78 ILLUSTRATED STOCK DOCTOK. 



been described as being capable of carrying great burdens at a reasonabI« 

 rate of spe^d ; to have been large, compact, muscular, and possessing the 

 greatest endurance. 



The points of the Percheron may be stated as follows : 



The head is short ; the brow is broad, and has that hollow of profile 

 between the eyes and nostrils sometimes known as the dish-face — (in 

 this greatly resembling the Arab) ; but the head in general is not heavier 

 than seems in keeping with the general massiveness of the frame ; the 

 neck is long, well-arched and heavy, but, like the head, not dispropor- 

 tioned to the general bulk. The back is short ; they are well ribbed up 

 and round barrelled ; their legs are particularly short from the knees and 

 hocks downward ; they are heavily haired, but have not such shaggy 

 fetlocks and feet as this would seem to indicate ; their sinews are iron~ 

 like ; and their feet are hard, sound, apparently insensible to disease. In 

 height, they are from fourteen and a half to fifteen and a half hands, the 

 latter being rather more than the average. Gray is the characteristic, 

 almost the only, color. 



For hard work on ordinary fare the Percheron is unequalled ; and his 

 energy and endurance are wonderful. He will keep his condition where 

 another horse would die of hard labor and neglect. Though full of 

 spirit, unflinching under even painful effort, he is yet docile. 



In mere speed he is by no means the equal of the thorough-bred ; but 

 for quickness of movement at heavj^ draft he has no rival. Hitched to a 

 light carriage or wagon he is capable of maintaining a good rate of speed 

 for a long time together, or of making comparatively short journeys with 

 a rapidity that is astonishing. One, carrying a light vehicle and the 

 driver, is known to have made 55 3-5 miles over a hilly and difficult road, 

 in four hours and twenty-four minutes ; and another, harnessed in like 

 manner, is said to have traveled 58 miles and back in two consecutive 

 days, without being touched with the whip, occupying four hours and less 

 than two minutes going, and four hours, one and a half minutes returning. 



The Percheron of to-day makes an excellent cross with either the Arab 

 or the English thorough-bred. For the improvement of our draft stock 

 in the United States, no other horse is to be compared to him. Bred to 

 good mares, this half-breed would partake more of the qualities of the 

 sire than of the dam, and the progeny would be almost the equals of th* 

 pure French horses. Another step, bringing a pure imported stallion to 

 the service of these half-breeds, would give us a race of horses for all 

 Work that would so far excel the ordinary race of scrubs as to seem 

 almost like a different species of animal. 



At Oaklawn, Du Page Co., 111., is one of the largest stud farms of the world, 

 and it is devoted exclusively to the Percheron stock. 



