1310 CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK AND COMPLETE STOCK DOCTOR. 



he may be very capable and competent, must of necessity neglect hi» 

 general farm operations, therefore we contend that he should, as a rule, 

 sell his horses partially green. Of course it pays to have the horse tol- 

 erably handy in harness or saddle in order to be able to show the pros- 

 pective purchaser that he is capable of developing, with proper handling, 

 into a good specimen of his class. It is a mistake to let a colt remain 

 entirely unhandled until four or five years old, and then offer him for 

 sale in that condition. The average dealer will not buy a perfectly 

 green one, as it is generally a hard and dangerous task to handle a 

 big four or five-year-old colt that has never been accustomed to 

 restraint of any kind, and a horse that will drive in single or double 

 harness or carry a man on his back, what we might call a partially edu- 

 cated fellow, is worth a great deal more money than the same animal 

 perfectly green. Draft horses, weighing from 1400 to 1700 pounds, 

 are produced by breeding good mares of this class to a sire of any of 

 the recognized breeds of draft horses, and especially to the Clvdesdale 

 or Shire. Percherons and Suffolk Punches have not proved producible 

 sires in this country, but the two former classes have proved very suc- 

 cessful, *and they are so much alike it is not necessary to go minutely 

 into the distinguishing characteristics. The Clydesdale is probablj^ the 

 most popular, and certainly the most plentiful, but it is rather hard to 

 say why it is so. Many claim that the draft colt can be reared with 

 much less risk and with less liability to accident and disease than the 

 lighter classes. This can probably be explained from the fact that the 

 colt of this breeding is naturally a quieter and more settled animal than 

 those of lighter breeds and hotter blood, and consequently less liable to 

 injure himself from exuberance of spirit while in the pasture field or 

 paddock. And then again, small bunches, or blemishes, are not consid- 

 ered of as much couse(|uence, nor can they be as easily seen, especially 

 on the limbs, on account of the amount of coarse hair, on a heavy colt 

 as on a light animal. If we decide to breed heavy horses we should 

 decide what particular breed we will produce, and then stick to that 

 breed. If disappointed in the first production, do not get discouraged 

 and try another breed ; probably it will be well to try another sire of 

 the same breed, as there may be some reason why the first sire did not 

 nick well with our mare; but stick to the original selection of breeds, 

 and if we use ordinary intelligence success is bound to attend us. 



In the selection of a sire for any class of horses it is well, if possible, 

 to drive around in the section in which he has stood in previous years 

 and view his stock. It is sometimes the case that a stallion whose 

 appearance and pedigree lead us to the conclusion that he should be a 

 good sire is disappointing, and on the other hand an animal apparently 



