SELECTION, CARE AND MANAGEMENT 575 



extent, but large puffs or any indication of a bog 

 spavin must be avoided. 



"A horse should have a good, big eye, preferably 

 brown in color, and should be wide between the 

 eyes. The eye orbits should be prominent, so that 

 the eye sets well out on the side of the head. The 

 small, hog eye always is to be avoided; that kind 

 of an eye indicates a bad disposition and never 

 lasts so well as a big, open eye. 



"Under no circumstances would I buy a horse 

 with a small sheath; such a one is usually light 

 in the middle and a poor feeder. Occasionally one 

 will get hold of a horse with apparently ideal con- 

 formation for feeding that has a small sheath. 

 While I cannot explain just why such horses are 

 poor feeders, I have always found that they are 

 poor doers. I always pay close attention to the 

 sheath in purchasing thin geldings for feeding pur- 

 poses. 



"There are more good feeders among the grade 

 Percherons and Belgians than among those of other 

 breeding. I prefer geldings sired by Percheron and 

 Belgian sires. It is difficult to describe the kind 

 of thin horse that will grow out into a big horse of 

 the right kind, but above all, he must have height, 

 heavy bone, and the proper proportions in frame 

 work. If he does not have these, no amount of 

 feed will ever make the right kind of a horse out 

 of him; 



' ' After buying the right kind of horses, I make it a 

 rule to have them vaccinated as soon as they are 

 brought in to town. They are treated with a hy- 

 podermic injection of any of the good polyvalent 

 bacterins before they are put into any livery stable 

 or allowed to stand around a stockpen. I have 

 found that if one can vaccinate horses before they 



