380 A HISTORY OF THE PERCHERON HORSE 



material changes. All these breeders had faith in 

 the ultimate outcome and possessed the means to 

 carry their studs through the hard times. Consid- 

 erable advertising and showing was done, even in 

 the worst years, especially by Briggs and Pabst. The 

 horse-breeding interests of Wisconsin were material- 

 ly conserved by the stability and confidence of her 

 leading breeders. Progress in building up a better 

 average class of horses in the state was greatly facil- 

 itated by the distribution of good stock horses, which 

 persisted, though at low prices, throughout this 

 entire period from all her Percheron studs. As a 

 consequence Wisconsin farmers were in a souild posi- 

 tion when prices did turn for the better and had a 

 keen appreciation of the value of Percheron sires. 

 So marked was this, that in 1914 more than 74 per- 

 cent of all the purebred draft stallions in the state 

 were Percherons — eloquent testimony to the sound 

 foundation laid by the early breeders of the state. 

 In Kansas. — Kansas advanced from 20 breeders in 

 1890 to 72 breeders in 1900, and stood sixth in num- 

 ber of Percherons raised and recorded during this 

 period, with a total of 383 head. Henry Avery and 

 his partnership firm of Avery & Coleman and 0. L. 

 Thisler were again the leaders. M. D. Covell, J. 

 Fuhrman, Thomas McGee, C. Spohr and S. C. Bart- 

 lett were others whose studs were founded in the 

 '80 's and who had the confidence and courage. to 

 hold to their Percherons through hard times. Hanna 

 & Co., with stock from the long-established stud of 

 George Hanna in Illinois, began making Kansas Per- 



