16 FOREIGN MARKETS FOR AMERICAN HORSES. 



production of size with a little smoother form. If we succeed in this 

 the horse will advance beyond the bus-horse class until he becomes 

 an excellent general-purpose horse, of which there is at the present 

 time a great scarcity. This horse in England will be used by men of 

 moderate means who can only afford to keep one horse, and therefore 

 want one suitable for the brougham, the cart, and at the same time 

 moderately well fitted for the saddle, besides being of such general 

 utility that he can always be sold at a fair price. This horse would 

 also prove to be a good cavalry horse, and is one which American 

 breeders are to-day prepared to raise to better advantage than any 

 other. His legs and feet must be well formed and free from blemish 

 and he should stand right on them, his shoulders and hips good, and 

 his back short. Such a horse is always in demand and, if 16 hands 

 high, sells for a good price, even if he has but ordinary action. He 

 is a good "^,11-round horse," and his price in England is regulated, 

 within reasonable bounds, almost entirely by his qualifications. 



Inferior horses can be sold, but at what price? The horses of 

 Russia and Finland sell in London at an average of $80 per head. A 

 victory in that competition would be a financial defeat. The average 

 Value of horses imported into Great Britain from the United States 

 in 1896 was only about $150 at port of shipment. This must include 

 many very ordinary individuals, which perhaps should never have 

 left their native pastures, but remaining at home, have done any 

 labor for which they are suited, and not by their introduction abroad 

 have brought discredit upon our truly superior stock, whose qualities 

 have but to be known to be appreciated, and which alone should be 

 offered in foreign markets. 



Most of the exportations have been light horses, but the heavier 

 horse is now receiving much attention; bus horses, cart and draft 

 horses, are being shipped and are bringing good prices in competition 

 with the horses of the same class in the old and original home of the 

 breed. This of course arouses opposition from the foreign breeders 

 of draft horses, who, when the imports from America were of a char- 

 acter not calculated to compete with their horses, viewed American 

 prominence in the trade in saddle, light, and fancy driving horses 

 with much more equanimity than now, when their purse and pride 

 are both assailed by the entrance of the American-grown draft horse 

 upon their hitherto undisputed territory. Therefore, we may expect 

 to meet with all kinds of opposition on the continent, where the arm 

 of the Government will doubtless be invoked in aid of the horse 

 breeders. That we may be met with higher tariff rates, oppressive 

 veterinarian regulations, and perhaps complete prohibition, experi- 

 ence leads us to expect. The following extract from an article printed 

 in the Journal de la Societe Agricole du Brabant, December 6, 1897, 

 and transmitted by United States Consul Roosevelt, at Brussels, to 



