The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-01-12
LIVE STOCK
n DRIVING r

Some Of you will prefer to breed the
horse for light harness, because there
is a get up and get there" about him
which is the very complement Of your
own nature. You a make money
out of him. Some times l think, says
Roger Crane in Ohio Farmer, a man
can make more money breeding and
raising light harness horses than any
other kind. They are certainly easier
to take care of than the heavy fellows.
They are not SO often foaled dead.
There are q number of subdivisions of
this type. Nearly all are capable of
doing ordinary farm work. The Nor
gan horses of Illinois are liked the best
by the farmers there for general use.
They are solid, blocky built, fellows
with a good deal Of nerve force and
snap. And then, too, they possess, in
a marked degree, the ability Of taking
care of themselves, which cannot be
said of the heavy breeds. But it is
difficult to get the Morgan tall enough
for the present demand. The popular
ity of the Hackney horse, however, is
going to help the Morgan horse breed
ing business, for, after all, your Eng
lishman's horse ranges from IA to 153
hands and there are a lot of people in
every city who like the Hackney rather
small, II or 144 hands. This will have
it's effect on the Morgan, for there is
very little difference between the con-
formation of the two, and if anything,
the Morgan is a trife the smoother.
However, the regular demand is for
a horse of size and substance, ranging
from ISL to 16 hands, and the solid col
oIs are desired mostly. How can we
best produce this kind of animaI9 If
you have a we'll bred trotting mare, you
may patronizs the French coach stall
lion, and the foal will be all that can
be desired. The French Coach horse
has a number OF points of excellence.
He has length, depth and motion. He
can elevate has head without an over
draw check. And that reminds me of
the difference between the coach teams
in Cleveland and Chicago. In the
former city no coach team is ever seen
refined up. The horses go with their
heads free in the finest mounted har
ness and in the incest and most expen
sive coaches. But in Chicago the rein
is used-every kind of rein, the gag,
the overdraw check and others. /
like the Cleveland fashion the better.
In fact, it is the very best thing In the
world to drive q coach team free as to
their heads. But horses, to carry up
well, then, must be trained. The rein
must be used in their training and the
whip also, and they must be trained
and drilled until they catch the idea
that to carry the head up is as import
ant as to parade with the front paws
But il you have an ordinary farm
mare and wish to breed a modern Ii hit
harness horse with snap and go and
sizs and substance, go to the big, well
bred American trOtter. He breeds the
best type of roadster or driver from
the cold blooded dam. The Wilkes
horses are the smoothest over the hips,
the back and the loine. There are
many Wilks, furthermore, which breed
extraordinary large, notably the sons
OF Red Wilkes and Onward. Why, I
have a crop of weanlings this year by
q son of Red Wilkes, out of a line Of
thoroughbred producing dams, ali cut
Of dams Is 3 to 16 hands, which are
larger than most yearliDgs. These colts
have length, breadth, deep, good bone
and plenty of substance. / never felt
better over any crop of colts which 1
have bred. 1 want you to raise this
kind and be as heppy as 1 am in seeing
them grow, develop and perform.
These colts make the typo of horses
which the foreigners buy for exporta
ton. They make horses big enough
for any use.
But there is also a place for the
smaller driving horse, provided you
can breed pairs. There are still a great
many gentlemen in the cities Of our
own country who like to drive glib.
stepping, smallish, smooth pairs.
bought three pairs the other day that
would make any mans eye water
blacks, as black as midnight. I bought
them of one of the men who has fol.
lowed my advice in breeding horses
for profit. Said . 70 him, not long ago;