The Management of Light Horses 165 



PROFITABLE LIGHT -HORSE BREEDING FOR FARMERS 



Can the farmer, and especially the small farmer, breed light 

 horses profitably? I have already shown how two small farmers 

 made a competency from breeding light horses, but these were 

 exceptional men. They bred pedigree horses, and they were adepts 

 at the business. The question. Can the small farmer make light- 

 horse breeding an additional source of income on his farm? is yet 

 for me to answer; and after due consideration I answer it in the 

 affirmative. Of course much depends on the farmer himself. If 

 he has not the instincts of a horseman it may be advisable for him 

 to keep from light-horse breeding. But an old farmer of wide 

 experience once said to me that there was room on every farm for 

 one brood mare, and I am inclined to think he was right. 



The small farmer who wants to breed a light horse or two 

 should be very careful in the selection of his brood mare. He 

 should, in my opinion, select one of the lighter cart breeds — they 

 are not so plentiful now as they were, though they can still be 

 found. Or he might select a powerful Cleveland Bay or Yorkshire 

 Coaching mare. He had better take a mare of this kind than a 

 hunter, and for more reasons than one. In the first place, his brood 

 mare will be able to earn her own keep and that of her foal. To 

 ensure a profit she should be a worker the year round, and if she 

 does that she will certainly keep herself and her foal. 



It is advisable in buying a mare for this purpose to keep in 

 view the short-legged, wide type with good shoulders and well- 

 carried head. If one of the light draught type should be selected 

 care must be taken that the bone is flat and clean, and the sinew 

 well developed, and she should have as little hair as possible. 



A short -legged, short-coupled, high-couraged Thoroughbred 

 stallion is the best horse to mate such a mare with. A tall narrow 

 horse should be avoided, and the breeder should remember that 

 there is no real advantage in any horse standing over 16 hands. 

 There is one advantage in breeding from a short-legged powerful 

 mare of the old-fashioned carting type, and that is that in case 

 her offspring may be a misfit it is generally powerful enough tc 

 work on any but the very strongest land. 



The man who breeds an odd light horse should bear one thing 

 in mind, and that is, that when a mare breeds regularly there is 

 soon quite a lot of horses on the farm. He should take care 

 that there are not too many of them, for it does not do to stock a 

 farm with light horses. But if he is fortunate enough to breed 

 fairly useful horses he will not in these times, have much difficulty 



