HORSE SENSE. 67 



THE FARM HORSE. 



Besides raising horses for market, it will be wise for breeders to con- 

 sider the right kind of horse to raise for the farmer. There are hun- 

 dreds of thousands of horses used on the farms of this country, and this 

 number must be renewed in part every year. The farmer is really the 

 greatest factor in the horse market today, and a little consideration of his 

 needs is necessary. 



ACTIVITY AND PROMPTNESS ESSENTIAL IN THE FARM 

 HORSE. 



Strength is not the sole requisite in a farm horse. The true farmer's 

 horse is one equally serviceable in pulling the plow or trotting to market 

 with a light wagon. The farm horse should thus be a medium between 

 the draft and road horse, and may be of the light draft stock or of the 

 heavier of the road types. Courage, determination, and quickness in tak- 

 ing hold of loads are very important qualities in this kind of horse. 

 Animals weighing i,ioo pounds, with these qualities, will often be more 

 serviceable than the team that weighs hundreds of pounds more. A 

 quick, steady walker is very essential. Did you ever stop to compute 

 how many days' work you could save in plowing a field with a quick 

 walking team as compared with a slow one? The team that gets over 

 the ground rapidly saves time and money to the owner. 



Farm horses should have good lung power and good feet and legs 

 for the farm. The farmer who attempts to raise colts for his own use 

 should be careful to select good breeders, that will produce progeny of 

 the desired type. Very often the farm.er can raise his own horses bet- 

 ter than some professional breeder. 



DRAFT HORSES FOR THE FARMER. 



The advantages to the fanner in breeding draft horses is that they 

 require less care in handling and training, because they are not so 

 hot blooded as the carriage and road horses generally, and will there- 

 fore go to market with less preparation. Then, again, slight injuries 

 from wire fences and trifling blemishes through accidents, reduce the 

 market value less than in the more highly finished types. The demand 

 for the production of horses of first quality of all types is slowly but 

 surely improving, and every farmer who has brood mares tending 

 towards the draft type, should not fail to select the best draft stallions 

 obtainable to breed to. It costs no more to raise a well-formed, mus^ 

 cular, strongly-constituted horse than a nondescript, weakling good- 

 for-nothing. 



VALUE OF THE HORSE IN HIS MOVING POWER. 



The intrinsic value of our horses is in their moving power, and, as a 

 consequence, the horse is valueless when standing still; therefore, the 

 closest attention should be given to producing animals with the best of 

 feet and legs. Associate with these a good digestive organization, with 



