CHAPTER XIII 



The American Horse Market 



The total value of horses in the United States 

 at present is stupendous. According to carefully 

 compiled statistics, under date of January i, 1910, 

 the value of horses in the United States amounts 

 to the magnificent figure of $2,051,555,000. At that 

 time there were 20,212,000 horses in the United 

 States, giving an average value of $101.50 per head. 

 Of course, this is considerably higher than for a 

 number of years, because of the fact that values 

 have advanced rather than decreased. The demand 

 for horses is on the up grade and very strong, in 

 spite of the widespread introduction of automobiles 

 and other motor-driven machines. The supply 

 will not very easily overtake the demand. In fact, if 

 the past two decades are any indication, the demand 

 will increase faster than the supply. The population 

 of the United States is becoming greater and greater 

 every year, more land is being worked and the use of 

 horses is naturally becoming wider and wider. It 

 takes a long time to augment the horse stock of any 

 country, particularly where a lot of work is done in 

 the field. Such a large proportion of mares are 

 unproductive every season that the increase is 

 naturally slow. On an average, probably not more 

 than 1,500,000 colts are raised every year. When 

 it is remembered that a lot of horses go out of com- 

 mission every season because of age and disability, 

 the reason for this slow increase is readily apparent. 



The future of the horse in America is assured. 

 When the bicycle became popular it was confidently 



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