1907.] THE HORSE. 237 



bred blood we are apt to get a form that will destroy the 

 animal for selling in good markets, and we will be disap- 

 pointed. So, my advice is to breed carriage or coach breeds 

 together, and not cross over from one to th» other. 



Now in breeding colts I have the best results with breeding 

 in the fall. I like the fall bred colt very much better than I 

 do the spring bred colt, and there are several reasons why that 

 should be done. When a dam is through work in the fall, 

 let her have the time through the winter to be with that colt 

 and raise it. You will get a better colt than if you allow the 

 colt to run with the dam through the working season. Then 

 feed that colt liberally all through the winter. I do not believe 

 there is any danger in giving it all the grain that it will easily 

 eat, — a reasonable amount. I never yet have known of a colt 

 that was injured in any way from eating too many oats. On 

 the other hand, I would not feed com at all. Do not make the 

 mistake of feeding a young growing colt corn because there 

 is nothing in corn that goes to make up a good horse, especially 

 during its growing period. We are sometimes inclined to 

 blame the blacksmith because our horses go lame. My friends, 

 do not blame the blacksmith until you go into the situation 

 and see what the trouble is. You can breed a horse with 

 weak, poor bone. You can take a colt that has been bred well 

 and feed such a colt upon that kind of food, and to a very 

 large extent destroy the vitality and strength of the animal's 

 frame. Right there is where we have made a mistake in feed- 

 ing our horses too strongly with a carbonaceous ration. You 

 may not think it is possible, but that is the fact, you can 

 weaken the bone. That has been proven over and over again. 

 At our Experiment Station, where the principal feeds are 

 experimented with upon all classes of animals, it has been 

 shown that you can weaken the bone until there is but little 

 vigor or vitality left, and where you have a horse of that 

 kind the chances are quite largely that it is due to the food 

 which that horse had when a colt. So do not blame the 

 blacksmith until you find out what the conditions have been in 

 the barn. 



Another mistake we have made is in feeding horses timothy 

 hay. I do not believe that timothy hay is a good food for the 

 farm horse. I would feed clover hay. Mix it up with some 



