‘CHAPTER XXII 
THE RANGE HORSE 
THE men designated as range horse breeders are those 
who use the range for the larger proportion of the feed 
of their animals, occasionally supplementing it with hay 
during the winter period. The range horse breeders 
are found over a large territory. Wherever cattle are 
raised, many horses will be found. The reason for this 
is that the cattle-men wish to raise the large number of 
saddle and work horses which they need for their own use 
as well as some surplus for sale. There are also many 
breeders who are strictly horse-producers. Throughout 
the range country, a decided change may be noted toward 
more cattle and sheep and fewer horses. There are several 
factors that have caused this movement, the principal 
one being the high price of cattle and sheep and the 
relatively slow market for range horses. In addition, 
there are the barbed wire fences which have, in some 
places, greatly handicapped the horse-men who let their 
stock run on the open range. The slipshod fences put 
up by the homesteaders kill and cripple many horses, 
especially when they are being chased by the home- 
steader’s dogs. Even with a large number of breeders 
transferring to cattle or sheep, there are still many who 
will continue with the range horse. Horses winter out 
better than the other classes of animals and are therefore 
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