The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1876-03-02
'rHonoUGHBRED HORSES.

toihsy ~ SCtSb thO uCSiiSu oOJCSs,
when it has become known fact that
only about one in every fifty produced
by fast sires and dams prove Of any
note as trotters. Therefore, what can
we expect frein the cold bleoded mares
of this county, unless bred to the thor
oughbred horse. TO get action and
staying qualities3 And then those
that show good trotting action must
necessarily be in the hands of compe-
tent persons. Where are the farmers
in Portage County who are able to
furnish the necessary equipments and
time required to cultivate and bring
out speed, or to test whether his colt
has any speed or nof, when it is SO
uncertain? Ii is said it took two
years 10 bring Goldsmith Maid down
10 a reasonable amount of speed. OF
course she is renowned the world
over. But where are the thousands
that have had years of hard training
TO bring them out even fair trotters?
& ,nslilutionally killed, and "gone
where the wOodbine twine.h," and of
no value, with large expense attached
To- their owners. 1t is said Rysdyk's
Ham bletonian has sired some thirteen
hundred colts, and of that number, at
least % OF every 100 have been handled
for speed and yet, how few from that
vast numberiar noted: And where
haG fac ri
stance, they have strong resemblance
OF the thoroughbred, rs Messenger
was thoroughbred. and ran fourteen
races before he was imported TO the
United States, he getting Mambrino,
Mambrino getting Abdallah, Abdallah
getting Rysdyk's Hambletonian. La
dy Suffolk was thoroughbred. She
was on the turf some 16 years, trotting
l61 raLes. winning So. And 80 are
many of our finest steppers. Grafton
is seven-eighths thoroughbred; aud by
the by, had the pleasure of .examin-
ing him in his stall, at cleveland, last
summer, and then saw him come out
for race. He is horse of medium
size, chestnut color, showing very
strong peints-goed enough type of
horse for me, and the grandest trotter
| ever saw. There. are scenes that we
witness which impress themselves
upon our minds with such force that
we love TO mediate upon and relate
them. One of such, with me. was the
exhibition of Grafton's speed: one 1
shall never forget and shall often re-
late. 1t was said of one driver who
went against Grafton, as he returned
to the judges stand, looking up. pale
with excitement he remarked: 81
didn't know l was trotting against the
telegram" Now it is an acknowledge
ed fact that it requires a large amount
of thoroughbred blood to have the
action, bottom and staying qualities
necessary to endure the labor attached
to fast trOtting and il they fail 10 trot
fast we have him of such rare material
| which no other horse can possess, that
he is able to do our farm as well as
road work, consequently he is the
horse TO breed by farmers of this
county.
Breeding may be classified as fol-.
lows: Breeding by our farmers for
profit. and breeding by the gentlemen
in town for pleasure. Colts are raised
either for pleasure or profit, and there
is no reason why il should not prove
| both pleasant and profitable if little
more thought were given to the SUBJ
| iect. My observation has been that
there are by far more disappointments
and failures than successes in breeding
where the effort has been in the direc-
ton of speed alone; for fictitious
value is placed npOn the colt. lie is
considered too good for the ordinary
" ork Of the farm, and he is kept year
after ear, a consumer instead of a
producer. But my ideas are: Breed
sound mares 10 thoroughbred stall
ion, and you will get fine form and
lofty carriage, horse that mas mnscu-
lar power TO draw your plow (and
| that is the hardest work the farmer
has to do) and very desirable car
riage horse. II you expect large,
shapely horse. you must feed your
colt sufficient nourishins food in win
| Ter to keep him thrifty, lusty and
growing, not run to a straw stack only
all winter, coming out in the spring a
half starved. lousy, stunted thing.
Raise them to the old provcrb. "What
is worth doing at all is worth doing
WE'LL" and OF four years old you will
find ready market anti command n
high price.
am particularly partial toward
Lexingtons, for, whilst have had and
handled a goodly number of horses in
my time, l have never found any to
equal them in intellect. disposition,
hardness, and, i'm short, everything
which composes a desirable horse
and, whilst it may seem useless to say
or make any reference 10 Old Lexing-
ton, permit me to give your readers
part of what an old expert raiser
and trainer of horses says in tie
Spirit of the Times:
A few years ago Mcdonnell, the
sculptor, proposed subscription to
| the wealthy turfmen of America for
the purpose of raising sufficient funds
to model the best-forrn' d thorough.
bred stallion i'll this country, and Lex
| ington was selected as the standard.
He proposed to model him just as he
stood alive, a full lifelike model to be
east in bronze. and to be preserved a.
model of the highest type of the
American racehorse to future ages
the perfect horse of the nineteenth
century, which future breeders could
| sfndv " lnno after his dacaaca as a nor