358 A HISTORY OP TBTE PERCHBRON HORSE 



A. L. Robison, Sr., made his start in 1894, upon 

 the urgent insistence of his father-in-law, Wilson 

 Richmond. Of the latter Mr. Robison says: 



"He was a bom horseman, always bred and OAvned 

 good horses and for 50 years was never without a 

 good stallion available for his own use and for other 

 breeders. I think he was the keenest judge and had 

 the best eye for a sire of any man I have ever known. 

 He was confident prices would soon swing back, and 

 repeatedly urged me to buy all the good Percheron 

 mares I could while prices were low. Some of my 

 first mares were bought from him, and it was largely 

 fit his suggestion that I bought Powerful 6670 

 (Bayard 7519) in 1889, when he was 20 years old. 

 He always insisted that a man breeding Percherons 

 should, if possible, never place other than a tried 

 sire at the head of his stud. His sound counsel and 

 reliable judgment were of incalcuable value to me 

 in founding Leslie Farm stud. Powerful made our 

 stud at the outset, and I subsequently bought Se- 

 ducteur 8850 (7057) and Rabelais 52564 (43442), 

 both tried sires and horses with the best of breeding 

 behind them. The veteran has left us, but his in- 

 fluence is still with us." 



To this definite policy — the use of tried sires only 

 — the remarkable progress of the Robison stud is 

 justly due, and it is questionable whether many other 

 breeders in America can point to a record so free 

 from mistakes in stud sires used. 



Dan Augstin had been breeding good draft horses 

 from sometime in the '80 's, and stepped into the 

 Percheron ranks in 1895. He, too, was influenced 

 to make purchases while horses were low. John 

 Baughman was his first counselor, and Ferdinand 



