St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-10-10
Gbe Californian.
BREED ROADSTERS RATHER THAN
TROTTERS.

The recent meeting at Rutland Is
said bv many to have been a huge
success The visitors were numbered
by thousands and the show of horses
was superb. So far as this goes it is
a credit to Vermont but yet some of
the credit IS lost when we reflect
that but a part of the horses there
shown were Vermont bred, or Will in
any way influence the horses of this
state
There are few things our farmers
must keep well in mind One is the
tendency to breed for speed rather
than endurance in work. The breed
ing of trotting stock has been a curse
to our state ever since the Black
Hawk began to be famous A few
have been successful and are held up
as shining examples of what breed
ing for speed can accomplish in the
way of great returns for small out
lay As far as this goes it is correct,
but the papers are careful to keep the
other side in the shadow The I'M
successful aspirants for such returns
are forgotten, and must make good
their losses by their individual, unas-
sisted efforts.
1t is fact that where one succeeds
in breeding fast horse dozen, or
score fail 1t is true that we may
feel cheap or chagrined to sell a colt
for a fair price and see the next own
ermake small fortune on him. But
did YOU not get good price for him
and is it safe to hold the animal hop
ing for a price which few ever bring?
The young man struggling along
under heavy mortgage can answer
this in only one way. His aim ought
to be to build up comfortable home
for himself and family and not have
his money in fast horses.
Letcapitalists breed the fast horses
and turn your attention to good sol
id stock that if not good driver will
make good worker. Fast walkers
for farm and road service are always
i'll demand at remunerative prices,
and if sufficient speed and style be
developed to make a gentleman's
driver you gain SO much. But trot-
ting stock is absolutely worthless for
any other purpose, and if it fails to
be fast is practically a dead loss.
The question of raising Norman
horses in this state is an open one
They are too ponderous and slow
for our hill roads; still if they can be
raised here and shipped to the cities
for draymen's use, the business may
be profitable 1t is not the ideal
horse, however, and will not long be
popular as breeding stock
On the prairies they are good for
work, the roads being level, it is easy
for them to get around. They will
have their day, and be relegated to
the past along with the other i'm
practicable animals now so plentiful
" scattered through the state
The ideal horse was the Morgan,
and the Morgan blood is still regard
ton of states. The mistake has been
in breeding for speed and striving to
eliminate the natural working char
acteristics of the family. Some are
far sighted enough to see the mistake
now and are trying to bring the race
back to its former excellence But
the horses must be imported from
other states to be used to breed from.
We do not have them here
Given good mare man can make
a good thing from his horse raising
if he can sell his colts at three months
old for $50 or more. A good colt
will bring that and the risk is run by
another. All you have to do is to
raise another and sell at the same
price. Practically the cost is small
up to that time, since the mare will
pay her keeping by work. These
fancy prices are attained by but few,
and it is unsafe to hope for them
Be satisfied with small returns, got
without great risk and in the end
you will have more money, and pay
off that mortgage quicker than by
raising colts for the race track.
Just here the Breeders association
is making a mistake. 1t is paying
its whole attention to racers, or fan
cy drivers. When it settles down to
the work of encouraging the breeding
OF good work horses, or fair gents
drivers, then will it begin to be a
benefit to the state, as a whole. Let
all hOrsemen, or farmers think of this
and put in their bids for the work to
be carried on along these lines
Then, and not till then, will the horse
industry of this state be put on a safe
basis, to which anyone may trust
B. II. Allbee of Perkinsville in the
Burlington Free Press.
The Free Press to the above edi-
torially says
The article on the Breeders meet
ing, by Mr. B. H. Allbee, should re-
ceive the attention of every farmer
and horse breeder in the state. This
Is not the first time that attention
has been called to the increasing
tendency among breeders to breed
for speed rather than endurance in
work Mr.. Allbee maintains that
the breeding of trotting stock has
been curse to Vermont ever since
the Blacks Hawks began to be ia
nous, and that where one succeedsin
breeding a fast horse a dozen or a
score fail. Better advice was never
given to the younger farmers, who
are at all touched with the fast-herse
mania, than this: Let the capital
list breed the fast horses and turn
your attention to good solid stock
that if not a good driver will make
good worker" The question natur-
ally arises in this connection, if the
Breeders association is making a
mistake in paying its whole atten-
ton to racers, or fancy drivers, as
Mr. Allbee asserts, is it not equally
true that the state and county fairs
are making the same mistake in de
voting SO much attention to horse
racing at the expense of other depart
rneufS We would nv M r11aarc ,,r,ra
the exclusion of fast horses or the
closing of the race track, but this
feature of the annual fairs in this