Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1865-07-14
Horse Breeding.

hOl 20 oTeeQlUB.
We commend to the serious consideration of our
Tennessee farmers the following article on horse
raising; as our State has suffered great loss in this
particular kind of stock, we must now enter ser-
ously and theoretically into the subject of supply
ing tile DEFICIENCIES caused by the war; Let every
farmer look closely to the qualities Of both the dam
and sire before he engages in this business reject
all animals possessing hereditary faults, and select
mand, namely: size, form, color, action and gentle
ness of disposition. The following Is fgom, the
Boston Ohlirator: <gg
Is horse breedinga paying business This qucs-
ton is often asked and variously answered, ac-
cording TO the various experiences Of individual
| breeders. My experience and observation have led
mo to the conclusion that the business of breeding
horses is either highly recommending or decidedly
improbable, according to circumstances; when
conducted with Judgment, care and superior skill,
| 1t Is unquestionably paying business; but when
conducted in the routine manner practised by a
largo majority of farmers, with little or no know
ledgeof Or regard to the principles of breeding it
must be very decidedly uncompensating!s hs&ss@
Horse breeding in come important particulars,
differs essentially from other departments of stock
breeding. The farmer for instance may, raise
steers or heifers and if they prove to be badly
formed or have mishappeu legs or joints or any
accident happen them-such as the breaking of n
| limb, dislocating q shoulder, they will at any
time sell at their meat value to the butcher ; but
with the foa the case is different The farmer who
breeds from n small, feeble, ms-shapen, spawned,
or ring-boned mare even if bred to a good STALL
ion, incurs the risk of producing a worse than
vGueless foal, and if he has good mare and stints
her to an undcrszed mongrel or defective stallion,
the chances are that the produce will pay for
one-half the feed it consumed. 1t follows, then,
that in order to make his business remuneratve,
the horse li1celer mist pay strict attention to the
general principles Of breeding, and endeavor to
4 breed the class Of horses which command the
rediest sale in his locality.
In the New England States, the fast timo trotter
is the horse most highly priced, and commands a
price commensurate with his ability to reduce the
time required 10 "turn the track" il is therefore
manfestly for the breeders interest to breed this
particlar breed Of horses provided il can be done
with reasonable degree of certainty experience,
however, has proved that under the most favorable
circumstances, when bred with the utmost iuig-
ment very large proportion of the foals produced
\ do not meet the requirements of the trotting
course. 1t would, therefore, seem to be matter of
the highest Importance that the breeder should, at
the outset, have special regard to the ultimate value
of the foal in case it should not turn out to be a
fast trotter and that his business will be profitable,
just in proportion as hisjudgment in this respect s
good or bad.
1t costs about rs much to raise small horse ms it
does to raise large one and every one knows that
small horses are comparatively worthless in every
department Of labor, unless they have the requisite
speed for the skeleton wagon or trotting sulkyi
while the demand for largo horses ia almost uniyer
| sal in every department of business or pleasure
the grocer, the butcher mil1man and the farmer,
all require good sized horses, and for the omnibus
chaise, carryall, stage coach, express, wagon, or
the family carriage Of the gentlemen of fortune,
large horse are Indispensable This being the case,
it is not remarkable that in the markets of Phila-
dephia, New York, or Boston, the light-stepping,
well proportioned, easy going carriage horse of lG
| hands or upwards commands three or four times
the price that can be obtained for those diminutive
slender little pony horses of IA hands or less.
| In order TO make horse breeding profitable, tho
breedermust avoid the mistake, heretofofe, so com
mon Of breeding for the one quality of fast trot-
ting alone to the sacrifice Of every other desirable
property; and endeavor to breed combination of
size, style, and speed. This can be done BY breed
ing from good sound, large, roomy open gated
mares, and stations of corresponding size and
soundness well proportional, styl sh in appearance
graceful in moyemeGt, and with. decided blood for
transmission Horses bred in this manner are as
likely any TO prove fast rotters and failing in that
desirable qualification having size and style in their
favor, they will, in any event, bring remunera-
tive price, and the breeder therefore, who system
actcally follows the course here indicated, will
find horse breeding paying business.
On the other hand, the breeder who selects for
his breeding stock broken-down trottng mares,
without any regard to'shape size, and breeds
them to nm understood stallion of unknown blood
slley because he happens TO be n fast trotter, will
most as5uredly find horse breeding improbable
business. e ~
STheres are many small farmers, and other horse
owners, who do not make breeding a speciality
but who nevertheless may make it pay 10 raise
every year one or two fOals. The brood mare
while carrying her foal will perform many kinds
of work advantageously down to within few
days Of her time Of toaling, and week after
dropping her foal she may again be moderately
worked without detriment 10 herself or her off
spring & XII. 40 X. -E We cGfI tart
The farmer therefore, who requires the service
Of two or three horses, can keep pair of stout
hand mares for farm work, and raise annually a
pair Of toals which, ifjudciouslyr managed, will
at tho age Of years bring him the sum OF $500
or $500 each, a convenient amount in time Of
need, AMI which,, although not exactly "clear
GAIN seems such frusa tie fact Of tho hay and
grass consumed having been so gradually aud
inleussbly turned into ca5li '.
AN AAERicAS BEEgDLE