The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1883-01-11
Walking Horses, etc.

1t is all very well to encourage the
rearing of fast trotterS, and even
races, by the offer of liberal premiums
at our fairs. We are no advocate of
the race course, except so far as it
SubServeS- the purpose of testing the
speed of horses, and not then because
of the intrinsic value of the quality
of speed, so much as that of wind
and endurance, on which speed essen
TALLY depends. 1t is very pleasant to
have a smooth, eaSy-going and fast
trOtting buggy or carriage horse, and
it is something important to make
good time. But do not horsemen give
too much attention to the running
and trotting gaits to the neglect of
the sober, practical everyday walk
A very large portion of the work
of even a buggy or carriage horse
is necessarily done in a walking
gait. Especially is this true on
the ordinary roads in the country;
and on the farm, nine-tenths of all
the work performed must be dor g in
IL walk. 1t is certainly, then, of great
Importance that the walking gait
should be developed by careful breed
ing, and that efforts in this direction
should be encouraged by our stock as
sociations and agricultural fairs.
Premiums should be offered for the
best horses as well as for the fastest
trotterS and the SwifteSt racers. In
deed, it is much more important to
the great mass of horse owners that
fast walking should be encouraged.
Of course, in what we say we include
mules as well us horses, for we occupy
the standpoint of the farmers advo-
cate. 1t is just as easy to keep
a fast walking horse as Il
slow one, and if a farmer
would calculate the difference in
the amount of blowing or other farm
work that will be performed by a
smart walker on the one hand, and a
dull, sluggish mover on the other, he
will be astonished that he has usually
paid SO little attention to the matter
in buying or training animals for
farm work. Our attention was par
ticularly called to this question one
fall when we had two two-horse plows
at work, turning over rank growth
of hogweedS on level field of soft,
mellow land. The plows turned
each slice of twelve inches,
and to one was attached pair of me-
dunn sized, brisk mules, while the
other was drawn by pair of large
and fast walking horses. The work
was light, as the plows were allowed
to run no more than one and half to
two inches. irhe two-horse team
easily plOwed three acres per day of
ten hours, while the mule team was
hard put to it to get over two and a
half acres. An ordinary, average
mule team would not have plowed
more than two acres, and there are
thousands of teams in Georgia that
would not have made more than one
and half. The horse team travelled
nearly twenty-five miles in the day, or
two and half miles per hour,
including all stOppages; the mule
team made about twenty-one miles
per day. An ordinary or average pair
of mules would have gone about sew
enteen miles, and a slow-going, lazy
pair would drop to twelve or fifteen.
So, then, a farmer should carefully
test the working gait of an animal,
when contemplating its purchase. AS
rule, it is poor economy-no econ
omy at ALTO buy low-priced stock.
The highest-priced animals in drove
will generally prove cheapest in the
end, because so few are able or willing
to pay high prices, that the best AMI
mails generally sell relatively cheaper
than the inferior ones.
Again: There are successful, pros
porous farmers,-whese success is
3iEgely. If not Mainly attributable to
6Iior 2xality OF tn work