Show HORSES AND PONIES Sliutlantl Ponies and the Profit There Bs in liaising1 Them A veteran horse and mule dealer who has followed the business about the stables on North Broadway for the past twentyfive years in speaking of thc trade to a St Louis GlobCrDemocmt reporter yesterday said You cant tell at this season of the year what a day will bring forth in our line The latter part of last week our pens were overrun with stock with scarcely a buyer in sight Saturday there was a big change and things have brightened up a great deal since then How is it about horses Well there are more horses here just now than we want there were only a few loads shipped out during the past week I There are a good many horses coming in next week i the market will be glutted H What are horses soiling at now Small blocky horses or mares 14 to 15l 6 hands > high for plantation use go at 75 and upward A good chunky smooth nicedriving horse such as planters drive to a buggy or light spring wagon sells at about 110 that is for horses 15 hands to 15 hands 1 inch high Is there a demand now for any special grade of horses H Yes for coach horses A coach team cant stay in this market for days Such horses are rare and in demand Dealers have orders ahead all the time for fancy coach horses To come up to the re quirements the team must bn mutilmi aud close to 16J hands high The breed known as the Cleveland bays come nearer to filling the bill than any other stock of horses They are longbodied well shaped animals with splendid knee action long necks and high heads Its style you want in a coach horse and not much of anything else Speed dont count any of them will travel fast enough for the purpose Most of the fine coach horses come from Michigan a few from Iowa and Illinois scarcely any from Missouri In this state farmers take a fancy to raising the half Norman breed i they are splendid draft horses and good workers anywhere but they are too chunky and shortnecked for coach teams The discussion turning upon ponies a wellknown gentleman who was standing by remarked oc I can make money easier and faster raising Shetland ponies than any other kind of stock I know of Ive got a herd of more than forty of them out on my place and theyre not a particle of trouble well not any more so than a flock of sheep would be I just let them run in the field all winter where they can browse around a clover stack and that is all they need They get thQir growth in two years and then they I I sell for about 125 head What put it into your head to raise ponies 1 Nothing only the idea of making money The ponies mature quicker than a horse and in fact mnch sooner than any other stock that I know of that can besold for anything likt the same amount of money There is no need of grooms in raising horses and the losses from accident ac-cident or from the different foals amount to nothing in comparison as the points that go to make a fine horse are not taken into amount when it comes to the valuation of ponies What is the average height of a Shetland Shet-land pony 1 Thirtyfour inches You can put your arms around them and carry them most anywhere They are very docile It takes no trouble or skill to break them In the sprinO I put all the 2yearolds in the front yard where my children catch them and break them to ride HIt must keep your children pretty busy doesnt it 1 Well I dont know Ive got a good many children too and they enjoy the fun it keeps them out of mischief and I gives them plenty of good outdoor exercise exer-cise They are the best playthings children can have and then the best of it is it costs next to nothing to keep a Shetland pony They eat anything that a sheep will and not much more either Theyll 1 eat kitchen slop and grow fat on it Who buys Shetland ponies 1 Oh a great many people buy them for their children to ride and drive then the circuses take a good many A prettilymarked piebald pony v ith tail and mane reaching to the ground is I worth about 250 for a circus animal I have sold them for circuses and private use to go all over the country Not long I since I sold a little stallion for 500 to go to the State of Maine lie was only thirtytwo inches high The smaller the I pony the more valuable he is generally that is in this countrybut in Scotland its just the other way the heavier the pony the bigger the price In that country coun-try they use the ponies in the collierys much the same as they do the donkeys or burros in the silver mines out west They can walk you know and pull a dump cart anywhere man can go on his knees When you are out my way give me a call and Ill tell you my experience I ex-perience in trying to raise Mexican and Indiaiiponies dont like them I |