The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-12-23
Shall the Farmers Raise Colts.

W. G. lockwood, Michigan, writes
the Country Gentleman on this subject:
A want" in one of our farm pa
pers recently read like this:
WANTED. "A Gelding, 15l hands, weight
1850 or thereabouts; high life, yet not
afraid of steam or electric cars; perfectly
sound, young, kind add true, able and will.
ing to pull a doctors wagon with two men
at a good pace. For such an animal good
sum will be paid.
This may not be repetition, word
for word, of the advertisement, but the
principal points are correct. Now, the
price which such horse would COM
mand no doubt would buy several of
the average horses found alb out the
country, and on the face of it, it would
seem that as long as it is Il fact that the
right kind of horses still bring good
prices, it would pay farmers 10 breed
them. In fact l have heard men say
that very thing: " Why do not you
farmers raise the class of horses which
the city wants, and get good prices for
them?"
The matter stands thua: How many
colts should we have to raise before
one was obtained which would bring
any unusual price? No matter how
careful the breeding, the result is not
always a colt which will develop into
the kind of horse wanted by the doc
tor above quoted. There are serious
drawbacks to be met with in this line.
1t sounds easy enough, but the truth is
that horse breeding is very uncertain
business, even with men who thor
oughly understand it. How then can
the average farmer expect to succeed?
In the first place, after the colt is bred
and born, the battle is only just begun.
To be well born is much, but great
deal depends on development, on train
ing. Then the colt needs better care
and be ter handling than the majority
of farmers can give it. There are
other demands on the time, and even if
this were not so, the average farmer is
perfectly ignorant of the proper method
of handling and training colt for best
results. 1t is trade in itself, and it is
imperatively necessary that novice
should not undertake the work.
| can see another obstacle in the
path, too. The horse must not be
afraid of electric or steam cars. Most
country bred horses are afraid of these,
and considerable time and labor are
needed to accustom these horses to city
sights and sounds. The farmer trying
TO train bis young horse will find he
has quite job on his hands, before it
will meet an electric or steam car with
out fear. His other work would be
quite likely to suffer for want of atten-
ton while he was devoting himself to
the task.
There is class of men who might do
well at this business, | thnk--men who
instinctively understand horses. They
love to care for them and train them.
They are natural born veterinarians,
also, and can treat ailments as well as
regular practitioner. They delight in
putting the colt through his PAGES; they
vie with the jockey on the track; they
understand getting the very best out of
their horses. These men can train a
colt, perhaps, so that, provided they
have the right one to begin with, they
can make some money at it. But for
the average farmer to attempt it is
great mistake, according to my way of
thinking. 1t will cost him more than
he can get out of it, nine times out Of
ten. 1t sounds easy; we have all seen
and heard the advice. Breed good,
common mares to horses of the right
kind, and there you have it. 1t is as
easy as falling off log to read about it;
it is not 30 easy as it looks to be.
The farmer may possibly succeed in
getting the colt, but it will have to go
into the hands of trainer before it can
command anything like fancy price,
no matter what it's merit; and it is a
well-known fact that not the farmer
who raises it but the man who buys it
of him, fits for the third person, and
disposes of it again, is the one who gets
the fancy figure at which the right kind
of road horses sell. 1t is The middle
man again, not the farmer, who resps
the reward of his labors.