Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1893-05-06
PROFITABLE BREEDING.

Western Hurseman. Few horses
have produced a sensational trotter or
PAGER and the many failures to produce
speed, or even good road horse, would
exclude them from what might be
termed profitable stock horse or bread
winner, for while the owner of the SEN
sational colt is winning fame and mon
ey the owners of the next twenty are
spending their hard earned shekels try
ing to develop colts that will never go
fast enough to earn anything hut dis
appointments, and will not be good
road horses nor sell for half their cost
10 the markets Of today.
Now take an equally well bred sire of
commanding size and appearance. with
fine action and the power to reproduce
himself, but who fails to get q sensa-
tional trotter, but gets some good race
horses, and all tout of good sized mares)
fine roadsters and carriage horses, that
do not require training to make them
sell at good prices and better average,
at less than half the expense of the
first named twenty.
We live in a progressive age and can
not go back to the days Of Hambelton-
ian, George Wilkes, AEdallah Is, etc.,
as that would be like going back to the
days Of the old fllnt-lock musket. 1t is
the demand of today we have to deal
tho
doing service the trostiDg horse was lit
tie thought of and only patronized by
few, and with poor success. The idea
of supplying the worlds markets with
horses for nearly all purposes never en-
tered The breeders minds, but as time
passes the interest in speed increases
and prejnd;ces decrease until it hecumes
business sufficiently respectable for
men IL all stages of life to engage in,
aud thousands began to turn their at
tentiOn in that direction, and the few
breeders of the trotter at that time
Were not slow to recognize this fact aud
the standard fake was launched soon
after ia their especial interest, and was
worked upon the beginners in the
breeding business throughout the
country with great success, and the
machiue shops Of standard bred colts
were kept running to their fullest Ca
pacity without any regard to the quail
ity of colts they turned out, and they
were left entire without regard to trans
missable defects, and distributed all
over the country, where they have been
extensively patronized at the expense
of we'll bred non standard horses ten
times better adapted to procure such
horses as the general public demanded
That sort of breeding has been kept up
until the country has been flooded with
what is called culls, and these culls are
about three-fourths of the whole, and
there are about fifty buyers for every
first-class roadster, mare and gelding in
the country.
This result has bsen brought about
by breeding for speed alone and lack of
thought as to the results in case of speed
failures, and the failures are SO many
that few men can stand the losses, and
l predict that the mares bred this year
will not be over half as many as last
year.
When few rich men were breeding
the trotter for speed only it did not
make so much difference, but since the
American trotter has become 80 popular
that every breeder thinks he must
breed to trotting bred horses, and few
men keep anything else, the markets
of the country have been supplied from
the trotting and pacing ranks, which
the past style of breeding has complete
ly failed to do and we are now con-
froDted with the question: "Is the
trotting bred horse failure?"
The last winters sales and the lack
of suitable horses to supply the demand
would indicate that they are failure.
The results on the tracks for the past
two years indicate success, and IL speed
WAS the only requirement 1t would be
great success. But when tine trotting
horse is required to fill all places other
essentials have to be looked after.
A few years ago the handsome horse
was mol expected to trot, but the idea
has exploded, as well as the idea that
large horses cannot be race horses.
Many of the best horses out last year
were good sized horses, and the fact
that Nancy Hanks trOtted a little fast
er last year than Martha Wilkes was
permitted to trot does not signify that
she is better horse off the turI or as
for road use.
The finly bred trotting stallion of
good slze aud commanding appearance,
possessing the qualities desired in q
horse for light harness or carriage, and
for farm work, has an equal chance to
produce speed as small horse of the
same blood. and II neither produces
speed the small horse Is a failure and
the large horse a success, and with him
Il