THE PERCH E RON REVIEW 
7 
The Kind of Horses It Pays to Raise 
cause the owners are negligent and do not take proper care 
of them. Not every farmer has the buildings, paddocks and 
pastures essential to handle stud colts well. The dealer has 
bought colts in France old enough to turn his money in less 
than six months. In his effort to do the same here, he waits 
a year or two before buying, thinking to save a considerable 
feed bill. The American dealers are now forced to the con- 
clusion reached by the French dealers years ago — buy good 
foals and feed them out. We can't get stallions in France 
any more, and not enough good ones are being produced in 
our own country to meet the demand. There is but one 
alternative, if the dealer is to keep up his trade, and that is 
to equip his plant so as to handle foals. There is no other 
way around the difficulty. — J. O. Singmaster. By courtesy 
Breeder's Gazette. 
Selling Surplus Percherons, by an Illinois Farmer 
It is never any trouble to sell a good Percheron. Good 
individuals that are well bred, sound, and properly grown 
out, are easily sold at good prices. This is the kind for which 
everybody is looking. Altogether too many breeders think if 
a horse has a pedigree, no matter how poor an individual 
he may be, he is worth a good price. They buy that kind 
for foundation stock and then expect to produce high class 
animals that will find ready sale at big figures. It can't be 
done. I have been through the same experience myself. I 
bought some cheap stuff to start with, and they were always 
cheap. I had to discard them entirely. If the mistake of 
buying the wrong kind of animals is made, it is best to sell 
them and start over again. I don't mean that the price 
paid determines value, for some of the best animals I have 
ever owned cost me a moderate price. If one is not a 
good judge of draft horses himself, he should by all means 
secure the counsel of an experienced and reliable Percheron 
breeder in purchasing to establish a stud. The good kind 
is always the cheapest in the end. I sound this warning to 
beginners and to any breeders who may be discouraged be- 
cause they have not been able to sell their animals to an ad- 
Coming Two Year Old Percheron Fillies 
vantage. My own experience has been that if a Percheron 
colt doesn't sell easily, there is something wrong with him. 
I have found the most effective way to dispose of surplus 
stock to be to write letters to fifteen or twenty dealers ad- 
vertising in the leading live stock papers. I always describe 
what I have to sell correctly and as fully as possible. I 
made this a part of my plan in the beginning so that I 
might have the entire confidence of the purchaser in the 
future. As a result, I have sold a number of horses in my 
30 odd years as a breeder which the buyer never saw until 
unloaded at his home town. Although as a rule not many 
horses are sold that way, the reputation of absolute honesty 
in describing horses for sale, will bring buyers with every 
announcement. The letter should give sex, age, exact weight, 
height, measurement of bone below knee and hock, color, 
description and breeding. A good kodak picture of the 
animal, showing side view, oftentimes brings buyers who 
would not otherwise come. 
The worst mistake a great many farmers make is to ask 
the dealer exorbitant prices. It should be remembered that 
if a dealer is to keep a colt six months to a year, feed him, 
advertise him, and take all risks, he must figure on getting two 
or three times the original purchase price in order to make any 
money. I have alwa5's made the most clear money by selling 
an animal when it looked its best. When I decide to sell some 
foals, yearlings or two-year-olds, I get them in good, salable 
condition and then sell to the man who will give me the 
most money. Not to sell then would be like getting a hog 
fat and then letting him get thin again because the price 
vvent down a little. I can point to a number of good Per- 
cheron breeders who are losing money every year because 
they ask too much for their horses. Some' men have two 
and three year old stallions at our shows and they turn 
down reasonable offers and take their horses home to keep 
them six months or a year for no other reason than that 
they have heard of some one getting a big price for a horse 
which was no better than theirs. It is not one, but many 
breeders, who are standing in their own light in this very 
way. 
Well Grown Stallion Foals Out of Percheron Mares That Earn 
Their Yearly Keep in the Harness 
Percheron Mares in Pasture 
