FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 149 



these types profitably under certain conditions. It is a pertinent ques- 

 tion, then, whether the farmer can raise, equally well, all of these 

 various types of horses, and can decide which type he will breed by mere 

 personal preference. 



Let us see. We are considering this question from the farmer's 

 standpoint, not the breeder's. The farmer has many other matters 

 which absorb much of his time and attention. Horse breeding is not 

 his specialty. He perhaps could do better than he does had he time 

 to devote to it. It would.be our judgment, therefore, that the farmer 

 is unwise to attempt to breed any type of horses, the market value of 

 which depends largely upon training and development. Under this 

 head we would class the American trotter bred for racing purposes, 

 the gaited saddler, and a large part of our coach horses. 



About the only horse that can be raised by the farmer without the aid 

 of a skillful horseman is the draft horse. To be sure, he may raise the 

 roadster and the coach horse to good advantage, provided he is a horse- 

 man and knows how to select and mate his breeding stock and has a 

 good knowledge of handling light harness horses. His chances for suc- 

 cess, however, are far more limited than they are in breeding heavy 

 horses. 



The present call for range horses as farm horses indicates a great 

 shortage in farm horses. Farmers in the West and Middle West are 

 buying range yearlings and maturing them on the farm. This indi- 

 cates that there will be a market for light draft horses that are not 

 suitable for market purposes on the farms. But some one may say,, I 

 do not want to produce a heavy draft horse for my own use on the 

 farm. That is very true; you do not. The farmer must first make up 

 his mind whether he is raising horses for his own use or for the market. 

 If for his own use then he should breed exactly what he wants. If for 

 market purposes what the market demands. We believe the farmer can 

 do better than raise horses intended for his own use, and that by striv- 

 ing to produce a market horse. 



If the breeding of the draft horse type is best calculated to bring to 

 the farmer a profit, the next question is, how is he to produce that 

 type. He cannot do it by haphazard methods nor by using inferior 

 breeding stock, he must look well to the selection of mare and horse. 



We believe the majority of the work on our Michigan farms can be 

 and should be done by mares. 



These mares should be good enough to breed market draft horses. 

 We appreciate the fact that most farmers object both to heavy horses 

 for farm work and attempting to breed colts and work mares at the 

 same time. It is true that 1,600 to 1,800 pound mares would be un- 

 profitable as farm horses, but it is not necessary to have mares of that 

 weight to get very satisfactory draft horses for the market. 



Mares weighing from 1,300 to 1,500 pounds can be used for farm 

 work without serious inconvenience or loss, and mares of these weights 

 when bred to a heavy stallion will produce market drafters of a type 

 that will find ready sale. 



Nor should we waste too much sympathy on the poor old mare that 

 must do double duty by working and raising a foal. 



If she is carefully worked and liberally fed she can do both with as 

 little harm to her as the city street horse that must work every day 



