THE PERCHERON REVIEW 
9 
A Two Year Old Filly 
the body a slight spring as the animal steps. I insist upon 
a brood mare having plenty of bone, but it must be of good 
quality. Percheron hocks are frequently not what they ought 
to be, and so I would counsel inexperienced buyers to get 
the right kind of hind legs under their mares if they wish 
to be heard from later as breeders of high class stock. The 
hock should be wide, deep and clean. It should be free from 
meatiness, so that the skin fits the bony structure as neatly 
as a glove fits a lady's hand. Avoid hind legs which are 
nearly straight from the body downward. On the other 
hand, badly crooked hocks are likely to throw curbs. The 
ideal standing position for a horse is to have the hocks 
slightly together and the toes turned out a bit ; with the 
point of the hock showing distinctly and the leg so set that 
if a line were dropped from the point of the buttock, it 
would just touch the point of the hock and fall parallel to 
the edge of the cannon bone. A mare with the set of feet 
and legs, height, weight, and general conformation such as 
I have described has much to recommend her. 
The fretful mare never does well. She isn't a good 
feeder. The average man will not get along with her satis- 
factorily if he works her; she isn't likely to be a regular 
breeder, and if she is, she is likely to step on her colt or 
kill it in some manner through her nervousness. 
Blacks or grays are the preferred colors. Although 
some of the best individuals I have ever seen were bays and 
sorrels, these off colors should always be discouraged. If a 
high class appearing band of mares is desired, the breeder 
must insist on the true Percheron color, so that no one would 
be tempted to ask him to what breed the odd colored one 
belongs. 
It is far better to buy only one top mare than to pur- 
chase three or four mediocre mares. Success as a Percheron 
breeder does not depend upon the number of animals pro- 
duced, but upon the quality bred. I have in mind two 
Percheron breeders, one in Ohio and one in Illinois, who 
are considered second to none. Each of these men started 
twenty years ago with only one high class mare. Every colt 
now bred by these men traces directly to these two mares, 
and brings from $1,000 to $1,500 at two and three years 
of age. The Ohio breeder in fact never purchased another 
animal in the twenty years, but simply kept his best fillies 
and bred them to a high class sire. It doesn't take one good 
producing mare long to give a breeder the right kind of a 
reputation. 
The cost is only of second consideration, if the proper 
sort of a mare is obtained. Some are dearer at $500 than 
others at $2,000. The way to judge the value of a Percheron 
mare is to consider first her individuality; secondly, her 
breeding; and thirdly, her ability to reproduce. Does she 
breed the good kind regularly, or, if she is not old enough 
to have produced colts, does she come from a mare that 
threw the right sort of of¥spring? If she has all these qual- 
ities in a promising degree, one can afford to pay almost 
any price within reason and still have a money making in- 
vestment. The amount a mare makes depends upon the 
way she is handled. 
The inexperienced will save both money and regret if he 
will seek the wise counsel of a reliable breeder when select- 
ing high class, pure-bred mares. Money invested in the 
wrong kind of mares puts the breeder up against a difficult 
proposition. It is hard to sell them and more embarrassing 
to continue trying to produce something good from them. 
Percherons on a Nebraska Farm 
