DRAFT HORSES 147 



matching, and so handling his stock that it will 

 " show well " all count. But, other things being 

 equal, the reward is, as it should be, to the man 

 who raises the best horses. 



All of our breeds of draft horses, without ex- 

 ception, have been imported from European coun- 

 tries; not one has been developed on American 

 soil. This, in view of our achievement in the de- 

 velopment of the American trotter as a distinct 

 breed, may at first seem strange, but the cases are 

 by no means similar. All through the earlier 

 years and until a comparatively recent date in 

 this country there were very few horses bred ex- 

 pressly for draft purposes and the majority of 

 those that were needed for heavy work were simply 

 selected for their size and strength from the ordi- 

 nary rank and file in the market. Thus a great 

 many of them, except in size, did not differ very 

 greatly from the road type and among them were 

 often many excellent roadsters. 



The finest draft teams of forty years ago would 

 look light and of decidedly different type if placed 

 alongside of our best specimens of draft stock at 

 the present day. When heavier horses were 

 needed, we found in the European breeds what we 

 wanted, all ready-made, and there was no need, as 

 with our trotters, to develop a breed of our own. 

 There is still room for much improvement, how- 



