Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1877-12-06
LILY STOCK.
TROTTERS.


Breeding trotters is checkered with man,
disappointments says Observer in the Mich
igan Farmer. Most breeders start out will
high expectations, and anticipate more thai
theyyreaIize. They expect to raise colts o
inyineible courage and superlatiye actor
without laying the foundation for 1t. A
large majority of breeders. commence with
common mares that never had the ~trottine
action, OR any natural propensity to ac'
quirc it, and send them to stations that are
unworthy Of the name of speed. They have
violated the law of propagation by not
adapting means to ends, and will be doomed
to disappointment. IL would be a miracle
to get speed where it never did exist. The
sire and dam must be %trotters, and inherit
the propensity through a trotting family to
have a reasonable certainty that they will
produce their like.
A long list of celebrated trotting psogeni-
tors concentrated in. the blood OF the sire is
good starting point. The dam must equal
the sire and trace back through both
branches to trotting ancestors, so that If the
AOlt7 Nn7o ~ 0AtSa 1AA-A1SA VA AA1S
family they cannot help inheriting the trot-
ting instinct. Not one in ten Of the mares
used for breeding can show a fair road gait,
nor have the majority OF the stations kept
for public use any pretensions to speed-a
chance trotter may bestound in the family
to which they belong, and fl ON this connec-
,tion they are palmed Off on the community
AS a breed of trotters. Their ancestors were
mot trotters. they had M speed, and the log
:ical conclusions would follow that their pos
,terity would not be worth training. Capt.
tai invested in ill-bred mongrels will seldom
produce u fair return. It is the pure-bred
or high grades that yield a suitable return
on the capital invested.
There are honorable exceptions to this in
difference for pedigrees in the art of breed
ing. The most enlightened breeders place
their whole dependence upon the pure
blood of the sire and darn, and the superior
lity of their progenitors as Il test OF their
transmitting their Inheritance to their of
spring. Those who have selected choice
mares from Il speedy family, and high bred
w ea'Ao NSiC thASiA ClAeANs h@N tACUl
with unbounded success. 1t establishes the
fact that skillful breeding aud suitable train
ing is the code Of Improvement. The coltsj
that have made their debut on the trotting
course this year are enough to convince any
man of the progressive effects of scientific
breeding. Il has been a great year for the
triumph of youngsters. Yhey have lowered
the record Of their predecessors in all classes.
They have tranp!ed in the dust the best
time TO be found in the history OF colts.
At Hartford the tour-year-old lowered
the record which stood at 2::20. At Lex
they reduced another notch down. to
I'll IL. Look at the three-year-olds for
The past year. At Hartford Elaine by Mess
Duroc trotted one mile in lbs; Red
Jim by Abdallah Pilot trotted at Lexington
In 2:2s. The tWo-year-olds have performed
The most wonderful trotting Of modern
times. Orient by Angler wins i heat at
Lexington in 2:3S, and So So by Geo. Wilkes
wins a second heat in 2:31 II, and a third
heat in 2:3l.
TIE LEGS AND FEET OF HORSES.
1t is II well known fact that horses will
work and stand sound for many wears. with