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 each of our 

 liorses tw^o weeks at pasture e\ery year, 

 sending them four at a time while the 

 seasfni lasts. We are well pleased with 

 the results." 



EXPERIENCE OF A LEADING TRUCKMAN 



(Letter to the President of the l^oston Work-Horse 

 Parade Association.) 



Boston, May l.'i, 191 L 

 Dear Sir: — 



I write this letter to call your attention to a 

 gray mare, stone blind, which we worked in our 

 Inisiness 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' lay-ofT 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 we 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 surgeon advised me to have him killed. 

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

 gone, and thought he was not worth one dollar. 

 W'e 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 W^ork-Horse Parade. 

 This year he died of blackwater on account of his 

 being so fieshy. 



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 

 question in regard to. 



Very truly yours, 



W^M. D. gUIMBV. 



THE EXPERIENCE OF AN EXPRESSMAN 



" This horse went to pieces after eight years o' 

 city delivery work, and wasn't worth anything; 

 When he came to us, his legs were swollen, kidne\> 

 weak, one lung going, and the other almost gone. 

 He couldn't even go down an easy incline without 

 stopping and struggling for breath. He was given 

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

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

 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 office 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, arc 

 in satisfactory condition and are doing 

 good work. His example is well worth 

 following. 



RECONSTRUCTED HORSES 



In the Boston Work-Horse Parade there 

 is a class for Reconstructed Horses. The 

 medal-winner in this class two years ago 

 was a chestnut mare bought for $75, in 

 the fall, from a provision dealer whose 

 horses are knocked about by boy drivers. 

 This mare was restored to health by a 

 rest, and sold for $300 in the spring. One 

 year ago the medal was won by a horse 

 only eight years old, sound except for 

 blindness, that had been bought in the 

 preceding fall for $15, as he lay in the 

 gutter too weak to get up. He then 

 weighed 1040 pounds; four months after- 

 ward he was a strong, powerful animal 

 weighing 1360 pounds. 



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