Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1888-01-18
PROFITABLE HORSE BREEDING.
A Priss Essay in the Western Agricul-
yl1rist.

Profitable horse breeding is breeding
the best blood of q family by itself, or
breeding up on the family the breeder
prefers, and using only the best males
of pure blood Of any strain, good care
from the birth, and careful training to
the day of sale. Fashions change in
horses as in all other matters. Just
now the draft horse to the majority is
the horse, and the thoroughbred is in a
manner. overlooked. Any strain of
horses with good pure blood or well
graded up can be bred with profit to
the owner, if a jndicious course is pur-
sued--from Shetland pony to draft
horse but to reach the best results
there must be no crossing blood to get
something better.
The way to improve any stock is to
improve on itself. Each strain of horses
can be bred probably, but different
bloods will require different care and
training. One wishing only to breed
for sale, a different course must be pur-
sued from the one who breeds for use
first, and sale when he has surplus on
hand. The latter must breed differently
from Il may say the wholesale breeder
who makes breeding for sale his only
object, and will perhaps do better with
different stock.
Now the draft horse is the horse. The
city people tell us SO, and they, of course,
know more than farmers or breeders.
Whether this is so or not, the draft
horse is the fashionable horse, and hay
ing the readiest sale, is the most profit
able horse 20 raise, if bred right and
true. Many buyers consider the size
without regard to purity or mixed
blood. A true breeder will consider
blood alone, and breed pure or grade
up with pure blood males.
The first object in breeding draft
horses is to attain early maturity, and
only enough training given them to
make them ready for sale. Draft horses,
like beef breeds of cattle, should ma
ture early. The course l should pur-
sue, if | could afford full blood or high
grade mares, would be to select large
native mares approaching nearest the
type l wished to breed, and breed them
to one strain of the draft blood, until
the colts could be shown as nearly full
blood.
To properly train colts they should
be handled from birth, and when four
or five days old battered and led around
with their mothers. If one is careful,
only ten or fifteen minutes are re
quired, and if repeated for some time,
will never De forgotten by the colt.
Feed the mothers Well and teach the
colts to eat with them as soon as can
be, and when wesning time comes,
with little more feed and taking them
away gradually from the mothers, they
will not feel the change from milk to
healtier food SO much. Neither colt
nor mother feel the separation SO much
If the change is gradual.
From weaving time uutil good
spring pasture comes, colts should be
well cared for in every respect; should
be we'll acquainted with and feel their
keepers hand every day; the halter
put On them frequently and tied up oc-
casionally to teach them to stand by
their halter. A good warm stable with
plenty of room for the night and stormy
days, and good sized yard in the day
lime for exercise is the best for health.
Ii one or more colts are disposed to be
qurrrelsome, they should be tied up
nights, or have a separate stall. Gen.
orally colts are better to be loose in
the stable, but an lllnatured one will
injure others, and he will not suffer if
confined by the halter or otherwise.
The care for the six months after wean-
ing is what makes the horse, both in
developing size and giving good dispo-
s:tion. A colt soon learns that his
keeper j. his friend and will not soon
target hi,n ur his lessons.
Frequent handling after they are one
year old, during the summer will less
en- the work of training to harness,
which if well developed, is best done in
the fall after they are one year old, by
a little exercise to light wagon, but
they should never be driven fast and
never enough to fatigue them.
At three and four years old draft
horses should be ready for sale, and to
pay well, none should be held long
after four years old. As with many
other kinds of stock, early sales pay
best.
About nine-tenths of the men breed
ing horses imagine they know as much
or more than any other man about
horses, and at least three-quarters of
that number believe that mare hav-
ing all the different strains of blood
from mustang to an imported draft
horse, that can be got into her, if her
self of good form and size, should bring
large fine colt crossing hall between
dam and sire. He will not consider
that the mare having many different
strains of blood, the colt is liable to go
back to the meanest blood the mare
had Not SO liable perhaps, as the
sire is of perfect'pedigree; still there
is chance. Such breeders are apt to
change sires every time they find