14 FOEEIGN MARKETS FOE AMERICAN HORSES. 



breeding, and to report on that industry in its relation to commerce 

 with the Continent, says : * 



The American horse undergoes at his landing in Belgium [or any other 

 country] the same disadvantage of acclimation which our Belgian horse meets 

 on arrival in the United States. 



It is scarcely reasonable to expect from an animal which has just made a voy- 

 age a sum of work which is exacted of a native horse. This is what some persons 

 have not understood who complain of a lack of vigor in the horse which they 

 bought the day before, and of which they expect immediate service. As soon as 

 the animal is recovered we may expect from him if placed in the same conditions 

 as any other horse, the same sum of service, if not a greater. 



In London the tramways, bus companies, jobmasters, and owners 

 of light delivery wagons are large purchasers of American horses. 

 Horses for their use must be from 15£ to 16 hands high, weigh from 

 1,200 to 1,350 pounds, be compactly built, with plenty of bone and 

 muscle and good action, and average from 5 to 7 years of age. They 

 should measure from 76 to 78 inches in girth, and from 8-£ to 9| inches 

 around the leg just below the knee. Such horses will sell from $170 

 to $185, and sometimes as high as $200. 



Large bus horses for suburban work, 5 to 8 years old, 16 hands 

 high, weighing 1,600 to 1,700 pounds, with a girth of 88 inches, bring 

 from $185 to $225, and exceptional native horses sell as high as $400. 

 The "trotting vanner," a synonym for useful light delivery-wagon 

 horse, 16 to 16| hands, 78 inches at girth, and7£ inches around the leg 

 just below the knee, sells for $125 to $150. 



Carriage horses, 90 inches at girth and 9£ inches around the leg just 

 below the knee, with good knee action and well bred, will, if well 

 matched, bring from $750 to $1,500 per pair. 



For heavy draft horses the demand is always brisk, and Clydesdale 

 and Shire horses are reported most in demand. Solid, stocky, 16^-hand, 

 1,750-pound horses, free from blemish, 5 to 7 years old, 10 tol0£ inches 

 around the leg below the knee, and 98 to 100 inches girth bring from 

 $250 to $375. 



Misfits, scrubs, and badly broken horses will not do ; but a young, 

 good, sound, well-broken horse, with plenty of bone and muscle, com- 

 pactly built, of almost any recognized class or type will sell well in 

 the London market. 



The effect of the American trade has been to cheapen horses in 

 England, and horse breeding among farmers on the island is nearly 

 paralyzed. With horses a drug upon our market, it was undoubtedly 

 good policy to sell our stock in Europe, even at exceptionally low 

 prices. But the price at home is looking up. To come out of the 

 business with a profit it is necessary to get better prices abroad than 

 formerly, and to do this only the proper kind of horse must be 

 offered. 



* Importation de chevaux Americains: Rapport presents. Par M. Albert Von 

 Schelle. Bruxelles, 1898. 



