THE PERCHERON REVIEW 
21 
A well-bred horse is the product of a system of 
which selection and care are the main features. 
It must aim first to eliminate chances. The hered- 
itary force of desired characteristics must be in- 
tensified. Undesirable variations from the ideal 
type must be rigorously and promptly discarded. 
The care must be such as to give each animal full 
opportunity to display its capacity for development. 
No intelligent selection can be made among a lot 
of underfed and overexposed youngsters. The at- 
tainment of draft size would not have been pos- 
sible without liberal feeding, and the selection of 
those animals which will perpetuate it can only be 
accomplished after liberal feeding has been prac- 
ticed. 
Uniformity is what is most needed in the Per- 
cheron breed. Excellence as measured by the 
best utility standards is plentiful. It is scattered 
throughout every Percheron breeding section. But 
around the outskirts of the coterie of leading breed- 
ers there is the beginner of less experience and less 
success. Such a condition is inevitable with a 
breed of such widespread popularity as the Percheron 
in America. It will be less embarrassing as time 
goes on and the novice of to-day becomes the con- 
structive breeder of to-morrow. 
Some confusion results from changes in demand. 
The effort to supply what is wanted has at times 
modified the general conformation. It was a re- 
mark of the late Ernest Perriot that the changing 
American demand had been at some expense to the 
breed in its native home. The older breeders can 
remember when the low-down short-legged horse 
was the most sought. At that time the Boston 
chunk was popular. Now there seems to be less 
need of horses of that sort. The old-time pattern 
of the breed, magnified somewhat in size, supplies 
Imprecation 79304 (79214) 
what the market demands. This pattern originated 
in the ancient selection for utility; it will persist 
for the same reason. Strength, activity, courage 
and endurance have been and will always be needed. 
The splendid vitality which supports these qualities 
seems closely associated with the characteristic out- 
lines and finish for which the breed gained early and 
enduring fame. 
Throughout the galaxy of great sires and ma- 
trons this stamp has been conspicuous. Brilliant 
1271 (755) was moderately upstanding, powerfully 
muscled, clean-cut and expressive of countenance 
and displayed prepotent character. Seducteur had 
much the same upstanding balanced conformation, 
supple but powerful, and his steel-like quality shone 
m hair, joint and hoof. His most distinctive fea- 
ture was a bold and dignified carriage, and the 
statuesque pose which was his natural habit of 
standing. Even at the advanced age of twenty- 
one he was a handsome dapple gray, having been a 
black-gray when younger, and without a blemish of 
any kind. Despite his immense size he was a 
horse of superior action and unapproachable style. 
Another sire of great prominence in his day was 
Nogent, a horse of medium size, beautifully sym- 
metrical proportions and flash action. He made a 
magnificent display in harness and was shown that 
way at the leading fairs. The great Theudis had 
not the largest size, but possessed the same char- 
acteristic balanced build, bespeaking power and 
activity. His topline was beautifully drawn and 
his legs were accurately moulded. Is it any won- 
der that he sired such prepotent sons as Calypso, 
Rabelais and Casino, and that ten years ago no sire 
had so many sons at the head of good bands of 
mares.? The breed has sustained a loss in the death 
of such typical sires as Intitule and Imprecation. 
Naturally also Brillant, Seducteur and Nogent left 
numerous progeny of the useful type. Others of 
the same pattern, then and now, have increased 
the proportion of Percherons that fill the teamster's 
eye and the farmer's cribs and pocketbook. 
In France it is the same story. The famous sire 
Jules, owned by the Perriots, is conceded to be one 
of the very best sires of France in recent years. 
He has the same prepossessing proportions. And 
his sire Villers, a grandson of Brilliant, was one of 
the most perfectly balanced horses ever known. 
The great producing mares display in feminine form 
the same essential features. Perhaps one splendid 
old matron may sufl&ce to illustrate: Reseda (49456), 
the dam of Hisse Haut and the international 
champions Dragon and Etradegant, was observed 
last summer at the age of eighteen years work- 
ing to a hay cart. While not a big mare she dis- 
played extreme quality, and her high-strung nerves 
and energetic disposition were so forceful that she 
was still worked in the shafts where she could be 
more readily restrained. Such refinement of mould, 
such strength of fiber and such irrepressible energy 
