The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1894-05-11
A MODEL HORSE PASTURE.
THE GERMAN EMPERoR'S STUD
FARM AT TRAKEHNEN.
A Swamp Converted Into the Richest
Pasture Land I'm Cermany-Care
of the Young Horses.

" EXTRAORDINARY pains are
~ taken in Germany with the
breeding of cavalry horses,
and most of this work, ac-
cording to an article in Harpers
Magazine ON emperor Williams
Stud Farm and Hunting Forest" is
still carried on near the little town OF
Trakehuen, on the eastern frontier OF
Prussia, where Frederick the Great
established q great stud farm. In 1913
the Prussian Crown made present OF
these estates to the Government on
condition that each year the King
should be allowed to choose thirty
horses for his private use. 1t Is per-
haps unnecessary to say that those Sc
lected are not the worst in the stud.
The secret of Trakehnen's fame as
hors Jreeding place is the fact that
it is irrigated in every direction IN
such manner that the grass Is rich
and sweet to an extraordinary extent.
The soil, too, is most favorable-deep
and spongy. When it was originally
selected for the purpose it was nothing
better than a vast swamp over which
the moose rosmed wild, as he still
roams in q circumscribed section OF
the Baltic shores near the mouth of
the Memel River. The father of Fred
erick the Great was capital farmer,
and had a good eye for horses as well.
He converted this swamp into the
richest pasture land OF Germany,
where even to-day one cannot dig two
feet without striking water. In winter
the meadows are flooded, and only the
most careful irrigation preserves them
in GOOD condition for the balance OF
the wear. There are no fences any
where upon the estate, which stretches
about nine miles in one direction and
three or four in the other, and. were
the horses less docile than they are, it
would seem an easy thing for them to
get lost many times in the year.
Major Won Franlenberg (the super
intendent) has an enormous admira'
ton for this particular horse, and as
he goes to England every year for the
purpose of selecting thoroughbreds,
and has visited the stud-farms Of near
ly every country in the world, 1t IS
fair to conclude that his feelings are
| not the result of bias.
| But" said he, 81 insist on one IN
! dispensable condition 49, our horse
must not be used until he is six years
old. He must be allowed to get his
growth and seasoning before using.
We made a great mistake in 1870
in permitting many young horses, as
young as four years Of age, to come
into thearmy. They nearly all broke
down. and in the long run were a
source of great loss to us-far beyond
Their cost. With proper food and
treatment, however, l will back INN
against any horse ! know.
All the youHg horses are carefully
rubbed clean and inspected every day,
the brush and currycomb being used
in cleaning. During this process the
Young colts are tied, but when three
or four wears old they stand quietly
enough and enjoy it. In order to IN
sure docility on the part Of these AMI
mails it is made q rule that each day
the colts are to be stroked with the
hand. their feetraised- other words,
treated in such a way as to make them
familiar with their future masters.
1t would seem as though the rich
succulent grass produced by the pas
lures would be enough food for these
Young animals, but the Major said
that they did better when they received
two portions of outs a day, once III
the morning and again at noon, but
never at night
One evening the Major took us to
see the horses called home from the
pasture. They came in troops OF
hundreds, and gathered in large en-
closures facing the stables, or rather
the large spaces in which they all
spent the night in common, IN groups
of one hundred or less. These pad
docks were formed by planting rail-
way sleeperS Oh Gnu ~ 'ii'-
connected by gas.pipes-a very simple
and economical arrangement. Here
the young horses are exercised in the
winter when 1t would be unsuitable
to them out in the snow. They SC
round and round in ring under the
eye of the groom.
On the occasion of our visit [
noticed that the main body divided IT.
self according to color--the blacks
going to one corner, the browns to an
other, the bays to third; OF whites
or grays l saw no specimens. Here
and there would be one who had mis-
taken his corner, or was seeking for
hidden company out of deviltry. Tho
keeper had no difficulty in bringing
81. !, v.,,s I,