Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-03-13
Lectures at the Ohio University
HORSES, BY DR.. TOWNSEND.

HORSES, BY DIR. TOWNSEND.
The professor began by saying that
the horse was an embarrassing subject
for lecture of an hour. There was SC
much to be said about him that II
wOnld be easier to write q book. He
Is of great interest, physiologically con-
sidered. Geologicslly there Is no ami
NAL of greater interest, for we find fos.
sill remains of him In the different
strata, and so the horse gives US the
best example of evolution. MythOlog.
ically he is of great interest, for we find
him referred to Eefore there Is any
authentic history. He is said to have
originated by Neptune striking his tri-
dent on the ground. The poetry of
the horse would be interesting II we
had time to consider 1t, for from the
days of Job down he has received the
attention OF The poets. The horse in
art Is worthy of notice, for We find him
in marble, In bronze, and also painted
in oil. Had we time TO trace his histO-
ry and see how Intimately he has been
connected with the human family, 1t
would prove Q fascinating subject.
Economically he Is we'll worthy CT con.
sideration. The horses of Ohio are
velusd for purposes Of taxation at $50,
000, 900, aud their actual value Is not
far from $4,000, 900. The value Of the
horse increases As we improve our
methods OF farming. Now our grain
is out and bound by horse power; the
hay Is cut, rsked, pitched and stacked
in the way. The French eat horse
flesh and the Arabs drink the milk.
The varieties of the horse are numer-
Gus. a very fine horse Is found in
Barbary. Then we have the Egypt
ian horse. The Arab Is the best sad
die horse In the world, but Persia and
Turkey also produce fine saddle horses.
In the cold countries of narthern Eu-
rope we find breed Of lOng-haired,
rough-looking horses of medium size
and great excellence. In the Shetland
Isles we have horses so small that they
can walk out from under a nan with
long legs. In Scotland and Wales we
find an imments number of hardy po-
MES that are large enough to work and
quite valuable. Next we come to draft
horses. In the South of Scotland we
find the Clyde horse, Q very large and
valuable vrristy. Next comes the En-
glish draft, the largest of all known
horses. The stations often weigh 2,25O
pounds, and ton is very common
weight. These horses are always
black, white or gray in color. They
are slow and immensely strong, and
were we'll suited fo the time when
roads were bad. The Flemish horse
is found in Northern and Western
Germany. He Ia heavy draft horse,
well-proportioned, Symmetrical and
beautiful. The horses known as Cleve-
land Bays originated in Yorkshire, In
the east Of England. They are sixteen
to seventeen hands high and weigh
from 200 to 400 pounds. The are
not fast horses but fine steppers; and
walk four to five miles an hour. In
the south OF England there Is short,
heavybodied horse kdown as the Suf-
folk Punch. They are usually sorrel
with white feet. They are a good
draft and general purpose horse. I he
Norman horse of France is good draft
animal-a medium between the En-
eli.h draft and the Suffolk Punch. In
Canada we now find as fine Clyde
horses az can be found In otland. In
the United States We have a mixture
ofall kinds OF horses. We have had
some Of the best blood Of English hors-
es, for upto 1870, records show that
over 300 thoroughbred horses, mostly
stations, have been brought to this
country frem England. By thorough
bred we mean the English race
horse, and a cross Of this blood
improves all others. A bad tendency
with US has been to sacrifice everything
to speed. and purchase horse that was
of no value except for the race track.
The Morgan horses were too light for
the work they were put to In this
country. The mule was we'll adapted
to hot climates and would bear more
abuse and hardships than the horse, but
he you'd much prefer horses far farm
work.