318 Western Live-stock Management 
best possible physical bloom. More stallions are injured 
in the winter through lack of exercise and heavy feeding 
than by any other method. Too many are put in a box 
stall when the season is over and never taken out until 
the next spring except occasionally to clean the stall. 
The appearance of some stalls would indicate that he 
was seldom taken out even for this purpose. The result 
of such practice, together with too much feed, is that the 
horse becomes fat, sluggish, and out of condition. Noth- 
ing can be expected the following spring except an un- 
healthy horse and an uncertain breeder. The stallion 
should be broken to work young, but should not do much 
until he is mature. The breaking of a stallion should be 
conducted the same as for the gelding except that the 
stallion is stronger and more spirited, although less likely 
to be frightened than the gelding. 
HANDLING THE SERVICE STALLION 
A reliable man is a good investment in handling the 
service stallion. There are several reasons for this, the 
most important of which is that a good horse represents 
a large investment, and therefore must be handled care- 
fully, and second, the patrons who use the horse are 
largely influenced to do so by the personality of the stal- 
lion keeper. One reason why the grade and mongrel 
stallions have made such inroads on the business of the 
pure-bred horse is because of the methods of salesmanship 
which some of the owners have used. The inroad is 
not entirely dependent on the difference of service fee, 
but that is usually a strong point. The service stallion 
is a business proposition and as such should be handled 
as a business. The patrons will appreciate the horse 
better if he is in good physical shape, well groomed, and 
