A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



I often think that old Steel Dust must turn over 

 in his grave when his blood is made responsible for 

 some of the broom-tails tacked onto him. It is still a 

 name to conjure with, but almost every horse trader 

 who has not recently joined the church or been 

 rescued from backsliding will declare that his line of 

 equine stock is largely Steel Dust in its breeding. 

 There have been some outstanding Steel Dust stal- 

 lions used in Texas, but for the most that blood has 

 gone into cow bunch outfits through grade stallions. 



From one standpoint it seems incredible that with 

 so much depending upon the cow pony the whole plan 

 of producing him should apparently have been badly 

 neglected; and yet until ten years ago his value lay 

 entirely in having him educated, or developed into a 

 cow horse. 



I recall that when I came to Texas in 1902 the 

 S. M. S. outfit sold 200 mares at $7.50 per head, 

 giving the buyer his pick; but it was really more a 

 surplus than a cull sale. Value, therefore, in the 

 early days had its influence upon neglect. 



Talking with men in outfits that bred their own 

 horses, I am convinced that the whole problem of 

 breeding cow horses has been saved by "the law of 

 selection" in sires — not registered or purebred stal- 

 lions, the early-day sires being selected by men who 

 knew a good horse, and used him because he was a 

 good horse. I know of only one Texas ramuda which 

 can be called a "type"— the 6666 outfit, owned by 



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