Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1902-03-29
THE BRANDED r
imported Sires Are Now Being Used
Exclusively on the Range.


Chicago Drovers Journal: The usual
Idea associated with western branded
| horses is the mustang, cayuse or bron-
| cho, which a decade ago were distributed
through the western states In car lots
and train load c~onsignments. They were
small, difficult to break and never filled
a public want i'm the national industries.
They were offered everywhere In almost
countless numbers until their values fell
below the cost of transportation. feed.
commissions and incidental expenses or
sale. Ranchmen who were burdened with
myriads of these nondescript horses, with
no demand for them, began a campaign
Of determination. Canneries were equipped
and thousands of them found a sale I'm
the markets Of the old world as horse
beef. Their ranks were decimated by
wolves and mountain ions and they were
Iuthlessly slaughtered as worthless In
cumbrances OF the ranges. The process
of depletion has nearly exterminated the
cayuse which featured the markets a dec
ade ago.
While the western ranges are admir-
ably adapted to producing excellent
horses, stockers realize that only classi-
fed grades are now profitable to breed.
The almost record prices of cattle and
sheep has created a demand for the
ranges that. has accelerated tho extirpa-
ton OF the old-time western broncho.
While horses are still being bred In vast
numbers I'm Montana, Idaho, Utah. Wyo-
ming, Oregon and Washington, the types
conform TO the commercial market horse.
Imported coach stations, registered trot-
ting-bred sires and the best imported
draft stations are now being used by all
the progressive breeders, and the horses
from the ranges now approximate In
qaulity the equines OF domestic breeding.
unquestionabiy the soil, water. grasses,
climate and natural topography OF the
western range country Is admirably
adapted 10 raising horses Of the best
type, possessing heavy bone, good feet
and extra constitutional vigor. The ex-
perience OF farmers in the Mississippi
valley who have used the grade draft an
imals of the ranges Is eminently favorable
10 the ranch system OF breeding.
In the grade draft animal Of semi
domestic breeding the results attained at
some Of the experimental stations indi-
cate that the best age for ranchers TO dis
pose OF their surplus is in the yearling
or 2-year-old form. The youngsters are
then easily handled and become thor
oughly domesticated by the time they
reach maturity and make "A docile and eff
hcicnt workers as states bred horses. If
the industry were conducted on the basis
of marketing the foals in their yearling
or 2-year-old forms, ii would obviate the
necessity of branding the animals, and
eastern handlers who maturcd and fin
ishcd the horses for the market would
practically be able TO get the prices Of
domcstic-bred horses Of their class I'm the
wholesale markets. Such a system Of
breeding would enable the western ranch
men TO keep more brood mares, and as
his products acquired q reputation among
consumers his surplus would command
strong prices. a few extensive ranchmen
own large farms in the east. where quar-
tiers have been specially fitted up for
breaking range horses. But experiments
demonstrate that eastern dealers and
consumers prefer the western horse when
matured amid the environments by which
1t is TO be surrounded during its natural
service. If ranchmen could dispose of
their yearling and 2-year-old foals around
the normal value of domestic-bred ami
mails OF the same breed, size and quality,
there ought TO be large profits In the
range horse industry.