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. 
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