A Dangerous Horse Situation 



333 



A Dangerous Horse Situation 



We can well liken the horse business 

 to an ocean. At times come tides, at 

 other times comes the ebb flow. Just 

 now the tide is setting very strongly 

 in one direction — that of getting out 

 of the horse business. Due to the 

 inability of horse prices to follow the 

 large increases in prices of wheat, corn, 

 pork, beef and mutton, many farmers 

 have quit the horse business. Their 

 mares have been for sale to the horse 

 buyer, in many cases, and even though 

 mares were held, breeding has been 

 neglected. The ebb flow of the ocean 

 is just upon us. 



It takes a very strongly anchored 

 person to stand against the flow of tide. 

 It is also usually a rather thankless job 

 to advise going against any popular or 

 well-nigh universal practice or habit. 

 But there is always a tomorrow to be 

 considered. 



To illustrate the way the draft horse 

 business is going, a short review of the 

 history of the last several years in 

 Tazewell County, Illinois, can be cited. 

 Tazewell County has earned the fame 

 of having more purebred ' Percheron 

 horses per square mile of area than any 

 other county in America. Old Louis 

 Napoleon made history for the count}^ 

 in early days, and the draft horse 

 interests have always been very large 

 in the county. To obtain an accurate 

 opinion as to the decrease in breeding 

 in Tazewell County, the Tazewell 

 County Percheron Association a short 

 time ago canvassed the men owning 

 stallions for the years 1915, 1916, 1917 

 and 1918. Direct questions were asked 

 of each stallion owner as to the number 

 of mares bred per stallion during these 

 years. Enough replies were obtained 

 to furnish reliable estimates. In 1915 

 there were recorded 155 stallions for 

 public service. The average number of 

 mares bred per stallion was 65. Count- 

 ing a 50 per cent colt crop, there should 

 have been 5,036 colts of the 1916 crop. 

 In 1916 the number of registered stal- 

 lions decreased to 140 and the average 



number of mares per horse also de- 

 creased to 55. This would be 3,850 

 colts for 1917. In 1917, the stallions 

 again dropped to 115 and mares per 

 stallion to 45}^. According to this 

 only 2,616 colts could be expected in 

 1918. Last year, 1918, the stallions 

 only numbered 88, and the owners 

 reported an average of 41 mares per 

 stallion. This year we can expect 

 about 1,800 colts. From 1915 to 1918 

 the stallions decreased from 155 to 88. 

 The number of colts decreased from 

 5,036 to 1,800, or almost 180 per cent. 

 Here is food for thought. If one of the 

 big draft horse counties cuts down its 

 horse production in this manner, what 

 is going to happen to the supply of 

 horses for market three and four years 

 from now? 



A like decrease can be seen in the 

 decrease in stallions registered in the 

 entire state. In 1912 there were 9,677 

 purebred and grade stallions licensed 

 to stand at public service. In 1918, 

 there were 7,120, or a decrease of 36 

 per cent. 



The result is already becoming ap- 

 parent in Tazewell County. The other 

 day, the secretary of the County Per- 

 cheron Association was trying to flnd 

 some real geldings to price to a buyer. 

 In the course of his search, a considerable 

 number of men were consulted. No 

 one knew of any big sound geldings of 

 market age. A buyer of express horses 

 told the secretary, a short time ago, 

 that he was finding it very hard to find 

 any horses suitable for his trade. Last 

 August, in response to an inquiry for 

 grade mares to over 50 men in Tazewell 

 County, only 29 mares for sale were 

 located. 



In the light of these figures and from 

 recent history, it begins to appear that 

 there will be practically no horses soon. 

 When that happens what will we do 

 for work stock? And we will need 

 work horses three, five, ten years from 

 now. — Chester G. Starr, Farm Ad- 

 inser of Tazewell County, III. 



