AMERICAN HORSES IN BELGIUM. 27 



make a report on this subject — such a report as might be of interest 

 to the Department of Agriculture. 



I therefore have the honor to submit to you in brief the ideas 

 suggested to me by an examination of the subject. 



There will probably be imported this year through Antwerp about 

 20,000 horses from America. A number of these will come from 

 Canada. 



We saw about 200 horses that had just been brought from New 

 York, most of them having been bought in or near Chicago. They 

 were of all sorts. The draft animals were fairly good, but few of the 

 so-called carriage hor'ses had any pretense to good breeding or to 

 style. There were one or two fine animals, but the whole lot looked 

 as if they had been picked up at small cost, with care taken only for 

 soundness. They had stood the voyage remarkably well. Other lots 

 of horses were shown that appeared to much better advantage. They 

 were going to Prance and to Switzerland (some for military service), 

 and were expected to bring higher .prices there than those sent to 

 Belgium. 



We were taken to the stables of two of the cooperative companies 

 of workmen to see there the best kind of draft horses used in Antwerp. 

 These were magnificent animals, some of them weighing over 2,500 

 pounds and standing 17£ and even 18 hands high. Many of them 

 weighed over 2,000 pounds. As a rule they were of the Flemish breed, 

 although there were a number of American ones among them. These 

 latter, although not so large (being, however, over 16 hands and 

 1,600 pounds), appeared more muscular than the former in propor- 

 tion. A single one of these horses is expected to draw 1,100 pounds 

 on the low trucks (four wheels) used in the streets of Antwerp. 



In importing horses to Europe care should first of all be taken as 

 to soundness, as even a slight splint would ruin the sale of a good 

 animal. Each horse imported to Belgium is inspected by a Govern- 

 ment veterinarian, for which there is a charge of 2-J francs. Within 

 the last few weeks this charge on horses billed to other countries 

 and merely passing through Belgium has been discontinued. 



CARRIAGE HORSES, ETC. 



Carriage horses, etc., are much sought after, and in Brussels and 

 the rest of the continent bring large prices when of the popular type. 

 Short-coupled, high-headed, and high-stepping horses are what is 

 wanted, and not the fast roadsters seen in many parts of the country. 

 The latter lift their feet high only when going fast. Here horses that 

 step high when going slow — park horses, in fact — are the thing. 



HACKNEYS, COACH HORSES, ETC. 



Hackneys, coach horses, cobs, etc., of great style and action always 

 find a good market. Sometimes in March and April the fast road- 



