The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1890-01-02
MATCHED TEAMS.


Their vaire-ffdw to Mstch H~orses--Ths
Business 4 Science In ITSELF
The value Of well-matched teams over
carelessly matched, especially carriage
teams, ~ not generally given much in
telligeit thought: The matter was ve"y
clearly placed before me recently, says
NJ. L. Hines in National Stockman.
81 want to show you n Of a span OF
horses which I have purchased. IL you
have time now como around to b
stable. It's but a step" Thus spoke q
friend, a prosperous jeweler,. who has q
great love ION and good understanding
Of trotters u roadsters. Going to the
stable I wsst (own a grsndly built bay,
with straight back, clean limbs, a fine
head and beautiful black name and tail.
'If 1 can mate this fellow 1 can sell the
span for q thousand easily" said the
jeweler. ''But where Is his mate?
You said you had purchased a span"
I was then given q little lesson In
matched teams.
The span lii question had been ptir-
chased by d wealthy woman, whose
coachman knew nothing Of the art of
handling horses. The span were of the
bdulo WSiSnJ, bJCOu buO 'Sdnlc utIShos
and had the same black points. They
were called q well-matched span, but
they were not. The one possessed a
straight back; the others was inclined
to SWAY" One was four inches longer
from center of the breast to tail thar his
mate, and as for their heads they were
different in outline. Then the mate to
the one shown me was, previous to be-
ing matchedA driven single, and when
sold had not beer accustomed to the
double harness. The toachmai knew
so little of his business that he could no
make the horse keepih place. The horse
was cranky and nervous, and the natural
result was q runaway.
OF course after that the woman offered
the span for sale. She had paid 500 IN
cold cash for them and accepted of 'hs
jeweler $500 worth of diamonds for them.
He saw they we're poorly matched, and
sold the poorer n to a grocer for $3.50
and kept the better. He is now on the
lookout for a perfect mate, and as he
has a standing offer of 81, 900 for the
span, once he gets a satisfactory mate,
he can afford to pay $500 for such horse
and make n handsome profit.
Matching horses Is d science Of itself.
1t is not enough to get horses Of the
same general looks, If first-class prices
are wanted. It took a friend and myself
a year to find just the mate for a hand
some carriage horse. In the meantime
We saw hundreds Of animals Of which
fifty might have been selected that
would make fair mates. In matching,
the eye Of the true horsehan is suf-
ficient, but the inexperienced must de-
pend a good deal on the tape line. Meas
ure from the top Of the head to withers,
from this point to the top of the hips
and from here to the root of the tail.
Measure the length of the legs from
joint to joint, the length Of the head, the
distance between enrs and eyes, the cir
eumference of the body over the withers
and around the TANKS. Then measure
the distance to the ground from the top
of the head when elevated to its full cX-
tent, and don't forget to measure the
stride. After these measurements have
been satisfied see If the horses are
matched in gait. If not try to overcome
the difficulty, for that is an important
matter. Once get q pair well matched
and you will not hunt for a purchaser.