VOL. XLIX. NO. 2128. NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 8, i89o. PR i CE ’JiX E vS?S TSi 
7 ' $2.00 rh<K YiirfAR. 
“DOLLY AND BILLY.” 
TWO TYPES OF HORSES. 
T HE two little horses shown below were worked on 
what was formerly The R. N.-Y.’s “annex ” farm. 
. They are not shown here as types of the ideal farm¬ 
er’s horse, which farmers should try to breed for,—poor old 
Billy is the sort of animal to breed away fron 1 —but rather 
to point several morals which our experience with horses 
has taught us. 
Dolly is a little brown horse. She is a French Cana¬ 
dian, weighing about 850 pounds, broad, thick and stocky, 
with short, thick legs. We have always regarded these 
little Canadian horses as dwarfed or stunted Percherons, 
possessing the small size and peculiar hardiness due to the 
exposure for several generations to the rigors of Canadian 
winters. It is not known how old Dolly is; but she must 
be at least 20. The Are and spirit characteristic of the 
breed are still in her and she resents a blow from a whip 
as a high-spirited man would. She has never been whip¬ 
ped but once, and never will be again. Atone time many of 
these little Canadian horses were sold to farmers in the 
neighborhood of the Rural Grouuds. Of late years there 
has been more of a demand for the larger Western horses. 
There are still some farmers, however, who retain the 
Canadians, believing that three of these hardy little 
animals can be kept for the cost of keeping two large 
Western horses, while the extra horse is often of great 
service in cultivating or marketing time. 
Nobody knows anything about Billy’s breeding. There 
are those who look at her long, slender neck and good 
shoulders and say: “That was a good saddle horse in her 
day,” but this is all conjecture—at present Billy gives 
little evidence of former greatness. Two winters ago the 
writer employed a German who had a natural love for a 
horse. Some men are born horsemen: this man was one. 
He was eager to own a horse of his own and he was encour¬ 
aged to get one, as we thought the ownership of some live¬ 
stock might give him a greater interest in the farm work. 
So one day he went to an auction and came riding back on 
this little gray mare, which he bought for $7. She was a 
sight to behold. There were bunches at every joint on her 
legs—ringbones, spavins—it seemed that she had every 
possible joint disease. Her ribs could be counted and her 
head hung down in the most doleful fashion. 
“Derevas no feed into her mit tree mont’s,” was Her¬ 
man’s comment, and we could well believe him. 
“ What are you going to name her, Herman ? ” was the 
question we all asked. 
“ Veil, I dinks I calls her Billy,” and “Billy” she has been 
. ever since. 
Herman did his best for Billy. He bought oil-meal and 
good feed ; chopped corn stalks and steamed them, brushed 
and curried the little mare regularly and rubbed liniment 
on her joints. Billy responded by growing fatter, losing 
much of her lameness and gaining in speed and spirit, but 
she never fully recovered from the effects of her rough 
usage. 
The two horses are entirely different in disposition. 
Dolly has always been well treated. She has been petted, 
fed and encouraged in every way. As a result she is always 
ready to do her best. She seems to take a real interest in 
her work; the writer has seen her nod and shake her head 
in evident satisfaction at an unusually straight furrow. 
In cultivating, she never steps on a hill of corn or potatoes 
if she can help it; we have seen her step carefully over them 
at some little trouble to herself. She expects to be noticed 
and rewarded for her good conduct and shows her good¬ 
will in numberless ways. Yet the Canadian horse can be 
ill tempered and even ferocious if abused or tormented. 
Dolly has sometimes been plagued or bothered by thought¬ 
less people. She shows her resentment by biting or stamp¬ 
ing with her front feet rather than by kicking. Billy is 
naturally sulky, sullen and obstinate. Whenever she is 
approached she seems to feel that she is about to receive a 
kick or a blow. We have always been kind to her, yet 
she appears unable to get over this fear. She improves every 
opportunity to break out and rnn away. At work she is a 
perfect “ lunkhead,” going aimlessly along, with hanging 
head, tramping carelessly over plants—good or bad, it 
makes no difference to her. We feel sure that the dis¬ 
positions of these two horses reflect exactly the treatment 
they have received. Dolly is fearless, unsuspicious, good- 
natured, “ willing” and careful, because she has found that 
these good qualities have always been applauded and re¬ 
warded in a satisfactory way. Billy, on the other hand, 
found too many of her honest efforts rewarded by a blow 
or a kick. As this continued she naturally lost her temper 
and spirit and became a horse cynic. Who blames her ? 
We have never seen the results of good care and abuse 
more strikingly illustrated than in these little horses. 
These two old horses have taught us a number of other 
things. It is a great mistake to permit old horses to grow 
thin just as winter comes on. If they do not go into 
winter in good condition they are sure to be weak and ail¬ 
ing all winter. They have not the vigor of younger horses 
and cannot put on flesh so rapidly. An old horse should 
always be fattened for winter. We are well satisfied that 
horses have individual tastes, their likings for certain 
foods being almost as pronounced as are similar preferences 
in men. We are convinced that breeders and feeders do 
not pay enough attention to this matter of Individual 
tastes in animals. Dolly will drink milk in any form and 
is fond of bread and butter, cabbage, potatoes, Lima bean 
pods and apples. Billy will not touch milk; she has a 
special fondness for potatoes, but cares little for cabbage 
or other green food. Dolly is very fond of tomatoes and 
lettuce, and will generally leave her dry grain to eat 
boiled sweet corn ears. Billy is extravagantly fond of oats 
and prefers oat hay to any other. Dolly prefers corn meal 
or bran and enjoys well cured corn stalks, especially when 
they are chopped up and steamed or soaked with hot 
water. We could give a dozen illustrations of this dif¬ 
ference in taste between these little horses. It is good 
economy to study the likings of each animal and give what 
is evidently relished best; at least where but a few head of 
stock are kept. 
We have found no better “green food” for horses than 
potatoes. Both of these horses prefer potatoes to carrots 
or turnips. We feed the small tubers either raw or baked. 
It is astonishing how fond they are of baked potatoes. We 
prefer to feed our horses chopped hay, steamed or moist¬ 
ened with hot water, with ground feed mixed with it, and 
the baked potatoes on top. W^e have tried a good many 
DOLLY AND “BILLY.” GOOD CARE vs. NEGLECT. Fig. 342. 
