326 A HISTORY OF THE PEECHERON HORSE 



bought. He began in 1880, but did not breed many 

 until after 1884. All told 13 stallions and 15 mares 

 were bred and raised by him in 1890. One of the 

 best early sires used by Mr. Babcock was Canadien 

 7033 (6653), a gray son of the noted Voltaire 3540 

 (443 ) . He was a medium-sized horse, standing about 

 16.2 hands high and weighing about 1,900 pounds 

 when in good flesh. He was compact and well-pro- 

 portioned and a very good sire. Sansonnet was 

 used still earlier and sired the phenomenal show and 

 brood mare Linda 12986. This mare, bred by Mr. 

 Babcock, made most of her record in the hands of 

 Oaklawn Farm, and her history has already been 

 given. The greatest sire ever used was Villers 

 13169 (8081), of which more anon. Relatively few 

 animals were sold by Mr. Babcock before 1890. 

 Further discussion of his work will come later. 



H. A. Briggs, who bred and raised 17 Percherons 

 on Prairie View Farm by 1890, began breeding 

 about 1886. He bought some mares from R. B. 

 Kellogg, and made an importation himself in 1887. 

 His farm consisted of 420 acres between Elkhom 

 and Delavan — a very good farm of dark prairie 

 loam. Mr. Briggs worked his mares as much as the 

 amount of work to be done would permit, and states 

 that the mares which had a moderate amount of 

 work gave him better results than the idle mares 

 did. The largest number of producing mares kept 

 at any one time was 25. A smaller number was 

 usually owned. The first and best sire used was 

 Louis 6337 (2430), a black with a star. He was 



