4:54 A HISTORY OP THE PEECHEEON HOESE 



horses. A large number of the geldings were ship- 

 ped to the breaking and fitting stables at Conneaut 

 Lake, Pa., from which they were sold to ice com- 

 panies in Boston and New York. These horses aver- 

 aged about 1,550 pounds each, although some of 

 them weighed more than 1,800 pounds. The brand 

 proved a handicap, but the true worth of the horses 

 overcame this difficulty. 



Here was a powerful influence at work in favor of 

 the Percheron breed for range conditions. Horse- 

 men from all over the northwest came to this ranch 

 to study the results obtained and to purchase range- 

 bred sires for use on their own grade stocks. The 

 purebred Percherons proved as hardy as the range- 

 bred grades. The Percheron mares lived on the 

 range both summer and winter. The stallions were 

 taken up late in the fall and fitted for spring serv- 

 ice. The Percherons proved durable, adaptable, 

 hardy, and preeminently suited to the improvement 

 of the light-weight range-bred mares. No other 

 breeding establishment in the northwest carried out 

 such a persistent and extended campaign along 

 well-defined lines in the improvement of the native 

 horses. The fact that the Huidekoper family pos- 

 sessed an eastern establishment where the horses 

 could be broken and fitted for sale was another fac- 

 tor of importance, as it provided for the placing of 

 these range horses oh the leading eastern city mar- 

 kets on the basis of their true value as draft horses. 

 The brand became so well known in the eastern 

 markets that horses of this type and breeding 



