Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-11-21
HORSES AT A SACRIFICE.
Unluoky Ranchers in the Far North
west.
Thousands of Fine Young PercherOns
Go Begging Mt SI2 Per Head
South Dakota Stock Farms.

zone part Of the west has seen new in
dustry pretty well nipped in the bud this
fall" said a prominent South Dakotian yes
terday at Wizards.
"You may have heard" he went on, 'how
our COW capitalists some years ago began
to sell out in disgust and go into horse
ranching Well, they did just that thing.
1t got so they couldn't pay out even on the
finest kind of Montana and Black Hills
steers, some of them the very best grade
Herefords and shorthorns. They sold off
their herds at whatever loss the market
inflicted and went into horse ranching,
which then promised as well as cattle dill
fifteen years ago. They sent to France for
French draft and Percheron stations and
bought broken down street car mares in
Chicago, st. Paul, and Kansas City by the
carload at very low figures, caused not only
by their used-up condition. but by the gen.
eral introduction of electric cars. These
mares taken to the Dakota's and Montana
quickly got in good physical condition and
founded good breeding ranches. The aver
age street car horse is good for eight or
ten years service on a ranch or farm
and a mare put out to grass and never
harnessed is sure to have a colt every year
for seven or eight years and herself i'm
prove right along.
Capital From the East.
WELL those horse ranches attracted capt.
tai from the east and good many New
Workers came out into our country and
went at 1t. They bought up thousands of
acres for winter pasture, built big shelter
barns and sheds. arranged to put up hun
dreds of tons of hay as insurance against
our awful billiards and hired high-priced
superintendent to boss things and sit Up
nights with foaling mares and weakened
colts. Some bought standard stations and
pedigreed mares and carried on little side
show effort to produce another Allerton or
Palo Alto. This part OF IL has proba Oily
paid full as well as the other branch of the
investment. There is still fair market for
fine horses, especially roadsters and hand
some coach animals. The breeding part OF
the enterprise succeeded admirably. No
body could complain of our pure, dry
plateau air and abundant pasturage. A
horse can run out the year through and be
as fat in spring as If stall fed. No race of
horses ever did so much work on grass as
the Indian pony, and the Sioux always had
an abundance of good ponies. Now and
then they looked pretty bad after an I'M
usually snowy and cold winter. But no
horse on an Illinois or Ohio pasture could
begin to keep as well as ponies and ranch
horses in our country on the raw prairie.
LAS I said, they had no trouble breeding
and the returns in animals were all that
the widest dreams could imagine. This
autumn the three and four-year-old colts
came on the market. All the fall a stream
of horses has been pouring through my
town pierre the capital of the peerless
South Dakota. You see, we call our state
peerless and North Dakota Pierreless) Be-
tween 5000 and 1900 horses have passed
| through that town in the last sixty DAYS.
There are 1900 corraled there now in con-
sequence of dead fiat market.
Colts at q Sacrifice.
"What became of the horses that went on
! to Omaha, st. Paul and Chicago?"
II don't know precisely. 1 only know that
the results were so discouraging that the
tide of horsefiesh suddenly stopped and the
price of hay doubled in our country in a
day. Just before left home the owner of
the 1900 colts held up there offered the en-
tire herd for So head and could not get a
buyer. Just think of it! Fine. stocky Per-
cheron and French draft stock, all half
bloods at least, some better than that, at ST.
apiece! These colts would average 1000
pounds in weight and the majority were
| from LOO to 100 pounds. The Percheron
grade will not grow as big as he does in
Illinois with civilized care. The pony con-
ditions of the plains show in a stunted
frame The animal may be fat and strong,
| but Will not weigh up with his barn-raised
cousin in the Mississippi valley.
You can go into that herd at Pierre today
and have your pick of the lot for $40. Any
color under the sun can be had, and some of
the finest matched teams you ever saw could
| be mated up there at from $50 to $50 a team,
These would be horses that in a carriage OF
coupe in Washington would be held at SIS
| to $3.50 apiece There are over a score OF
! teams to be had in that bunch of colts that
! in right hands would bring $500 here"
"Of counse, those colts are raw. Not one
! probably ever had a halter on 1t. They are
! driven by cowboys just as steers would be-
Yet they are not wild. They are as dociie
| and breakable as any colts you ever saw
What on earth is to become of the draft
| horse market, ] can't see. When YOU can
| buy good pillow or dray team for So there
| Is no use of raising horses to sell. That is
| practically raising them to give away
Counting the cost of the mother at an aver
age price of s15. the interest on her value is
dollar a year; her care during the year
| with each foal, represents at least another
| dollar: the interest on value of the stations
connected with one of those horse ranches
and the care and use of them add at least
two dollars to the cost of each colt and the
care of the colt for four years is al least a
dollar a year. There you have IS of cost in
each colt, without taking into account in
surance of barns, original cost of winter
pasture lands, fencing, the percentage OF
colts and mares lost by DEATH or of trans.
portation to market which, on that herd al
Pierre, counting travel and feed for coo
miles of travel in three months, could not
have been less than dollar for each ami.
NAL.
| Anybody can have horse nowadays II
he can feed it. The probability is more PEG.
pie will own and drive their own carriag
| horses AS result there will be more fod.
Ger farming and farmers i'm the east will get
a little better prices for corn, oats and hay