 

 tomed to their harness. Again, some of the horses which 

 have always worked in blinders were shown in open bridles. 

 We fully believe in open bridles for work horses. They are 

 lighter, more comfortable, and look better, but horses must 

 become accustomed to them before they will behave just as 

 well as they did in blinders. 



In hitching a pair of horses to a load they should be hitched 

 as near the whififle-tree as they can work without touching, 

 with the breeching just loose enough to allow the horse the 

 free use of his legs. It is a common mistake to let the 

 breeching down so low that in backing, the horse is set on his 

 haunches and is unable to move the load ; and in holding the 

 load, down hill, it has a tendency to draw the hind legs to- 

 gether, causing him to interfere. 



It is evident to the committee that in matching work 

 horses too much attention is paid to the size and color, to the 

 neglect of some of the more important requirements. It is 

 necessary, in order to have a perfect working team, that the 

 horses should be as nearly as possible of the same tempera- 

 ment, taking care never to mate a high spirited, nervous horse 

 with a slow, stupid creature that has no ambition to do his 

 part. They should also have the same gait, as a long gaited 

 horse and one that naturally steps short and quick can never 

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