126 Management and Feeding of Heavy Horses 



quiet and tractable, and may then be hooked abreast or put into 

 the shafts. The ploughing and field work generally being done 

 by two horses abreast in the north, the colts have to work in that 

 manner, and if put alongside a strong old horse, and the work is 

 a bit heavy, the colt may be relieved by using an adjustable main 

 swingletree and letting him have the longer end. 



In the Midlands and south of England much of the strong land 

 is worked by the horses going in single file — two, three, or four in 

 a team, according to the weight of the implement, the state of the 

 soil, and the depth of cultivation. Much may be argued in favour 

 of the system, although it is not the most economical, nor does it 

 equalize the draught so well as when the horses are working in 

 pairs abreast, attached to swingletrees ; yet, from the horse rearers' 

 point of view, the training of the colt and getting him fitted for 

 after-life on the street, with the prospect of receiving a large price 

 for him, is of more importance than the aim of getting as much 

 work as possible out of him. Of course, the system involves the 

 employment of more horses on the same acreage of land, but when 

 each of these horses is annually growing in value, the increased 

 number is not such a drawback as it might appear at first 

 sight. 



The character of the soil also sometimes renders it advisable to 

 have the horses working in line in the bottom of the furrow, thus 

 saving them from trampling the soil except as little as possible. 

 The farmer who aims at economy by keeping the minimum 

 number of horses and getting the maximum amount of work out of 

 them, the type of farmer who, seeing ten pairs of horses ploughing 

 in a field, exclaimed, "There goes a thousand a year straightway!", 

 is not the farmer to bring colts up and make money of them. He 

 may cultivate his land more cheaply and grow his crops more 

 cheaply, but he will make no profit out of his horses; he will, on 

 the contrary, probably have to take off for depreciation so much 

 annually. 



Young colts must not be overdone the first year, but must be 

 accustomed gradually to the work; when four years old they can 

 do their full share of it; when five years old they are fit for any- 

 thing. 



A farmer occupying an arable farm of strong land, fairly level, 

 and working it with brood mares and young horses, must of neces- 

 sity keep more in number. For instance, six brood mares may 

 be expected with ordinary luck to rear four foals annually; there 

 would thus be four five-year-olds, four four-year-olds, four threes, 

 four twos, and four yearlings, besides the six mares, making twenty- 



