Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1893-02-16
TR0TTING HORSES.
A Profitable Animal for Farmers
to Breed for Market Pur-
poses.
1t Will Perform Ordinary Labors
Well and Sell for a Good
Price.
The Most Popular Types and the
Adyisability OF Raising
the Best.

IoTe lLc Farmers institute. hc!(! al
Edna. Mo-. under the auspices Of the
Missouri State Board of Agriculture
in preparing this paper it was
my aim to divest the subject Of sentj.
mcnt, and to deal only with cold
facts. and in such a way that nv
hearers Tor those Of them who are less
acquainted with the subject than my
self, may arrive at what ! consider
aproper understanding of the merits
of the trotting horse as horse for
the farmer and stock-raiscr to breed
and rear, both for use on the farm
and as a profitable animal to offer
for sale in the horse markets of the
world.
Considering the subject from the
standpoint OF profitable production.
the American trotter is the most
profitable animal in which a farmer
can invest. The prime object Of the
farmer in breeding and rearing stock
OF the horse kind is to raise til. ami
mai which will best perform the or
binary labors OF the farm, and one
that will sell for most money on the
market The surplus must be dis
posed of. and IN breeding they should
strive TO produce an animal tina. will
sell readily. and for the best obtain
able price.
Now then. ] claim that the Amcri-
can trottcr in his present ligu state
of development, will perform the
laborS of any ordinary farmer in a
more satisfactory manner than any
other breed Of horses. lOf course. |
recognize the fact that COMPARISONS
are odious, but in an article of this
ctaractcrat is necessary t" draw com
PARSONS, and ! shall do 81. nopinr
that no person will take otiense at
what ! say. Ii any one desires To
discuss the matter the field is open
and the right of free speech is guar
antccd.
The reason why the trtyttin. horse
is best fittcd for ordinary farm work
Is this: lie is happy incan between
two extremes. On the one hand we
have the draft horse, a large. coarse.
un"ield,y animal that has for manly
years been bred in the direction o!
size and weight at the expense of
other qualities more desirable. viz:
Power o. endurance, quality Of bone
and muscle, action, style and finish.
These mountains Of fat with their
spongy bone, watcry joints and blue
eyes, haHc been for some years i'm
ported into this country from their
native lands and sold To certain
class OF ,credulous breeders at ridic-
ulously large prices. JGsst think OF
a man paying $1,000 for stallion.
the very best of whose get lie cannot
hope To realizeover $500 for afte, rear
ing and maturing the animals.
On the other hand We have the
thoroughbred, who. while he possess
'es style. iiniSh. action and endurance.
lacks size and possesses disposition
not just the correct thing on a
farm or in inideal road ster, driving
horse or horse of all work, but / will
say here that the trotting horse has
drawn manyuf his admirable quail
ties from the thoroughbred.
Today the type of the tfotting
horse is becoming, in fact has be-
come, a fixed type, and like tAe thor
oughbred will reproduce himself.
with uniformity, and as lie is the
best horse for all work in existence,
let me.see if ] cam draw pen picture
Of him:
He lis a horse fifteen hands two
inches or sixteen hands in height,
weighing from 1880 to 1000 pounds,
either bay, black, brown or chestnut
in color, well rounded, closely ribbed
up body, set upon tapering legs,
whose muscles are dense and hard.
possessing a bony structure, liberal
but noteourse. with prominent joints,
Oh nEiU CoeSuiiSi W VScduASulS ODdC
feel and wear like hinges of Damascus
steel, a clean. bony head set upon a
long graceful neck: add to this the
speaking hazel eye, the flowing main
and tail and the pictureis complete
Such a horse as this, possessing a
kind disposition and able to go down
the road at 300 minute clip will
bring more money on the market and
will do more work on the farm than
a team Of the common mongrels that
are being produced by breeders of
draft, coach and other foreign breeds.
There are people, no doubt, who
will say that such horse is not pro-
duced with regularity by any family
or breed of horses. To these people
l will say, that all they have to do
is to investigate the matter and they
will find that am not mistaken. If.
it were necessary l could name a
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