OCR Text |
Show LIVESTOCK LIGHT HORSES. John T. Caine, III. As a rule farmci3 arc not lirgeil to take up the breeding of light horses, hors-es, but just at present there arc so few good saddle and driving horses in Utah and Idaho that some one should pay niorc attention to this line of breeding. Light horses arc harder to handle than the drafters ind the market is not so steady, but there is more fascination about the work and good horses bring long prices. Don't get I lie idea that any small horse that can pull a carriage will do, for there aro plenty of small horses through the state, but they lack finish. Carriage horses must have style arid quality, coupled with a good conformation and good manner. man-ner. First of all, in picking a sire for a carriage horse and saddlers-, get a trotter. Enough pacers come fronv the trotters and a pacer is not a good road or carriage horse. Standard bred trotters with lois of quality tand weighing from 12 to 1300 pounds, have given the best rcsailts. The German and French coach should prove successful, but, sorry to say, these horses lo not seem to "nick?' well with the cold blooded western marcs. Hackneys could be used if sires with plenty of size arc picked. In looking over thousands of horses tcccntly the writer caw fewer than a dozen right good 1200 pound carriage horses. Of these horses; one was at Idaho Falls, two were raised in Cache Valley, a few were raised in Salt Lata and the other wcic shipped in from the cast. This is surely a woeful state of afTairs nnl it will take years to overcome this. lack of good' drivers. Something should be done, however, at once, anil the first thing ,to do is to weed out -all small, ungainly or coarse driying stallions. Do not bleed to a pacer, no matter what his record, unless he is a big, handsome, straight-legged horse that hns been made to pace,. w thousand pound pacer or trotter, evqn if he has a record of 2.10 is of but? little value to a farming community because lu-pgcjiy wliciv h UJSjjjd with small, coarse mares will not be fast enough for the track, nor large enough for good drivers. Get a high-acting big horse, so that if colts arc not fasr they will make high priced carriage and roadster horses. |