The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-02-09
THE CARE OF FINE HORSES.
The Trouble is that Many Rich Owners
TrcRt their Horses Cnwisely CIR Allow
~ Others to DO SO-Gluttonous Maud 8.

y TrCRt their Horses Cnwfsely or Allow
Others to DO So-GInttoneus Maud 8.
"The great trouble, !" said Mr.. Robert
Bonner, 'is that 80 many men who are
able to buy fine stock do not know how
their horses should be taken care of,
and are unable to watch and sec whether
those whom they employ thoroughly
understand their business.
eff q man sits all day at a desk and
writes, without taking exercise, he can
not cat half as much as a laborcr who
handles a pick and shovel. 1t is just
the same with horses. You take the
hack horses that run around up at Tar
rytown, going half a mile in one dircc-
ton, two miles in another, and using up
their strength in climbing over those
hills. They need from twenty to twenty
four quarts of oats a day, and they would
cat even more if they could get it. But
trolting horses. ever in the trotting sea-
son, will not eat on an average more
than twelve quarts n day; you can't
make them, because the work they do
does not wear away their strength as
does the slow plodding of the hack
horse. In this season of the year
the trotting horses do almost nothing,
and if allowed to cat what they want to
they take on fat and get themselves into
a very bad condition.
"Now, take Maud S., for example.
Wei. she is a glutton, if ever there was
ono. AS Eair said to me the other day.
she was never known to leave around a
mouthful of anything to eat. She would
eat twelve quarts of oats a day now if I
would let her, but I give her barely six
quarts, and let her grumble to herself
about my stingincss if she wants to. AS
it is, she keeps III fine condition, just
nice and right. If let her eat her fill
she would get as fat. as a %porpoise; and
even if nothing worse happened, I
should have the hardest kind of work to
get her back into condition when spring
come around again. Of course economy
or any such idea as that has nothing to
do with it. When l give $40, 600 for
a mare l don't care how much she eats.
If 100 quarts of oats n day would do her
any good I'd only be too glad to give it
to her. That is the great trouble with
a man who has n fine animal; he is
likely to be too indulgent and kill the
horse with Kindness. Firmness IS what
n man must have. no matter how much
he may think of his horse.
"Of course, there are exceptions to
every rule; some horses will not get fat,
no matter how much you feed them.
There is .Kcenc jim, a horse that I
bought for 81, 900, and, by the way, l
wouldn't look Mt $40, 900 for him now;
you can't get that horse fat, no matter
how much you may feed him. He is a
kind of horse that won't ~fatten, just
like some men who arc always lean and
lank, no matter how good q cook they
have.
Zone thing that may cause the loss OF
many valuable horses at this time of
. the year is ignorance, or carelessness,
that results in their catching cold.
Horses are exercised too violently, per-
haps, and then allowed to stop and
grow cold suddenly. That is all wrong:
such treatment is likely to kill a man:
and it is just as dangerous for n horse.
After my horses are exercised they arc
warmly blanketed, and my boys lead
| them around my stables more and more
slowly. A horse wants to cool off grad
ually and slowly. IA the air does when
the sun sets, not like q bottle of wine
stuck into a freezer. And then, too,
you can't be too careful in exercising
and driving horses ut this time Of tie
year. They should be taken out every
day without fail when the weather per-
mits, but be very careful. If you speed
your horse in the face of a cold wind.
all that cold air pouring into his lungs
is likely to injnre him very much, and
give him lung fever. And even when
it is fine you can't be too careful about
the surface on which your horse is
trotting. I wouldn't for $40. 900 let
Maud S. go out and fly for half q mile
at top speed on the hard roads of Cen.
trail Park, and yet lots of men send
their best stock flying I'VE such roads
daily. A man who knew anything and
saw such a thing done would take the
horse away from the driver and say he
was crazy. The best chance you can
get to drive in winter is on the soft
snow. That won't hurt any horse. ONLY
be careful and not drive them too much
at first. The slipping of their feet be-
fore they become accustomed to the icy
surface is very painful to the legs, and
they should be worked up to it grad.
ually."