138 THE HORSE, ASS, AND MULE 



feet so severely criticised as does the Belgian. If one may judge 

 from the specimens exhibited in America, there is reason in this 

 objection. In action the Belgian is somewhat slow, though some 

 remarkable actors have been seen in our shows. Omer, the cham- 

 pion of the International Live Stock Show of 1903, imported by 

 McLaughlin Brothers, has a stride and style most unusual in a 

 draft horse of any breed. In color the chestnut is the most 



Fig. 51. Omer 1269. A prominent prize-winning Belgian stallion, imported and 

 exhibited by McLaughlin Bros., Columbus, Ohio. First in class and grand 

 champion of the breed in 1903 at International Live Stock Exposition. 

 Photograph by author 



popular, although bays, bay browns, and roans are more or less 

 frequent. Grays are not in favor either at home or abroad. The 

 height and weight vary. M. Albert Van Schelle, the special 

 commissioner from Belgium in charge of the exhibit of Belgian 

 Draft horses at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis 

 in 1904, classes the horses of Belgium into three types accord- 

 ing to the sections of the country to which they belong. Those 



