| Show horses for I 1 the farm american agriculturist strength ia is not the sole requisite in farm horses As a rule the horse that plows must also draw the wagon upon the road the average farmer cannot afford to keep road horses and draft horses also in his stable the two must be combined and combined in such a way that the ride for business or pleasure leabu r e shall not be made irksome lecause because of dullness in the motive power or the plow be stranded in the furrow farrow because of lack of strength to move it it is well worth noting that ability to do good service in drawing loads or in doing general field work is not wholly dependent on size of body courage and a resolute way of taking holdom hold of work wark will often make nn un eleve bundred dounda bounds horse worth more in a team t than an an easil easily discouraged one having a bulk several bu hundred 11 dred pounds heavier uain again a farm horse should be a buic quick walker one may may as well use oxen as som e of the theae ae sluggish teams that seem to drag their feet over the ground rather than lift them while every motion is made with the utmost deliberation men and teams are lees less worried by active movements than by a mere creeping gait to prove this I 1 let e t a man walk a milo mile briskly and at another time saunter over the same road and notice the difference in feeling at the end the farm horse should bo be kind and fearless lie must bo be euch ruch that the oldest and youngest the boya boys the girls and the mother as well as the father may all drive and pet him A farm horse ought really to be one of the family since since he enters so largely into the everyday wor work and should also be the means of of affording BO so many pleasures as tc to make his ownership a comfort tc to every member ot of the family farmers wives and daughters its a a rule would look amazed ai at the th or 7 suggestion of a ride for them the mere ire ere P pleasure basure ol 01 riding to accustomed are the they 14 to the deprivation rig true pity ity and pity itis lathat that this sho should u rd be be true in so large a nu number aber of households farm parin horses should have good lung power and good feet and loga legs it i is i folly to think that unsound feet are not a serious disadvantage since their work ia is largely on soft and yielding footing to do bohia his work quickly and well and to latt last as he sheild last as t 0 on n tb tho 0 f farm rm a horse must bo be sound in every joint where mares are used it ia Is especially important that there ba be perfect soundness that there ba no inherited weakness ia in tho the progeny A neighbor attempted raise a colt last season from a maro mare that ho be owns this animal will weigh per bapa haps eight hundred and fifty pon pounds of and haa has spavins on oil about I 1 as a many legs as she possesses 1 la addition to this she ia is nervous addicting to baying even when wheel there is no provocation and travels very much lika like a sheep her owner bred her tn some scrub stallion that was standing at a low fee now this would nolt not be worth mentioning if it were not a saix sample aple of a very common practice la ill the case ewe mentioned outraged nature refused to be a party to such foolishness and the mara mare proved unfruitful my idea of tha ideal farm horse for our eastern states at least at and d where the driving horse must also be the work hore is u one of about eleven hundred pounds weight with withe stout tout shoulders and quarters quick in motion but not nervous a quick walker a freo free traveler but not necess necessarily arill fast wide across the face between the eyes showing intelligence kind anywhere an and everywhere not afraid of sudden sights and sounds ambitious when at work and sound in every part the Af morgans organs certainly possessed many of these attributes but there are other horses standing for service all over the country that are equally as good perhaps and should be patronized by farmers when they attempt to raise colts for the farm although tha the service fee may bo be higher than is demanded for the use of an inferior stallion remembering also that the qualities desired in tha the progeny should be found to as great nn an extent as pot possible Bible in the dam as well as i in the sire to raise belter better farm firm horses is a long iong stop toward better farming and belter better farming means easier work moro more profit and antl more of the comforts and civilizing ina in influences of life |
