6 I'HEPERCHE 
The Right Way to Rear Foals 
paddocks, or exercised by hand. The fillies are left in the 
open pastures, and yearlings, 2 year olds and aged mares all 
in different fields. We never allow a colt to go hungry from 
j:he time he is old enough to eat until he is past 2 years old. 
At that age he will weigh 1,600 to 1,700 pounds in ordinary 
flesh. Even the young foals have a creep, where they can 
go in away from their mothers and eat bran and oats to 
their stomach's content. Their mothers are also fed the 
same ration, and have the run of a rack of good hay even in 
the summer when pasture is right. The amount of grain is 
increased, of course, as the pastures begin to dry up in the 
fall. It doesn't take much grain when the mares and colts 
have all the hay and grass they want to eat. The mares and 
foals are kept in a separate pasture, so that we can give them 
extra attention. The important thing in growing colts to 
give size, bone and clean legs is to keep the corn away from 
them and have them consume all the good hay and bluegrass 
they want, and then give what oats and bran they will clean 
up. We never feed colts any corn except in very cold 
weather, and then only in small amounts. Corn, of course, 
helps to keep the colts warm, and in that way is helpful when 
they spend a good deal of their time out of doors in winter. 
Colts developed in this manner will stand heavy fitting 
for the shows, and still remain clean in their hocks, because 
they have had an abundance of outdoor exercise and because 
they have been fed Nature's way — not pampered, but grown 
slowly with bone and muscle making feeds. 
The Perche has America beaten for bluegrass pastures. 
Over there they don't have any snow in winter ; neither doe; 
the blazing sun dry up the grass in August and September. 
If our farmers would take the following necessary precau- 
tions, they too, could have good pastures : Do not graze too 
closely in late summer or early fall ; allow the horses green 
corn, sugar cane, and clover pastures; save one field, if pos- 
sible, so that the grass will grow up and fall over. It will 
then cure so that horses will relish it better than any hay. 
This is the kind of pasture we see in France in the winter 
time. Use limestone on the bluegrass, for there is no question 
but that such treatment improves the bone making qualities 
Percheron Fillies Growing Into Money 
RON REVIEW 
Two Year Old Percheron Fillies Worth $3O0-$6O0 a Head 
of the grass. Pastures on strong limestone soils unquestion- 
ably produce a superior quality of bone in horses as well as 
in all other classes of live stock. Top dress the pastures 
once a year with good manure, applying it lightly on one- 
half of the field in the spring and the other half in the fall, 
dividing it thus so as not to taint the grass all over the field. 
Better colts can be purchased in this country today than 
I have ever been able to get in The Perche. I have sold 
American bred horses in the last three years for as much 
money as I ever got for an imported one in all my thirty 
years as a breeder and importer, and in that time I crossed 
the Atlantic fifty-six times, so that my opinions come from 
a wide experience. There are two classes of American bred 
Percherons which I never buy, and if I know a man produces 
either one of these two kinds I avoid going to his farm. One 
is the colt that has been overfed and has had little exercise. 
The other is the starved, undersized kind. There is no 
remedy for either, but if I had to take my choice I would 
prefer the latter. He usually stays clean in his feet and legs 
and, if taken as a 2 vear old, plenty of feed and care will 
do a great deal. However, he will never reach the size his 
inheritance warrants. Colts starved until they are 3 year 
olds are beyond all help. A draft colt well nourished from 
the beginning will reach one-half his mature weight when 
12 months old. Most draft horses that develop into a ton 
weigh 1,200 or better as yearlings. The fat, overfed, under- 
exercised yearling or 2 year old is usually an unprofitable 
investment because he will soon be filled in the hocks, if 
indeed he has not already developed that unsoundness. He 
lacks the stretch and ruggedness of a good, big draft horse. 
Every Percheron breeder would do well to stop and think 
if his colts are in either of these two classes. If they are, 
then he will understand why the dealer doesn't come to buy 
his horses, or offers a small price for them. Percheron busi- 
ness is not going to pieces, but there is something wrong with 
the producer's methods. 
Percheron dealers must buy younger colts than they have 
been in the habit of getting. Hundreds of good Percheron 
colts are ruined before they are a year and a half old, be- 
A Pasture Scene on an Illinois Farm 
