266 A HISTORY OP THE PEECHERON HOESE 



opportunity. The Dillons sold Mm to Rush Co., 

 Ind., where he sired two purebred colts for J. T. 

 McMillin, the president of the company that owned 

 the horse.* These colts were foaled in 1888 and 

 1889. E. B. Kellogg shipped some mares to be bred 

 to Favora in May, 1888, and secured two colts. Fa- 

 vora died on April 15, 1889, aged 21 years. 



Dillons in the Showring. — The Dillons were good 

 advertisers and were appreciative of the value of 

 showring exhibitions. They exhibited more gener- 

 ally at the county and district fairs in Illinois than 

 any other breeders of this period, and also made 

 strong displays at the state fairs and Chicago horse 

 shows. The extremely hot pace set by Mark W. 

 Dunham, W. L. Ellwood, Leonard Johnson and H. A. 

 Briggs shut the Dillons out of the prize-lists at the 

 most important shows so far as stallions were con- 

 cerned, but their mares won high honors in the 

 strongest competition. Modesty Gr. 586 was their 

 most noted show mare. She was first in the aged 

 mare class at the Chicago show in 1887, and was 

 also first for mare and two of her produce. She was 

 not a regular breeder, and raised only 5 colts in 17 



*W. H. McMillin, Rushville, Ind., writing under date of May 12, 

 1915, says: 



"Favora 1546 was owned Iby a company of men at Gings, Ind., 

 of wliich my father, J. T. McMillin, was the president. . . . 

 He got about 70 per cent of his mares in foal, but there were 

 only 2 purebred mares in the county during the time he was used 

 here. Favora was the greatest breeding horse ever used in Rush 

 county. The mares at that time were small, ranging from ponies 

 up, but the colts at four years weighed from 1,500 to 2,000 pounds, 

 and the shippers would buy every one they could get, even as 

 three-year-olds. I think he was brought here in the spring of 

 1882. He died April 15, 1889, at 21 years. He weighed over 2,200 

 pounds while owned in Rush county and was the best draft horse 

 I ever saw." 



