57 2 
E. A. A. GRANGE. 
men of extensive experience in such matters should be permitted 
to form their own opinions after the fashion of time-honored 
custom, yet there are cases where, even to the most experienced 
a standard of excellence would prove itself a very great con¬ 
venience. The writer can call to mind a case of judging horses 
at an agricultural fair in a rural district, and in a draft class the 
horses were finally brought in line for inspection, but much to 
our dismay there was not what we would regard a draft horse 
in the lot, they were all under size and too light, but the first 
prize was, with much reluctance, eventually awarded to a hand¬ 
some little pair of stout cobs, just such a pair as would look well 
before an ordinary express wagon, where moderately fast work 
was required, but entirely out df place in the draft truck, where 
the speed is seldom beyond the walking gait ; certainly they 
might have been thrown out altogether, but there was no 
authority for such a procedure, nor did previous custom in that 
locality warrant it. On another occasion a line of saddle horses 
was presented ; amongst them was a grand colt, with proper 
action and all the necessary requisites for a saddle horse, in fact 
as far as conformation and style went he was the only true type 
-of a saddle horse in the lot, but he had one wall eye, a rat tail, 
and was of a most objectionable color, being pie bald on the 
hind quarters, mostly bay on the barrel and sides of the chest, 
and an indefinite roan on the neck and shoulders. He did not 
get the first prize ! although there were those there who thought 
he should have had it, and perhaps not without good reasons, 
but the variegated coat, the wall eye and the rat tail were so far 
from our ideas of a good saddle horse in the ordinary acceptance 
of the term that the prize went to another animal far inferior in 
point of merit. The propriety of these and similar decisions 
must remain open questions until the more salient features or 
essential factors in the makeup of a certain class of horse is de¬ 
fined by a recognized standard or scale of points. When this is 
produced the student can then form an intelligent opinion, 
within certain limits, as to what may be accepted or rejected in 
.any named class, while those of more extended appearance will 
