Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-06-25
Hard Horse Sense.

or may personally fancy small horses,
but as he cannot cash his own fancy
he should forego his own likes, if he
is breeding for q profit, and equip
himself for the production of that
which the public fancies. Many
breeders fancy ground creepers"
and detest what they call "pile driv-
ers"-knee actors-but the facts re-
main thai the next best selling quail
ty to extreme speed is plenty of knee
action, and hook action as well. OIL
course, excessive action is objection
able in speed horses-extreeIne speed
horses-but even breeders of speed
must expect to sell number of hors-
es for other than extreme speed where
he sells one on that quality alone.
tally the smaller breeders, are too
derelict in the use of their horses;
they too often confine their work to
the track, apparently regarding them
as too valuable for other use. This
is great mistake. The farmer breed
er should use his undeveloped speed
horses freely in his knocking
around" trips over the country and
even in his light farm work, as there
by he will develop many valuable
traits and qualities without having
to pay the trainer for doing it. Road
horses are seldom made on the track,
while race horses ARE often very
largely made on the road, and selling
qualities are more often made on the
road than elsewhere. A truly salable
horse, as the public now size him up,
is an accomplished equine, and breed
ers and owners who can and do most
correctly ''sjzs up" public demands
are ones who get the milk of the
cocoanut."
In breeding, raising and educating
horses for use on the road in the large
cities--our best market at all times
it is well to remember that while
speed is always an element Of value,
not all users of fancy roadsters want
customers for good looks and pleas
ant road qualities to one for extreme
speed, and not only this, but as
mattersof fact, the average price for
the former kind is quite as high as
for the latter. Indeed, the highest
averages of prices are reached at the
auction sales of pairs and choice sin.
gle drivers in which speed is not a
feature, horses ranging from Is to 16
hands high, end possessing finish,
style, docility, good behavior and
attractive characteristics society
horses" readily selling all the way
from $500 to $1,000. The average
breeder could produce more of such
horses If a little more care was taken
In selecting sires and dams and in
properly growing and educating the
produce. They fare not mere acci-
dents or freaks, but appear through
perfectly natural channels. Entirely
too little attention is given to the
careful growing of the colt and the
proper education of the horse at ma.
turity. Every farmer knows that he
must keep his pigs and calves in good
growing condition and at maturity
properly prepare them for market if
he expects them to bring him profit,
but it is astonishing how many breed
ers allow their colts to hustle and
old enough to sell, rush them off to
market in the rough, and then grum-
BILE because they do not realize good
prices. The quality of the horse at
maturity depends quite as much on
the feed and care received while
growing up as does the. quality of
pigs and calves, and makes q much
larger relative difference in value.
One colt, we'll grown, developed and
properly fitted for market, will net
greater profit than half dozen that
are indifferently reared and sold in
the rough"
The above editorial is amply en-
phasized by recent sales. Dozens of
horses with records below 2:2O have
sold In the neighborhood of the two
hundred dollar mark, while the high
stepping fine lockers brought the big
money. At the Boston sale, after
several with records in the teens had
brought only a song, Hoods McGreg-
or, s::26s, with too much knee action
for race horse brought $11s5 for
hessv harness. Now that is the
point, the McGressenrs have the Ac-
TIoN which sells to the rich buyers.
The biggest stallion of the McGregor
tribe and the one with the finest ac-
ton for HEAVY HARNESS, which
means the carriages of the rich, is the
horse right at your door, Beg Nc:
Gregor, 2;294. A horse that but for
excessive action would step a mile
mighty close to the two minute mark.
However, it is the knee actors that
sire great race horses as we'll as sell
lers for heavy harness.
These facts are being recognized
by the most intelligent and success
full breeders Of this section. Mr.. A.
Noodle, of Canton, who swept the
boards at our State and County Fairs
with his grand old horse MORGAN
MAC and progeny, bred an elegant
daughter of the old prize winner to
Bay McGregor in '96 and returned
her with O cracker-jack foal at foot
this spring. He offered me from his
well filled pocket book $75 for the
foal of one of my brood mares, flly
six weeks old. Though this sum
would buy several common foale, I
felt justified IN declining it and my
reasons can be asesrtained by inquir-
ing at the Fillmore County Bank OF
the size of the checks and drafts for
sales recently made in New York,
Pennsylvania. and other states. NV
patrons as a rule do not wish pub.
licity and am not in the habit OF
publishing the prices they pay, but
1t seems needful to check in some way
the foolish waste of time and money
breeding stock that cannot be sold at
q profit. I hold that 1t is ONLY q con.