Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1910-02-18

FIG. xX.-GooD TYPE OF DRAFT MARE.
neck should be full as well as long.
The neck of mare should not show
any tendency to the crest that marks
the stallion. Masculine characters in
a mare or feminine characters in a
stallion indicate that they will not
make reliable or prepotent breeding
animals.
The shoulder should be neither too
straight nor too sloping. A straight
shoulder interferes with action and Is
usually associated with stubby pas
tern and generally with long back
as we'll. In light horses the more slop-
ing the shoulder the better. since this
conformation is favorable to long or
high action. In draft horses too slop-
ing shoulder brings the point of draft
too high and may even cause the collar
to slip up and choke the animal. The
face of the shoulder should be broad
to give good bearing surface for the
collar The top Of the shoulder should
not be open or coarse and should blend
well into the back.
The back of the draft horse should
be as short as possible from the top of
the shoulders to the hips. A short
coupled, compact horse can handle
himself better than one with long.
loose coupled and often swayed back.
The ribs should be we'll sprung. long
and close together. The space between
the last rib and the pelvic bone should
not be over three or four inches. The
loin should be vide and heavily mus
cled. The region from the hips back
called the Group. should be broad. long
and not too slipping. 1t is the hind
quarters that furnish the propellins
power. and size and massiveness here
are all important points. The thighs
should be heavily muscled both inside
and out and should be broad whel
/ viewed from the side. The musclint
on the inside of the thighs should ex
tend well down.
Next in Importance is constitution
This is indicated by deep. wide chest
a full fore flank. large nostrils and
deep barrel A horse that is tucked vi
in the hind flank tires easily and can
not be kept up in flesh when at work
This is an especially bad fault II
brood mares.
i Quality is very important. as 1t ind
Gates endurance or staying power.
small horse of good quality will
more work than coarse. loosely pu
together animal 500 pounds heavie
Quality is indicated by fairly THU
I pliabl. s'.in: fine. glossy hair: cleal
ness of head and clean legs. The tel
dons at tho back of the legs shoul
stand out clearly, giving the canon
fat appearance. There should be
little eatiness as possible at the hoe
and between the tendons and tt
canon bone. The hoof should be {
dense. hard horn. and in hairy legge
breeds the feather should be fine an
silky.
There is an old saying, mo foot. I
horse" The feet and legs are vel
important, since they must do the pr
pelling and receive all the hard knocl
of heavy service. The forearm al
gaskin should be heavily muscled. ~
muscles in these regions cannot
easily covered with fat, so their size
au indication of the animals musclil
throughout The forearm and gask
: should be long as compared with t
canon. The pasterns should slope
an angle Of about forty-five degre
: with the ground. A sloping paste
Q absorbs the shocks of travelling
\ hard roads and pavements. Unsour
d nesses are very likely to develop
:. short pasterned horses. In moving
{. horse should SO straight, with lol
# easy stride
: Unsoundnesses.
| Animals with serious unsoundnes
should not be used for breeders. Slit
/ unsoundnesses in mares are not SO
| jectionable as in stations. since
j mare does not influence nearly