136 
PURE BRED DRAFT HORSES 
close-coupled, good of withers, strong in topline, well-sprung of rib and 
with a place to carry some hay, not too sloping on the hips, with a well- 
set hind leg, clean at the hock, no curbs, thoroughpins, bog or bone spav¬ 
ins, and clean about his pasterns. See that his legs are well set; no one 
wants a cow-hocked or a crooked leg. Have the salesman move the horse 
from you, first at a walk, then at a trot; watch closely and see that he 
moves away, that he is not a paddler or a weaver. 
“Often high-fed horses have had the shipping fever or distemper and 
are left weak in the back or a little thick in the wind. My advice would 
be not to buy either kind because he is cheap; in the long run he is high- 
priced. Our old stud sire, Scipion, now in his eighteenth year, is as clean 
as a ribbon all over and sound, except for being out a. little in the wind, 
due to his age.” 
Augstin’s thirty years’ experience in the breeding of Percheron horses 
gives weight to his opinion regarding the selection of the stallion. Aug- 
stin writes: “I believe more in Percheron bloodlines than many breed¬ 
ers do. If Percheron breeders generally would pay more attention to se¬ 
lecting animals of the right kind of breeding, progress would be made 
more rapidly. Now that the war has cut off the importation of horses 
from Europe and we are trying to produce the good kind here at home, 
the cry has gone up from everywhere, ‘I am in need of a good sire.’ 
Breeders are just now coming to realize that constructive breeding of the 
highest degree cannot take place without the right kind of bloodlines to 
build upon. Why have purebreds and pedigrees, unless we give preference 
to those families that have been producing the desirable kind? When I 
first started in the business I bred my grade mares to the best sires avail¬ 
able at a cost of $25 or $30 for the service fee. My neighbors thought I 
was crazy, but they soon saw the error of their ways. 
“Frequently one hears it said ‘I want a stallion or a mare, but I will not 
buy anything but a prize-winner.’ No greater mistake was ever made. 
Of course, it is a fine advertisement to have a champion in the stud, but 
not all champions produce champions, by a long way. Many outstanding 
individuals come from the common ranks. Always select the very best 
breeding stock available, but that does not mean that one should purchase 
a prize-winner and turn down one that is not. Many show animals are 
ruined as producers and many equally good individuals never see the tan- 
bark. I have made a great many mistakes since I first began, but believe 
that I have made fewer in selecting my breeding stock than in other 
ways, because I have given bloodlines and individuality first importance 
and price only second concern.” 
In a brief manner Burdick says that “The essential features of a draft 
stallion are good feet, strong, flat bone, and size well belanced with qual¬ 
ity. I would not select a horse with light bone, nor with poor feet, nor 
with large size unless he had quality to go with it. Nor would I select a 
horse with quality if he did not have size. I am speaking about ranch 
conditions only.” Briefly also, Gammon writes: “Thirty years ago I be¬ 
gan the breeding of Percheron horses on the range in northern Wyoming. 
I realized at that time that in order to be successful in this far-western 
country the horses I raised must be of a good quality, excelling the pam¬ 
pered horses of the lower altitudes in breeding and size. My start in the 
business consisted of a number of high-grade and pure-bred mares, of 
good colors and size, picked to conform to my idea of what good dams 
should be. I chose for the head of the band an imported stallion that 
weighed 2,140 pounds, as good a horse as I could purchase at that time. 
With this start I have been able to build up by the purchase of new blood, 
always of the best, until I now have a band of Percherons that is the de¬ 
light of all who see them.” 
