No. 7. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 613 



A Member: Have you seen mauv horses that could walk well 

 when short-rigged? 



PROF. ROMMELL: I am not speaking of the speed trotter now. 

 I am speaking now of the horse that is useful from the market stand- 

 point. 



The model carriage horse should be up to 16 hands and should 

 weigh about 1,200 pounds. He should be more compact in confor- 

 mation than in the roadster, more muscular, rounder in body and 

 smoother. Here is where condition comes in. Condition is thQ*< 

 highly important in this case. There should be ability to pull a 

 considerable load, and for this reason we look to the muscular fea- 

 ture. The muscularity of the hind quarters is especially important; 

 a sloping rump, low seated tail, and cat ham are very objectionable 

 in a carriage horse. Other defects that must be guarded against are 

 big heads, thick, short necks, commonly known as bull necks, and 

 meaty withers and shoulders. A great deal of speed is not required 

 in this class of horses; from eight to ten miles an hour is plenty of 

 speed. However, if your carriage horse has the conformation that 

 is required for the class, and has considerable speed in addition, 

 he will sell just that much better. 



Sub-classes of this class are the cob and the harness ponies. A 

 cob is nothing but a fifteen-one hands carriage horse, weighing from 

 5)00 to 1,050 pounds, and suitable for rather light vehicles such as 

 ladies' carriages. Harness ponies are hoises from fourteen-two or 

 fourteen-three hands and under, with all the characteristics of the 

 carriage horse. These little fellows frequently sell for as much 

 as the large horses. 



Saddle horses are primarily weight carriers. They are not in- 

 tended to pull a load, and for that reason the conformation is quite 

 different from that of the other type. The points of most import- 

 ance are sloping shoulders, light, clean-cut withers, short back, 

 and muscular hind quarters. In addition to this there must be 

 plenty of bone. It is not necessary that the saddle horse is as 

 high as one of the other classes. A sixteen-hand horse is not neces- 

 sarily a saddle horse. Very few men want to ride a horse that is 

 that tall — it looks further to fall off, if one must get off in a hurry. 

 Further, if the horse stands fifteen-two hands, he must have depth 

 of body rather than length of leg. The bone of the leg should be 

 abundant and strong, of good quality and dense. Broad loins are 

 also of great importance here. The walk trot and canter saddle 

 horse is the three-gaited horse that is generally known as the park 

 saddler on the market. These horses are produced very largely 

 in this country by taking good gaited saddle horses and neglecting 

 to educate them in the rack or single foot. Many of the best 

 horses that we have for this purpose are produced in that way. The 

 gaited saddle horse is the five-gaited horse, having the gaits required 

 by the American Saddle Horse Breeders' Association. I might men- 

 tion briefly the characteristics of hunters and polo ponies. Hunter 

 horses, as 3'ou know, are those used by the gentlemen of wealth and 

 leisure hunting across the country after hounds. For this purpose it 

 is necessary to have a horse with considerable fore hand, that is, 

 depth of chest and depth of body, with very well-muscled hind quar- 

 ters. Hunters are generally divided into three classes, heavy weight, 

 middle weight and light weight. A heavy weight hunter stands fif- 



