42 FOREIGN MARKETS FOR AMERICAN HORSES. 



market, being of inferior quality. From what I can learn, those 

 horses must have been purchased in America only because they were 

 cheap, without regard to the requirements of the French market, and 

 being unfitted for the same have created a bad and false impression 

 about our horses. A large livery-stable keeper who has 200 horses 

 told me that he has only one American horse (carriage horse), stand- 

 ing 5 feet 3 inches, 5 years old, for which he paid 1,200 francs, and 

 is much pleased with the animal, and would have bought more, even 

 at a dearer price, but that those presented to him were such ugly, rec- 

 tangular, long and flopping eared creatures that they would not suit 

 at any price. 



The veterinary surgeon told me that he knew the American horses 

 and admired their good qualities, especially their powers of endurance, 

 and could not understand why only such inferior quality came to 

 France. 



I believe that American horses would find a good market in France 

 if pains were taken to send only such horses as will suit the needs 

 of the purchasers. 



SUMMARY OP A COMMUNICATION REGARDING AMERICAN 

 HORSES USED BY THE LARGE HORSE COMPANIES IN PARIS, 

 FRANCE. 



[H. De Loncey in L'Acclimatation, March, 1898.] 



For three years cargoes of American horses have continued to be 

 received without interruption at Bordeaux and at Marseilles, and they 

 are sold at public auction all over France; and yet there is much dif- 

 ference of opinion as to the true value of the American horse and its 

 future in France. Some maintain that at the average of $200, the 

 price paid at a recent sale at Lyons, they were cheap. Others, again, 

 less enthusiastic, accord to the American horse preference over the 

 French in some respects while in others they prefer the latter. The 

 third group place them far below the domestic product, admitting, 

 however, that they seem to "stop certain gaps," being purchased by 

 persons who are apt to load themselves too readily at public sales. 



The first visit paid by the writer was to the General Omnibus Com- 

 pany, Paris. Notwithstanding the great increase in mechanical trac- 

 tion, the number of horses in the company's stables, which for a long 

 time was about 12,000, has been increased of later years until it 

 reaches 16,000, a fact explained by the establishment of fifteen new 

 lines. The horses consist of stallions, geldings, and mares in about 

 equal proportions. The first American horses were purchased by this 

 company three years ago. These are now at depot of La Bastille, a 

 most important station, which includes 1,200 horses, all high-class 

 stallions, supplying one of the most important and arduous lines run 

 by the company. The American horses were closely examined. With 



