Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-09-26
AGRICULTURAL
Horse Notes.


allowed. Frog pressure hasits advocates
and, no doubt, bearing upon the frog is
beneficial. as it facilitates natural eX-
pansion of the hoof. Considerable atten-
ton should be paid to the shoeing, with a
view Of giving the heels free play. How
ever, ii the disease Is OF long standing,
considerable morbid changes will have
taken place, including liberation of the
navicular bone, rendering all hopes of
cure futile. 4 long season of liberty on
pasture. or ont doors on soft ground,
without shoes, Is of great service In
hopeless cases the operation of neurot-
omv so-cnlled nervinC, Is often resorted
to but the effect of tins operation is
only an alienation Of pam, Tor II Is not
performed rs 4 cure ior the disease. This
operation Is open to serious objections :;
for while the animal is thereby relieved
of pam and ceases to go lame, as ii conse-
quencc Of being deprived OF all feeling III
the foot, he does not, as consequence,
evlncc any signs Of injury when the
blacksmith accidentally drives n nail INTO
the vital parts Of the hnof. or when nail,
picked up ON the road enters the same.
But inflammation and its sequels. suppu-
ration. modification, and sloughing off of
the hoof are almost certain, under such
| circumstances, TO result : and as during
this process Of destruction. the animal
evinccs no pain, ii may happen to be used
on the road by the owner Al the time the
| hocf drops of.
TEoTTERS AND RoADSTERs.
| We have as yet no distinctive breeds of
driving horses, or roadsters. The horses
used for light driving, fast trottinG, etc,
are largely a conglomeration of all breeds
and types. Some approximate the French
Canadian p ony in form and action, while
! others possess most Of the characteristics
Of the Thoroughbred but SO popular has
fast trotting become in this country, and
So universal Is the fancy for fast driving
| horses. that at almost all our fairs the
| Roadster class will be found more large
ly represt nted than any other. and usual
ly more largely than all others combined.
Indeed. the roadster is more distinctly an
American feature than any other i'll our
equine product: and we are fast approach
ing the time when the American trotting
horse will he classed as Il distinct breed
1T is the creation of an American fancy
the result Of q fashion that has demanded
the fastest and stoutest trotting horses in
the world for driving on the road and to
this end We have selected and bred until
our horses surpass all others in this par
hcular. Among these horses We have
several recognized families Of especial
prominence. all more or less related, but
each possessing features that are TO some
extent peculiarly its own, but none of
them entitled to be called breed
TERCHEKSoN- -NoRMANs.
These are also frequently called Nor
mans, or French horses, in the Western
States. But by whatever name called .
they are all practically the same, and are /
distinguished by thcirmiformity in color,
being nearly always grey. Occasionally .
n black, roam, bay, or chestnut is seen
but fully ninety per cent. of them, both .
in this country and in France, when they
are imported, are grey. Those imported
to this country will range i'll weight from
400 To 1909 lbs They usually have good .
heads. rather short necks. with rumps
rather short and often a trifle dropping
The breed originated in La Perche, an
ancient province Of France, and importa-
tons from that country to the United
States have been very large since 1852.
Many mares have been imported, and n
stud book is published in which the I'M
ported as well us the native purely-br
animals are recorded. \ few stations
have been imported from northern France
and from Belgium Of them greys,
but usually bays-that are rather larger
and coarscr than the Percherons, but
these are not eligible TO record III the
Percheron- Norman Stud Book
THE CLYDEspALEs
Tins / breed that originated IN SCOT,
land and is highly priced by many Amer
Ic.us. They rank next in importance, in
point Of numbers in this country, TO the
Perch1 ron Normans In color they are
mostly hay. but there are occasional
blacks, browns, sorrels, and ereys among
them and no matter what the color OF
their body may be-. they nearly all have
strong markings oi white III the face and
On the feet. White spots about the belly
are also often found la point of size
those imported to this country will aver
age somewhat larger than the Perchcron-
Nurmans. They are also usually longer
IN the body and in the hind quarters than
the French draft horses An abundance
of long hair on the legs is considered
good point in well-hrel Clydesdalc
These horses are now bred III considcra-
ble numbers in this country and SO i'm
puytant has the interest become, that
movement is now on foot TO establish
stud book for this breed in the United
Stat and Canadn, as has already been
done IN Great Britain.
WHAT CnSsr;rrTEs \ Good En1psrEce