Annual Meeting 1087 



THE TYPE OF HORSE NEW YORK STATE FARMERS SHOULD RAISE 



Samuel Walter Taylor, Editor, Rider and Driver, 



New York. 



It would be presumptuous on my part to tell you what is the 

 best type of horse for the farmer to breed. At the same time I 

 feel that I may be able to lay before you some facts and observa- 

 tious that may assist you in determining what horse you may 

 breed with greatest satisfaction to yourselves and profit to your 

 farms. The question is one that you only can answer as it must 

 be considered from so many angles. 



I believe that the breeding of horses by farmers for the market 

 must at best be a side issue of the farm, so to speak, and therefore 

 the factor of the horse's usefulness on the farm before going to 

 the market to be sold is of the utmost importance. The force of 

 this conclusion will, I think, be realized when the cost of raising 

 a horse in idleness from birth to maturity is figured as a dead loss. 

 There is no reason, however, why the horse from the age of two 

 years should not be employed on the farm to profitable advantage. 

 You, of course, are well aware that the mare need not be taken 

 out of service except for a very short time prior to foaling. The 

 colt can be broken to harness or saddle at two years of age and 

 gradually inducted into active work, the same as a race horse at 

 that age is trained to win races. 



You have heard a great deal about the automobile displacing 

 the horse and the complaint of breeders throughout the country of 

 the lack of markets for certain kinds of animals. As yet, this 

 new condition of things has not seriously affected the draft, or 

 so-called work-horse, but there is no doubt that serious inroads are 

 already being made in that direction. 



The driving horse, for the time being, has been practically 

 swept off the highways ; the horse for riding in the parks of cities, 

 through the bridle paths and over the fields in the country, as 

 well as on suburban and rural roads, has been increasing and will 

 continue to increase in popularity. That there will be a reaction 

 in favor of the driving horse, I firmly believe. 



Such a thing as the " horseless age " is as remote as the 

 millennium ; in spite of inflated reports about the automobile 



