66 



FOREIGN MARKETS FOR AMERICAN HORSES. 



Those beautiful match pairs of carriage horses, standing from 15 hands 2 inches 

 to 16 hands 2 inches, which are among the greatest attractions of our West End 

 streets and fashionable resorts in the London season, are not the English horses so 

 many fondly believe them to be; they are, with few exceptions, importations from 

 the breeding centers of France, Germany, Hungary, Austria, and Holland. 



Though the countries specified above are those whence we obtain the bulk of 

 our superior harness horses, our purchases are by no means restricted to these mar- 

 kets. Enterprising London dealers now have in America, Canada, and other 

 countries their agents ever on the outlook for good-looking animals suitable for 

 road work in London and other large cities. The dimensions which have been 

 attained by this trade in foreign horses is proved by the annual returns. Let us 

 see what figures can tell us. 



We imported — 



In the ten years 1863-1872 - 29,131 horses. 



In the ten years 1873-1882 __ __ 197,092 horses. 



In the ten years 1883-1892 145,763 horses. 



The falling off in the importations of the ten years ended in 1892 from the total 

 of the preceding decade is sufficiently great to invite criticism, but it is to be 

 feared we may not lay the flattering unction to our souls that the decrease proves 

 our growing independence of continental supply. The reduced importations of 

 those ten years were due, it can not be doubted, to the depressed condition of 

 trade which prevailed during that period, a depression which would of necessity 

 make itself felt primarily upon indulgence in such luxuries as high-class carriage 

 horses. That this explanation is correct seems proved, to some extent at least, by 

 the returns for the next four years, 1893-1896, which period, as all know, has wit- 

 nessed distinct commercial revival. In the four years 1893-1896, then, we imported 

 111 ,342 horses; and if we maintain the average until the year 1902, to complete the 

 decade, the total for the current period of ten years will be 278,350 horses. 



During the last six years, to go no further back, we have paid away £3,731,772 

 (about $18,658,860), on the average a sum of over £621,000 (about $3,105,000) per 

 annum for horses. 



Among all our domestic animals the carriage horse stands alone, a costly 

 reminder of neglected opportunity and a reproach to a race of horsemen. For 

 the high-class roadster we must go to foreign countries in the regrettable cer- 

 tainty of finding there what we can not, or at all events do not, produce at home; 

 and at the same time supply the competitors of the British breeder with the best 

 blood in the world to use for the purpose of providing himself and us with the 

 most valuable class of horses. Reference to this point invites examination of 

 statistics. The following are the official returns of the horse trade for the past 

 five years: 



Export and import of horses, 1892 to 1896. 



Note.— These figures include the selling price, £6 to £8, of many thousands of ponies from 

 Russia, Sweden, and Norway. 



It will be observed in regard to the exports, first, that the number of horses we 

 send abroad has been increasing with each recurring year; and, secondly, that the 



