CHAPTER XVII 

 THE STATUS OF THE HORSE INDUSTRY 



Improvement in the breeding and management of 

 horses has proven of practical value. Many factors have 

 occurred to depress the price of horses, but a strong 

 demand and a profitable price exist for good serviceable 

 stock. On the other hand, misfits and horses of poorer 

 grade have suffered depreciation. Such results demon- 

 strate that the live-stock industry is making progress and 

 that progress and prosperity go hand in hand. 



In the early days the range of the West was an entirely 

 free proposition. The man with the most power could 

 secure the most land, but time has brought about differ- 

 ent conditions. The western range has in many places 

 given way to more intensive agriculture and this change 

 has brought new methods and a better type of stock. 

 Even in the places where the range has not been broken 

 up, the ranchers must figure on a higher cost of production 

 than in former years. Stockmen throughout the West 

 realize this condition and as a result are trying to produce 

 a type of stock that the market demands and which will 

 bring a price more proportionate to the cost of production. 



In this work of improvement there has been the in- 

 fluence of the management as well as breeding. A definite 

 correlation may be found in the advance of the pure- 

 bred sire and in the better methods of care and feeding. 



243 



