FARM ANIMALS 21 



animal. Some of them are still practically wild 

 and considered a nuisance. Until recently they 

 were from time to time rounded up and shipped to 

 a horse abattoir where they were slaughtered and 

 the meat sent to Denmark and other parts of Eu- 

 rope. The broncho is capable of carrying a man 

 and heavy saddle from 40 to 80 miles a day, is sure 

 footed and a good rustler but frequently of bad 

 disposition and ugly form. Recently a number 

 of experiments have been made in crossing pure 

 bred stallions of various breeds to broncho mares. 

 Thus Thoroughbred stallions have been found very 

 valuable as sources of polo ponies from broncho 

 mares. In fact some of the ponies of the western 

 ranges make excellent polo ponies without any ad- 

 mixture of other blood. 



BREEDING HORSES ON THE FARM 



As is indicated in the foregoing discussion of 

 breeds and market classes the individual farmer 

 will select that breed for which he has the greatest 

 liking and will attempt to produce horses adapted 

 for use on the farm or such as will conform to 

 some market class. Many terms are in constant 

 use in the literature of breeding and some of them 

 may well be referred to in this connection. It is 

 often said that heredity or the tendency of an ani- 

 mal to transmit its characteristics to offspring is 

 the cornerstone of breeding. This is quite true 

 from one standpoint but from another standpoint 

 variation is equally if not more important. Every 

 one knows that the progeny of tne same parents 

 are not exactly alike. They may easily be recog- 

 nized by certain differences. This tendency to be 

 unlike in certain respects is known as variation. It 



