HORSES SUITED TO THEIR WORK 313 



Horses designed for heavy work should not only be 

 of strong build, but of height suited to their weight. 

 Here, as in all other productive enterprises, the best of 

 judgment should be exercised to adapt the weight of 

 the horse to his work, and the soil upon which he is 

 kept, and the climate in which he is used. Most farm- 

 horses are too light for the work required, a few are 

 too heavy. Some soils are easily tilled, some farms 

 are hilly, some farmers do little plowing or other 

 laborious team work. Manifestly, under such conditions, 

 a horse weighing sixteen hundred pounds would be out 

 of place. On the other hand, the plowing of tenacious 

 soils, and the hauling of large loads are most economi- 

 cally accomplished with horses of from twelve to six- 

 teen hundred pounds 7 weight. It should be remembered, 

 however, that a horse of twelve hundred pounds in 

 good flesh may weigh but ten hundred pounds when 

 thin in late summer, and the horse of sixteen hundred 

 pounds may weigh but fourteen hundred pounds when 

 called upon to draw the heaviest loads of the year. 

 Finally, it may be said that, in general, the farmer 

 has been mingling the trotting strains of blood too 

 liberally with his nondescript mares, and sometimes 

 with ruinous results. 



SIZE AND WEIGHT OF HORSES 



We make no plea for the light horse or for the 

 heavy horse. What we do emphasize is the wisdom of 

 breeding the horse which can perform the services 

 required most effectively and economically under any 



