THE P E R C II E R O N REVIEW 
It seems to me the part of wisdom for the man who has 
analyzed tlie situation and who knows that the horse cannot 
be supplanted on the farm, who knows there is a real demand 
everywhere for good draft horses, to start in right now in the 
year 1920, get going and keep on going. He should breed just 
as many good horses as he can. There will be an outlet for 
them. I do not believe there is any reason or excuse for the 
breeders of draft horses in America to be pessimistic at this time. 
The imports during the past year have been very small. I 
think both men that are responsible for those imports are here 
tonight. I know Mr. McLaughlin is. I do not know whether 
Mr. Truman is here or not. Mr. J. B. McLaughlin had the dis- 
tinction of being one of the two importers having brought over 
four horses to this country. 
CONDITIONS OF PERCHERON BREEDING IN FRANCE 
It is interesting to note the condition of the horse in France 
because I have thought and I believe most of you had come 
to the conclusion that the ravages of war had interfered with 
the production of good draft horses in France. Before I knew 
that Mr. McLaughlin was to be here tonight I took the liberty of 
quoting in this printed address what he said about the draft 
horse in France : 
"It was not until I had carefully examined the old sires that 
the reason for improvement came to me. I never saw so many 
old sires in the Perche District before. Years before the war 
the Perche was denuded of its best stallions. Practically all of 
them were' exported to this country and did not leave any of 
the progeny in France. For example such stallions as Dragon, 
Pink, and hosts of others never left a colt there. When the war 
began in 1914, however, the best stallions remained in France. 
These stallions were used for breeding and they left their impress 
on their progeny to improve the breed." 
That has been the attitude of the French people. They have 
built up a better class of horses in the face of the most tragic 
event in the history of the French people. Do you not think it 
possible for us here in this country, where we do not know 
anything else but peace, where we have a better chance to do 
things than the French people have ever had, to produce anew, 
and advance along the same lines that the heroic French people 
are doing? I believe that if we do hold that one thing before 
us, as the years go by there will be less and less call for the 
importation of the French Horse. 
Having, in as concise a way as I could make it, reviewed the 
situation of the draft horse in this country, having said a 
word about the condition of the Society, the export and import 
trade, and having finally come to the conclusion, based upon 
all the facts in that report, I say that there is no power on 
earth that can supplant the draft horse on the farms in America. 
I can further testify to the fact that there is no power that 
can compare with the horse on the farm, or can supplant him 
on the farms in America. There is a power working now to make 
agriculture more interesting, a movement that will keep pace 
with progress, a movement that will keep the boys and girls 
on the farm. Then they can build better homes on the farm 
and not go to cities. I believe we can place agriculture back 
where it belongs and that we can make these six and a half 
million farms which make on an average of only four and a 
half thousand dollars a year, a better place on which to live. 
I believe if we are ably represented by agriculture of the highest 
order we can place agriculture on the high plane on which it 
belongs. Then we will liave real enthusiasm behind the draft 
horse in a way that we never saw before. All of these facts 
indicate a bright future for the furtherance of the breeding 
and laising of good draft horses. 
WHY DOES EVERYONE LIKE A HORSE? 
Having now discussed the business end of the draft horse, 
let me say, in conclusion, just a word that is not business. Let 
me simply call your attention to the sentiment there ought to 
be in a horse. Most of us love a horse, but we do not know 
just exactly why. Let me call your attention to some of the 
incidents concerning the horse which will undoubtedly make 
you appreciate more than you ever have before the sentiment 
behind that beautiful animal. 
In all ages the horse has been man's friend, in every field 
of human endeavor. No matter whether it has been in the 
frozen North, or the sunny South. Wherever you find man toil- 
ing, prospecting, advancing, there too, will you find the horse, 
serving his master faithfully. Whether in the Occident or the 
Orient, the horse has taken his place by tlio side of man in all 
of the great movements of history. Whether in war, in peace, in 
literature, in art, or song, the horse has made a tradition that 
has been lasting and beautiful. 
Stop for a moment and see the thousands and thousands of 
beautiful horses, bedecked with the sparkling pyramids of jewels 
passing over the bridge of the Hellespont, under the reviewing 
eye of Darius the Great on his way to Marathon. Again, we 
can see the horse, when the Great Alexander had conquered all 
of the known world, and his army -was drawn up on the shores 
of the Mediterranean. We see the thousands of battle-tried 
steeds that had made Alexander great, prancing and champing 
at the bit, eager to plunge forward in new eonqviests to in- 
crease Alexander's greatness. 
We can see the example that the horse has left when we 
turn again to the flower of the French Army, that marched into 
the heart of Russia, supported by the most beautiful army of 
horses the world had ever seen ; that great army that had made 
Napoleon feared and made him famed. 
We can see that wonderful army marching back again, one 
tenth in number, their faces haggard and worn, with death and 
starvation Written upon every living face; their horses gone 
because of starvation, and the chief support of their army 
ruined. 
We can see again the armies of the ambitious Kaiser, as 
they marched to the borders of Belgium one day, supported by 
the greatest array of horses that it was possible to gather in 
this century. We have seen that army again hemmed in. sur- 
rounded, running up the white flag of surrender because their 
horses were gone. 
On the other side of that battle field, we can see the countless 
thousands of horses, many of them American, bearing men, guns 
and supplies, going onward in increasing numbers to bring final 
and lasting defeat to the man who had conquered the world, or 
who strived to conquer the world. 
As in war, so in peace, so in literature, so in art, has the 
horse taken his place, in building this beautiful tradition that 
I have spoken about. What would the winning of the west have 
been without the horse? The early pioneers crossed the Alle- 
gheny Mountains, settled the Ohio Valley and the Greater Wil- 
derness. In every movement there was the horse, serving hia 
master in danger and in difficulty. Onward the pioneers went 
to the Valleys of the Mississippi and to the Great Plains beyond, 
with the noble horse bearing rider and hauling the covered 
wagon with the most precious load of the sturdy pioneer. The 
horse has ever been the faithful friend of man. 
We pay too small tribute to those early pioneers who blazed 
the way for civilization. In sickness, in want, in labor, or in 
pleasure, the horse has ever been the constant companion of the 
empire builders of the west. 
Shall we here say, my friends, there is no more use for the 
horse? Shall we turn our backs now on the best friend that 
man has had, or shall we rather profit by the lessons of two 
thousand years or more, and make the horse our friend and 
companion, in war, in peace, in literature, in art, and in song? 
Shall we exclude from our literature the Midnight Ride of 
Paul Revere or that wonderful gem of literature, that exciting 
chariot race of Ben Hur? How would we be able to preserve 
the traditions of our Civil War, if we should leave out General 
Sheridan's ride to Winchester? 
Shall we not rather make the horse our friend and com- 
panion in work and in pleasure, and preserve for the genera- 
tions yet to be the traditions of man's most loyal, most useful, 
and greatest friend, the horse? (Prolonged applause.) 
