HORSES AND MULES 



299 



pounds. The legs are short, blocky and 

 without feather, the hoof is good, head 

 small, face straight, neck arched, should- 



Fig. 211 SHETLAND PONY, THE 



children's pet 



ers and hips sloping, body deep, round 

 and broad. The Percheron is powerful, 

 but his legs and feet are his strong 

 points. He shows his heel in walking 

 and his action is good, but not quite so 

 swinging as that of the Clydesdale. The 

 percentage of blacks has been greatly in- 



creased by the Americans. Roans, bays, 

 browns and chestnuts are occasionally 

 observed, but probably indicate impure 

 breeding. The weak points in the 

 Percheron are lightness of leg below the 

 knee and hock, rolling gait in front and 

 wide straddling behind. These defects, 

 however, are only seen in a certain 

 percentage. For breeding, stallions with 

 oblique pasterns should be selected. 



Alexander rightly calls attention to 

 the beneficial effects which the Percheron 

 has exercised upon our native horses. 

 He is by far the most popular of all the 

 draft horses, and breeds fairly true to 

 type. He is docile, easily kept in con- 

 dition, of good constitution and well 

 adapted to all sorts of draft purposes. 

 When crossed on native mares, the 

 Percheron produces excellent express, 

 farm, draft and general purpose horses, 

 according to the size of the mare. 

 "Where the blood of this breed pre- 

 dominates in a district, no other breed 

 should be used. Continued breeding in the 

 right line is highly advisable and will re- 

 sult in the production of practically 

 pure bred horses of great usefulness and 

 value." There are more than 30,000 



Fig. 212 — champion clydesdale mare 



