144 PURE BRED DRAFT HORSES 
7. Indifferent Breeders. Stimulants 
Going over the subject of indifferent breeders, that is to say, stallions 
which fuss or exhibit inaptitude to cover mares readily during breeding 
operations, we find that in a long list of farms—the Longview Stock Farm, 
Lefebure Sons' Co., Oakdale Farm, Hayfield Farms, the Thos. Kiddoo 
Farm, Woodside Farm, the Raboin Pioneer Homestead Farm, Pentoila 
Stock Farm, White Oak Stock Farm, Santa Anita Rancho, Oaklawn Farm, 
Cornell University, and the University of Illinois—the indifferent breeder 
is not to be found. Ritchie states that some stallions may turn indifferent 
breeders when overbred, and at the Gossard Breeding Estates it is be¬ 
lieved that such disposition is rather the cause of bad handling. Holbert 
mentions masturbation as one of the causes of the indifferent sire. Ac¬ 
cording to Peterson, “some mares have bad smell that some stallions do 
not like; also, some mares are kickers, and some stallions are a little shy”; 
all of which are considered the reasons that some breeders find difficulty 
in making certain stallions cover the mare. Hooper is of the opinion 
that the indifferent breeder is simply fanciful in traits, and Fuller recom¬ 
mends that stallions so addicted should be disposed of, because, in such 
cases, they are likely to be uncertain breeders. 
With sixteen breeders responding to the question on the use of stimu¬ 
lants to induce copulation, all have answered negatively. But Hanmer 
mentions yohimbine as an effective agent for this purpose. 
8. Feeding. Watering. Salting 
Answering the question, “In what condition of flesh is the stallion main¬ 
tained? During the breeding season . . . During the non-breeding sea¬ 
son ...” the replies may be subdivided into two principal headings. 
There are those that may go in one class characterizing the condition dur¬ 
ing both the breeding and non-breeding seasons as “good,” “good flesh,” 
“fair flesh,” “just a healthy condition,” “not too fat,” “fairly good flesh,” 
“’working,” “thrifty,” “fairly good, not fat,’” “medium flesh,” “moderate,” 
“medium thrift,” represented by twenty-two farms, and then there is the 
other set that stipulates varying conditions of the stallion differing from 
the former class. Thus, at the Waddington Farm, the condition of the stal¬ 
lion is kept “vigorous” during the breeding season and “fair” during the 
non-breeding time; at the Thompsondale Farm, the condition is kept 
“gaining” during the breeding season and “not too fat” when out of sea¬ 
son; at the Pentoila Stock Farm, during the breeding season, the condi¬ 
tion is maintained “good,” and “thinner” in the non-breeding season; and 
at Holbert Farms the stud horse is kept in “good flesh, not over-fat” 
during the breeding season, while, during the non-breeding season, the 
condition is kept in “good flesh,” allowing him lots of exercise. Truman 
wants a “good, thriving condition” when the stallion is breeding and a 
“show and sale -condition” when he is over the service period; at the Selma 
Farm the stallion is kept “good” while breeding and about 100 pounds 
lighter in out-of-season; at the Gossard Breeding Estates it is the practice 
to keep the stallion in good working condition, to gain only as the breeding 
period advances; and McMillan says: “I try to get horse thinned down 
during winter and have him gaining during the breeding season.” At the 
Iowa State College the condition is kept “200 pounds less than show con¬ 
dition” during both seasons. 
As to the number of times the stallion should be fed daily, the survey 
shows that the majority of farms, represented by twenty-six reporting es¬ 
tablishments—the Longview Stock Farm, White Oak Stock Farm, Pen¬ 
toila Stock Farm, Oaklawn Farm, Maple Lawn Farm, Arngibbon Farm, 
Lakewood Farm, Truman’s Pioneer Stud Farm, Iowa State College, J. H. 
Serven and Son, Rookwood Farm, Holbert Farms, Selma Farm, Hayfield 
