Management and Feeding of Heavy Horses 125 



at receiving a big cheque for his gelding when he has turned five 

 years old. A good many of the best Shire geldings will reali/.e 

 the three figures at that age; so also will Clydesdales and Suffolks, 

 if weighty enough. The demand for the best heavy horses con- 

 tinues very good up to the present time, large numbers of them 

 being required to keep up the teams of the brewers, coal merchants, 

 railway companies, contractors, and carters in all our large towns. 

 These are the best customers for the farmer's heavy horse, and to 

 supply these customers the farmer must breed and rear the right 

 sort, make them serve an apprenticeship on the farm, and bring 

 them out properly qualified for their life's work. 



THE WORKING HORSE OF THE FARM 



The breeding and rearing has been fully described ; the play- 

 time of the colt is over, now he must enter on his apprenticeship. 

 Sometimes the colt has to begin work at two years old ; but it is 

 much better management to let him have another summer's run, 

 break him in after harvest, give him just a little work during the 

 winter; then, when the busy springtime arrives, the three-year-old 

 colt is able to fill his place in the team. If the colts have beer 

 accustomed to be led about, the task of breaking them in to work 

 is very much simplified. It is quite unnecessary to employ a pro- 

 fessional breaker. The head wagoner or ploughman, with a little 

 assistance, will do it better than any of these professionals. It 

 may be well to put the colt at once into the charge of the man 

 whose team he will have to work in. The stubble ploughing in 

 autumn is a suitable job to begin the youngster with, and although 

 the north-country farmers generally yoke the colt abreast beside 

 a steady old horse, the English plan of putting a colt between two 

 old horses working in single line is very much to be preferred. 

 With a steady leader, and a quiet stager behind, the colt in the 

 middle is compelled to come into line at once. After a little 

 plunging and jerking for a round or two he will settle down to 

 work immediately. The two old horses will keep him straight 

 and pull him along, and in his position in the middle he can 

 neither hurt them nor himself, which he may easily do when 

 hooked abreast. 



Half a day at a time is quite enough for the youngster for a 

 few weeks. If two colts are being broken in at the same time, 

 one may be worked in the morning and the other in the afternoon 

 without any hindrance to the other teams. When they have been 

 worked in this manner for a week or two they will have become 



