The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1881-04-28
The Horse Trade or America.

While the United States of America
abound in horses, the wealth therein is
small as to what it really could be were
the horse breeders of the country at
large to prosecute the business on true
business principles-th is, to place on
the market at salable rates the sort of
animal which the market demands. AS
our great cities are now supplied trade
is hindered by the difficulty which ex-
lists in procuring horses on good ap-
pearance, sound and well broken, at
prices which buyers feel they can give
10 bring up and place ON the open
market salable animal costs no more
than to cast ON the streets miserable
beast possessing no good qualities and
full of bad ones. All that is necessary
is to have the foal well born; the rest
follows of nature. At five wears old a
! horse should have performed for the
man who bred him much valuable serv-
ice, so much that he should have paid
for the cost of producing him; then, if
the animal be salable, he is so much
clear profit. As it now is, farmer
makes drudges of the stock which he
uses, and allows to run wild, or, worse
still. keeps up in idleness, the horses he
hopes to sell. The result of such treat
ment is, that a middleman comes in,
who absorbs the profit of the owner,
and who, in order to live by his busi-
ness, handicaps the horse with a price
which deters the buyer. No such Great
ure as sire for general purposes exists
the phrase is misnomer; the Great
ure is mythical. The qualities which
insure speed are not those which pro-
duce that evenness of temper, that
width of chest and power of TRACTION
necessary in a heavy draught horse;
neither, again, is the build of draught
horse sire tit for less heavy harness
work. One golden rule (scarcely ever
observed) is this: Know what you want
and then proceed to obtain it in the
best possible manner.
The favorite families of horses for
heavy draught are the Clydesdale, the
Suffolk Punch, the Black Cart Horse of
England and the Norman, also the Per-
cheron. For harness work where great
power is needed nothing can be better
than one and all of these; we regard
them in excellence as categorically
placed. When less power and more
speed is required, then the Anglo-Ara-
bian cannot as a sire be equaled. His
half and, still more, his three-quarters
bred sons and daughters inherit beauty
of form, soundness of constitution, ease
and grace of action. faithfulness and do
cility of temper, and dauntless cour-
age. Horses so bred would meet the
requirements of the home and foreign
markets, both of which are now mea-
gerry supplied. The great London horse
dealers have essayed time and again to
procure in the United States of America
stylish roadsters and stately carriage
horses, but with rare exceptions have
failed. From $500 to Il, 200 sterling
can readily be got in London for per-
fectly matched, entirely sound and
well-broken pair of carriage horses.
The age should be from five to seven
years; height. fifteen and one-half
hands to sixteen hands high; color, deep
mahogany bay; golden chestnut is most
preferred of all; dapple brown, with
black points and a ton muzzle; grays
may suit the taste of a city magnate,
but would meet no favor in Belgravia
and Mayfair.-Miss Morgan, IN ~. Y.
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