CHAPTER XIX 



TRANSPORTATION 



Hace and sliow horses and also market horses for sale, which 

 are shipped long distances, as from the Middle West to the 

 Eastern markets, are usually carried by exj^ress, while individ- 

 ual horses or even a carload, shipped to or from local points, 

 ordinarily go l>y freight. 



Express Cars. — The express companies furnish either horse 

 cars fitted with adjustable stall partitions which accommodate 

 from twelve to sixteen horses standing four abreast lengthwise of 

 the car (Fig. 166) ; or large, loose horse cars open about one- 

 fourth the way down from the top and accommodating twenty- 

 eight head with sufficient space to permit of their moving about 

 and picking mates. The former type of car is used most by stal- 

 lion importers, while the latter is preferred by the shippers of 

 market geldings. 



For freight shipment open stock cars are found to be less 

 draughty and afford better ventilation than closed box cars. Ex- 

 perienced shippers of the highest class of horses declare they 

 have less sickness subsequent to shipment, even in winter, in the 

 open car. Horses are much less likely to contract colds if con- 

 tinuously exposed to low temperatures than if chilled, even 

 slightly, after a period of overheating, and the danger of infec- 

 tion is always inverse to the amount of fresh air available. Most 

 stock cars built nowadays are equipped with double coil springs 

 to insure easy riding whether loaded heavy or light, a rigid steel 

 underframe to prevent sagging, shock-absorbing draw-bars, 

 rounded edges, countersunk bolt-heads and nuts in the interior, 

 and are even of steel construction (Fig. 167). 



It is further advised, on good authority, to turn horses loose 

 in the car, even if but one or two are to go. They are less liable 

 to be thro^Mi than if tied, ride much more comfortably, some in- 

 stinctively lying do^\Ti as soon as they enter a well-bedded car, 

 and they come off the car at the end of the trip in much better 

 shape. 

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