, 1888-12-29
. sHoRr LEE AND A HARD ONE.
How Car Horses Are Bought, Broken,
Patched Up and Retired.

How Car Horses Are Bought, Broken,
Patched Up and Retired.
Il should not have thought it would
have paid TO work cripples," / re
marked to the driver of a Third ave-
nue. car on which / rode down town a
few evenings since. l referred to the
near horses hind legs, one Of which
was ornamental with a huge flannel
bandage, while the other foot seemed
in the dim light swollen to an abnor-
NAL size and to be parting from the leg
at the hook.
Hes not lame" returned the driver
affably. That's a boot he's got on
his near foot. He's had n quarter
crack, and the thrush, too, but he
came out of the hospital a week ago,
and it don't seem to trouble him much.
This road don't work no lame horses.
Just as soon as they show any signs of
weakness they are sent to the hospital,
and the best veterinary surgeons in
the country patches EN- up"
Il suppose the hospital is nearly al
ways well filed" / suggested
Why, of course it isl said the
driver. This works terrible hard on
a horse, mainly because of these
cursed stones. Our teams don't have
very long trips and they're not pushed
hard either, hut the stones e 'em
out in a few years"
How long does a horse last at this
work. ! inquired.
''Three years, about" was the reply.
Some Of 'em go on for five years
with patching up, but that's the ex-
treme length of time that they pull
cars. When they have been about
two years at the work their feet get so
ore that they have to be turned out.
The company has a stock farm in the
country where they are taken, their
hoofs are pared, and after running
around awhile on the soft ground they
get hard and fit to come back to the
stones again for n time"
Where do railroad horses come
FRONT" / asked.
MOSTLY from the west" said the
driver rs he put the brake on hard and
came to a standstill while the original
fat lady from n Bowery museum was
hoisted on the car and paid her five
cents like n mortal of ordinary avoir-
dupois. But they buy horses all
over, he resumed, as the al started
again after a huge straining of the UNI
lucky quadrupeds who felt the in
creased weight.
mo, there are not many really
sound horses come into a stables,
The buyer in the west takes a carload
Of horses, and after picking out the
few good, sound, business horses, Sc
lects n lot of good horses with just
some tritle wrong with EN-, which he
calls 'streeters, and sends them on to
the city for the al companies. Then
a lot Of horses are picked up cheap be-
cause they have some small ailment
or blemish which the v~eterinaries sue
coed in curing. They build 'em up,
as you might say, rs good rs sound
'uns."
How are the green young western
horses broken into car work." was my
next query, and the driver half sighed
as he replied, why, right here in
team working with n pole in addition to
horse with an old one, and the pole
kicking over very bad. But it's q
tough Job sometimes. Green horses
are awful scared of the elevated road.
They'll keep looking up and staring
all around TO find out where the noise
NOLlSS iIOhl' anu oOultblilIcS lltg II
Just stand still and shiver with fright"
How long does it take TO get them
used to it,"
"Oh, about two weeks. \ car horse
ought TO be pretty handy at the end of
that time. It'll take ZEN six weeks or
two months to know the bell, but after
that they'll obey the bell quicker than
a green driver. You'll see a new man
foil 10 YNttf f1n hrnlyn on rttIrlr nfNNarrh
sometimes when the bell sounds, but
his horses will stop and the a will
run right on to 'em. Horses are quick
enough TO learn, but l guess their days
are nearly rel Electricity is bound
to do away with them. New York
Herald.