1907] THE HORSE. 23 1 



would look up the facts, for you will find that that state- 

 ment is correct. We have made some serious mistakes in 

 our methods of breeding horses, for, as a rule, as you all 

 know, for you know it is true before I state it, the law of 

 heredity and proper care as to the parentage of horses bred 

 and raised in our eastern states has not been given the at- 

 tention that it should. That old rule given thousands of years 

 ago is as true today as it was when it was first announced, 

 that whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. If we 

 breed from unsound parentage, unsound offspring is the 

 logical result. You can get ringbone and spavin, and blind 

 staggers, by breeding just as truly as you can breed color, 

 and you can breed vices just as truly as you can breed any 

 other characteristic of the horse. That means that the parent- 

 age on both sides must be absolutely sound. It means, also, 

 that the parentage on both sides must be vigorous and entirely 

 free from blemishes. When a man undertakes to breed a 

 good horse in any other way he is bound to fail. 



Now another mistake that has sometimes been made is in 

 believing that a horse was a horse. That is true in a sense, 

 but the man who would succeed must choose as between types. 

 Suppose we were to divide the horses of the country into types. 

 We would have four. In the first place, there is what is known 

 as the general purpose horse. I just want to say a word about 

 that, because I believe that is a serious error that we have 

 made in breeding horses. That does not stand for anything. 

 That is the kind that many a farmer has and it is just what 

 nobody else wants. Now I do not like to say plain things, 

 especially on my first introduction to an audience like this, but 

 we only come together once in a while, and I feel it is my duty, 

 if I am going to do you any good, or certainly enough to justify 

 me in talking to you at all, to say things plainly, and to say 

 them in a way that you will remember them. You know that a 

 minister that never hurts the feelings of his parishioners rarely 

 ever does them any good, and it is probably true that the min- 

 ister that hurts the feelings of his parishioners the worst is the 

 man who ought to do them the most good, especially if he 

 speaks the truth. Now brother farmers, we have paid so little 

 attention to the intelligent breeding of horses that we have 

 almost committed a crime. By a general purpose horse, I mean 

 a horse weighing from 950 to 1,150 pounds. Now understand, 



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