SPECIAL REPORT ON THE MARKET FOR AMERICAN HORSES 

 IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



RESUME OF INDIVIDUAL REPORTS 



INTRODUCTORY. 



The American export trade in horses has made great strides within 

 the past five years. In fact, its beginnings were laid only during the 

 Chicago International Exposition of 1893. During the next year 

 there were only five foreign buyers on the Chicago market and only 

 2,000 horses exported from that city — twice as many as had been sent 

 in an experimental way the previous year — while in 1897 there were 

 seventy foreign buyers, and three-fourths of the horses exported to 

 Europe went directly from that market. 



The European nations, with the exception of Hungary and Russia, 

 do not produce as many horses as they need, and of late years have 

 drawn largely upon America, particularly Canada and the United 

 States, to supply the deficiency. 



This condition of affairs is due largely to the thickly populated 

 state of the countries, which also operates to prevent the production of 

 sufficient cereal and other food stuffs, creating a market for many 

 of our agricultural products ; but partly to the large number of horses 

 which are required by their armies and for the better part of their 

 lives are entirely removed from productive work. 



Much that has been published regarding the kind of horse needed 

 for the export trade would lead one to believe that European horses 

 are entirely different from those raised on this side of the Atlantic, 

 and that they are bred according to a definite formula: Just so long, 

 so high, and so thick, balancing the scales at just so many pounds — 

 an ideal horse that America never has grown and never can produce. 



The truth is, American horse raisers have just as good stock as that 

 of their fellow-breeders on the other side, where good, indifferent, and 

 inferior horses of draft, coach, and other breeds are produced the 

 same as in this country. 



But when horses are selected for shipment 5,000 miles by rail and 

 sea, reason dictates a choice of those individuals, the best of their 

 kind, which will command a price sufficient to pay purchase money, 

 transportation expenses, and a profit. Besides, European countries 

 doubtless produce a sufficiently large number of inferior horses for 



9 



