190 JUDGING JACKS, JENNETS, AND MULES 



or brown. One of the principal criticisms of the breed is 

 its lack of size, bone, and substance. The head is very well 

 developed, the ears upright and fine in quality. Although 

 the breed has several very desirable attributes its lack of size 

 has reacted very much against it. These jacks are vigorous 

 and show unusual vitality when in service. The attainment 

 of more size is necessary to make the breed of practical 

 value in mule production. This is very important in a 

 jack because of the general inclination toward miniature 

 development in the offspring, either from a jennet or a 

 mare. While the largest jacks are not always the most 

 useful or valuable, size, quality, and substance are important 

 attributes in mule production. 



Majorca. — The Majorca jack, imported from the Island 

 of Majorca in the Mediterranean sea, while one of the largest 

 breeds imported, has not become popular as a breeder in 

 this country. With the exception of the French Poitou, it 

 is the largest breed of jacks, often measuring 16 hands high; 

 the average being somewhat under this height. The lack 

 of style, finish and action, however, has mitigated against 

 its popularity. The breed is characterized by extreme 

 sluggishness not desired in any breeding animal. The 

 head and ears are unusually large and the body, as a whole, 

 lacks compactness and symmetry. Although pure bred 

 for a great many years in its native home, its sphere of use- 

 fulness has been rather hmited. In Spain it has met with 

 considerable success in breeding army mules. The breed 

 is suggestive of criticism from almost every standpoint 

 except size and weight. Breed description is largely a matter 

 of interest rather than utility qualifications. 



Italian. — The Italian jack is the smallest of the breeds, 

 the average height ranging from 13 to 14 hands. The color 

 is black usually, although gray is not uncommon. The bone 

 is rather large and above the average in quality. The jacks 

 are of very little importance either as jack or jennet pro- 

 ducers. In their native home they are used principally 

 for packing purposes. They resemble the Maltese jack 

 very much, it being believed by some that one is the de- 

 scendant of the other. The breed is too small for using on 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



