APPENDIX 



TESTIMONY AS TO VACATIONS 

 FOR WORK-HORSES 



A large bakery concern in Boston, 

 the George G. Fox Co. says: — 



" Our system is to give eacii of our 

 horses two weeks at pasture every year, 

 sending them four at a time while the 

 season lasts. We are well pleased with 

 the results." 



EXPERIENCE OF A LEADING TRUCKMAN 



(Letter to the President of the Boston Work- 

 Horse Parade Association.) 



Boston, May 15, 191L 

 Dear Sir: — 



I write this letter to call your attention to a 

 gray mare, stone blind, which we worked in our 

 business for fourteen years. When she had been 

 worked for about twelve years, she seemed to have 

 a general breakdown, and about that time you and 

 I had a conversation in regard to " reconstructed 

 horses," and you advised me to give this mare 

 two months la^'-off and see what effect it would 

 have. I followed your instructions — we have a 

 large yard — and this mare was turned out every 

 day, and most of the time we hired a boy to take 

 her out and give her some grass. In two months' 

 time she came back perfectly well and seemingly 

 as good as ever. We worked her for about two 

 years from that time, and then wc pensioned her 

 and sent her to a farm. 



We have done the same thing with three others, 

 and one of these was run down so badly that our 

 veterinary surgetJfi" advised me to have him killed. 

 He declared that one of thjs horse's lungs was nearly 

 gone, and thought he was not worth one dollar. 

 We had used this horse for about eight years, and 

 concluded that we would try giving him a rest. 

 After three months' rest he was one of the hand- 

 somest horses in Boston, and he remained so for 

 about two years, and last year was shown with 

 the " reconstructed horses " in the Work-Horse 

 Parade. This year he died of blackwater on 

 account of his being so fleshy. 



Our experience simply shows that your idea of 

 a vacation for horses that are run down is correct, 

 and I hope that many other horse owners will make 

 the same experiment. The results I have no 

 cjuestion in regard to. 



Very truly yours, 



WM. D. QUL\IB^■. 



THE EXPERIENCE OF AN EXPRESSMAN 



" This horse went to pieces after eight years of 

 city delivery work, and wasn't worth anything. 

 When he came to us, his legs were swollen, kidneys 

 weak, one lung going and the other almost gone. 

 He couldn't even go down an easy incline with(nit 



stopping and struggling for breath. He was given 

 some physic, and then laid off for the summer. Wc 

 hired boys to lead him (and other horses) in the 

 grass of some open lots while the dew was on it, and 

 let them graze afternoons. We gave this horse 

 the freedom of the barn and the yard, and after a 

 while he began stealing the other horses' feed on 

 his own account. He finally filled out and improved 

 so much that I took him for my own use. Now he 

 feels so well that he won't even walk up hill. He's 

 also a little on the alarm-clock pattern; when he 

 stands in front of the offics evenings, you have to 

 tie him a little before six o'clock, or he will go home 

 to supper and the stable of his own notion." 



Other horses that have been re-built by 

 this same owner have been sold well, are 

 in satisfactory condition and are doing 

 good work. His example is well worth 

 following. 



VACATION BY CHANGE OF WORK 



" W'e keep two horses for this business; and 

 while one of them works in the city, the other pulls 

 a light buckboard about our dairy farm and comes 

 in for plenty of green feed. They exchange jobs 

 and rations from time to time, with good results." 



Many users of city horses could make a 

 good profit on a properly organized farm, 

 keeping part of the horses there at a time 

 until the whole band had been rested and 

 freshened up by vacation and change of 

 work. The average endurance of city life 

 by the horses would be lengthened, and one 

 and all would accomplish far more work 

 with infinitely less suffering. 



There would be a home market in the 

 city stables for all surplus feed; and if the 

 distance were not too great, the out-going 

 teams could haul manure, while the horses 

 coming to town could bring in green food 

 and other supplies in season. The right 

 kind of a timber lot would furnish quan- 

 tities of leaves which make good bedding 

 and excellent fertilizing material. By this 

 system the cost of the horse-suppl\- could 

 be lowered greatly. 



A HORSE-BOARDING FARM 



Situated twenty miles from Boston: 



" We raise hay and carrots; also corn, which we 

 feed green and on the cob. During the hot months 

 the horses are turned out at night, and brought in 

 and fed in the daytime. Mean horses are always 

 kept away from the others; and we have an ex- 

 ercise rink for use in l^ad weather. 



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