FIFTH ANNUAL PARADE. 



THE STABLE COMPETITION. 





N January, 1907, at the suggestion of a leading Boston truckman, a stable 

 competition was begun, and this has opened a field for usefulness which, 

 the directors hope, will be availed cf very largely in the future. Tho 

 y, y. u| . benefit to an owner of having his stable inspected from time to time by 

 \^gT coiupetenl men whose observations will be kept secret, except from him, 

 ^^ I are obviously great. The plan required that entries should be made prior 

 to January 1, and that the stables should be open to inspection by the 

 judges at such hours and as often as they might think necessary up to May first. Tliis 

 competition was restricted, for the year 1907. to persons or firms whose main business 

 vras the use of horses, excluding owners whose use of horses was incidental to their main 

 business. It is intended in 1908 to have a stable competition open to all stables where 

 work-horses are kept, and divided like the parade, into as many classes as may be ex- 

 pedient. 



Among the points to be considered by the Judges were quality and quantity of hay 

 and grain fed, bedding, grooming, blankets, character of stalls, ventilation, cleanliness 

 of stable and hay-loft, sanitary condition of stable, and last, but not least, the character 

 of the men in charge of the horses. The design was to consider the construction and me- 

 chanical arrangements of the stable, but to lay more weight on the management of the 

 stable; that is to consider the facilities as important, but to consider as still more im- 

 portant the use which the proprietor and his men made of the facilities at their com- 

 mand. 



The result of this competition and of independent investigations made by 

 several of the directors is astonishing in some respects. It appears that many men 

 who have owned and used horses for years do not yet know the nature of the animal. 

 In former catalogues we have refrained from stating any rules as to the care of work- 

 iiorses, thinking that they would be superfluous •, but the reader who is interested in the 

 f-.ubject will find printed nn ])ago 12 of this catalogue tho points of a Good Stable and the 

 points of a Bad Stable. 



On the other hand, it is a pleasure to state that in many cases the Judges in the 

 stable competition found the management to be excellent, — sometimes nearly 

 perfect. The prizes will be awarded at the annual parade, and they are all well de- 

 served and highly honorable to the recipients. In one case, two men being thought 

 equally worthy of first prize, a first prize is given to both. The prizes are awarded as 

 follows : — 



