356 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



our cattlemen had ever seen, and you should feel proud of your effort and 

 encouraged in your work." 



Challenger is being mounted for the St. Louis Exposition Commission 

 to exhi])it at the World's Fair next summer, after which he is to be 

 returned to the University of Nebraska for class-room illnstration. 

 University of Nebraska. 



C. H(3RSES. 



BREAKING AND FITTING HORSES FOR SALE. 



John Buckler, Herdsman Iowa Experiment IStation. in Wallace's Farmer. 



The horse has always been recognized as man's closest companion, 

 and it is a question as to whether the man ever lived who did not delight 

 in driving or riding a good horse. This subject is of particular interest 

 to every man who raises or handles horses. An old saying is that eggs 

 and colts are much alike, for they must be broken before they can be 

 used. The proper breaking of a colt determines in large part the future 

 usefulness of the horse, and no man who has dealt in horses and experi- 

 enced difficulties in iheir management will deny that there is much room 

 for improvement in ■ hat line. Every day brings fresh illustrations of im- 

 proper breaking. Less than a week ago a man drove down to the experi- 

 ment station barn, driving a horse that had been handled for over two 

 years that had not yet been taught to back. This is only one of the many 

 similar cases. 



Besides the losses result iiig from improper breaking, thousands of 

 dollars are lost to the farmers of this State every year by selling horses 

 that have not been properly fitted for sale. It is a comparatively easy 

 matter to fit horses for sale, and it can be done without taking them 

 from their regular work, while to the farmer it means an increased re- 

 turn of from fifty dollars to one hundred dollars per team. 



In breaking, the first thing to be considered is the nature of the 

 horse. The dispositions of no two horses are exactly alike. As a rule 

 there is a great difference in the dispositions of native and western 

 horses. The native horse is much easier broken, not requiring so much 

 time, but when a Western horse is thoroughly broken there is none more 

 reliable. There is also a great difference in the draft temperament and 

 those more highly bred, such as trotting and coach horses, the former 

 requiring much less preparatory handling than the latter. 



After studying closely the disposition of the colt, the next step is to 

 halter, and in this, as well as all other periods of the breaking, the per- 

 son in charge should exercise a great deal of patience. The colt should 

 be gotten into some shed or l)ox stall, preferably one with a ground floor, 



