A PERIOD OF PROFOUND DEPRESSION 345 



unfortunate experiment resulted^ in an extremely 

 acute founder which nearly resulted in the death of 

 Brilliant 3d and he was ruined for use in the show- 

 yard.* He gradually recovered, although he was un- 

 fit for stud use for two years. Some colts were sired 

 by him in 1891 and 1892, 15 in all, at Oaklawn, but 

 he was so badly crippled that Mr. Dunham desired 

 to be rid of him. He was accordingly sold on Dec. 

 20, 1892, to Avery & Coleman, Wakefield, Kans., 

 where he was used for three years and then dropped 

 from sight. 



In spite of his foundered condition, the colts sired 

 by Brilliant 3d were good, both at Oaklawn and in 

 Kansas. All of those sired at Oaklawn were blacks 

 or grays, but more than half of those sired in Kansas 

 were off-colors — bays, browns and sorrels. The off- 

 colors were clearly due to the dams, however, as 10 

 out of the 11 off-colored colts were out of top-cross 

 mares, bred up and recorded by Mr. Avery from 

 some grade mares he bought of the Dillons in 1878. 

 The sorrel and bay colors were so strongly fixed in 

 these dams that not even Brilliant 3d's remarkable 

 prepotency could entirely offset it, and he has been 

 unjustly faulted for siring a good many colts not of 

 popular colors. 



The colts sired by Brilliant 3d at Oaklawn were 

 developed and sold at high prices, those on which 



•Anxiety to have Brilliant 3d in the best possible condition 

 led to the use of whole milk, recommended by another breeder. 

 Too much was given, probably because of inexperience and the 

 greediness of the horse. The result was the most acute case of 

 founder ever known at Oaklawn. Heroic measures saved him, but 

 he was hopelessly crippled for life. 



