Vol. LXVII. No. 3066. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 31, 1908. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
HORSES IN SOUTHERN OHIO. 
The Trotter and the Drafter. 
Of all animals, horses are the most popular, being 
admired by persons in all walks of life as much as 
by those immediately engaged in 
raising or driving them. At the 
recent Ohio State Fair, on Thurs¬ 
day, there were perhaps 25,000 
people watching the horse races, 
and the horse judging pavilion 
was congested at all times, while 
in the cattle, sheep and swine de¬ 
partments there were no crowds 
at any time, yet some of the best 
stock in the United States was on 
show. All will admit that there 
is something very fascinating 
about speed, the speedier the bet¬ 
ter, and as the people of this 
vicinity are more or less human, 
it is not surprising that a number 
here are interested in fast horses. 
No two-minute horses have been 
produced here, it is true, but some 
of our horses have been on the 
Grand Circuit, and quite a num¬ 
ber of 2:10 pacers and 2:20 trot¬ 
ters are to the credit of Highland 
County’s horse breeders. We re¬ 
cently had a two days’ race meet¬ 
ing here that was a success, both 
as to speed and finances. We have 
a very excellent half-mile track 
and speeds down around 2:09 
were made in a pacing race, a 
race that lowered our track record 
several seconds. There were four 
starters in this race, all local 
horses, and the race was finished 
in three heats, each horse finishing 
in the same position each time. 
One would certainly have to be a 
dead one not to sit up and take 
notice of such a race. Four 
magnificent horses, veritable ma¬ 
chines of muscle and bone, each 
getting down to the business of 
covering distance in the least pos¬ 
sible time, as if the fate of a na¬ 
tion were in the balance. All the 
races were clean and straight, and 
made in excellent time, and in 
every way equalled those at the 
Ohio State Fair; the only differ¬ 
ence being that betting was rather 
too prominent at the local races, 
while at the State fair there was 
no betting to be seen. 
As to the profitableness of 
breeding and racing fast horses I 
might give instances to show what 
has been done by some of our 
breeders, but, while at times some 
horses have been produced which 
were purse winners and finally 
were sold for good round prices, 
the average results are such that 
about all the fast horsemen here 
regard the race horse proposition 
as a pastime and sport, rather than as a source of 
income. Of course horses not fast enough for the 
speed ring bring good prices as light drivers, but the 
expense of raising and training them is such that 
large prices must be secured or there is no profit 
left. I o go into the fast horse businesss and stick, 
one must have a well-developed gambling instinct, 
must have the ability to bear losses philosophically, 
and above all to be well-to-do financially, else a series 
of lost races or the loss of a valuable horse will put 
one out of the business. 
'A ROAD HORSE SUITABLE FOR A FARM. Fig. 387 . 
SALTING THE COLTS IN THE PASTURE. Fig. 388. 
A number of horses here have a performance rec¬ 
ord in one of the two national trotting associations, 
and to get in as pacers they must have an official 
track record of 2:25, and as trotters a record of 2 :29pt. 
A stallion which has a performance record within 
the requirements of a trotting association, and which 
has a line of four sires and dams each with a similar 
performance record, is entitled to registration in the 
association’s stud book, a registration based on per¬ 
formance, and of vastly greater value than one based 
on descent alone. J. H. Sanders, writing about trot¬ 
ters and roadsters 15 years ago, 
wrote: “It can scarcely yet be 
said that we have a distinctive 
breed of driving horses or road¬ 
sters. The horses used for light 
driving, fast trotting, etc., are 
largely a conglomeration of all 
breeds or types.” The above 
statement, very true, perhaps, in 
1893, is less true to-day, and noth¬ 
ing pleases me more than to see 
our local farmers and horsemen 
getting away from the general- 
purpose chunk. In one direction, 
we are getting toward the trimly- 
built racer, and in the other, the 
massive drafter; so, even if we 
have not a distinctive breed of 
driving horses, it cannot be de¬ 
nied that we have a driving type. 
Usually, beauty and speed are not 
found in the same animal, and the 
race horse is usually rough and 
angular in appearance, though 
this is due as much to severe 
training as to conformation. I 
am not a speed crank, therefore 
I admire the gracefulness and 
well-rounded lines of the neatly 
built, though less speedy, driving 
horse as shown in Fig. 387. This 
type of horse is speedy enough 
for road use and being gentle and 
dependable brings a good round 
price as a family driver. 
Though good prices are realized ■ 
for race horses and light drivers, 
the stud fees are so large and the 
expense of training so great and 
the risk of injury so great in 
handling such a highly nervous 
creature as the modern racer, 
while we must remember blem¬ 
ishes detract from their value 
when sold, that it will be seen the 
business of raising drivers is not 
very alluring as a bread-winning 
proposition. So far as my obser¬ 
vation extends, I find that draft 
horses are much more profitable 
than drivers for the reason that, 
they are in good demand at all 
times of the year, are easily 
handled, less liable to injury, 
and slight blemishes do not 
greatly lessen their selling prices. 
There are no registered draft 
mares here, but there are quite 
a lot of excellent draft stal¬ 
lions, owned by horse companies, 
and in charge of trained keepers. 
There are one or two Belgians 
here and some Clydes, but the 
Percherons are most numerous, 
and rightly so. One enterprising 
farmer is talking of purchasing a registered 
Percheron mare, and I believe ihe plan to be an 
excellent one. Raising draft horses is a very 
similar proposition to raising and finishing fine beef 
cattle; the amount of capital required is about the 
same, so is the selling age, unless baby beef be fed, 
