Evening star., 1905-11-07
ABUSE OF COLTS.
Big and Strong Horses That Are Only
Babies In Years.

Babies In Years.
From the Boston Transcript
How old is your horse?" writes C. H. p.
an expert. "and II you know. how do you
know it? Many horses are sold in our sale
stables and put into use by the purchasers
when altogether too young for the labor ex-
pected Of them. This is particularly the
case with those breeds that mature out
wardly faster than ordinary animals; they
stand up finely and move on grandly. but
are in reality only colts. The teamster or
coachman puts them to work alongside of
horses six or seven years old, and then
wonders why they soon lose flesh and ap-
pear Spiritless or become lame and break
down. The whole evil may be remedied by
a little knowledge of the tests of age The
usual method of ascertaining age in a
young horse is the examination of the
teeth. But files and emery cloth and alum
and manicure Instruments viii Work all
sorts of magical changes in the teeth, SO
that a colt of three may be made to show
the marks of five years, etc. But in the
case of the gray Norman-Per horses
breed very valuable as draft horses and
for heavy carriage and cab service-the
marks of age happen to be less liable to
fraudulent change. Here the color of the
animals is changed from birth to maturity
in an orderly manner. in such way that
an ordinary observer can read the record
of age at sight. My attention was called to
this fact by noticing one day black colt
following a white mare. Knowing the
owner of the mare. l spoke to him about
the matter, supposing that he had bought a
motherless colt somewhere after losing the
foal of his own animal
No., said Mr.. Haley, that colt IS my
mares own offspring.
THE next year the colt shed his hair In
the usual spring molting and came out with
a coat of very dark Steel-miXed hue
year later the molt was followed by a def
mite gray exceedingly dark and yet lighter
than the yearling colt At three years the
colt was as tall as the dam and began to
look quite evenly gray, with here and there
a suggestion of dapple; at four the dap
pies showed prettily and the animal was no
longer coltish in the least. Five years
smoothed out and whitened some OF the
dapples six showed few of them; at seven
a white horse was seen. with here and there
dots specks OF dark color. very few dap
pies remaining; but at eight the white was
interrupted only by number of faint pin
points, and at nine the horse was clear
white. This is the biography of one colt
to be sure. but it is characteristic of white
horses generally, especially of Percheroiis
Now we have our streets numbers or
large colts doing hard work, getting
strained spawned. chest-foundered, abused
for not performing their duty, when the
whole difficulty is false estimate Of their
age.
II have often spoken to teamsters re-
spectfully, calling their attention to the
color of such colt and pleading for gentle
would reply: I bought this horse for a five
year-oid Then he would receive kindly my
explanation to the development OF color
and size. and would corroborate my state
ment by some testimony as to the coltish-
ness of the animal The firms which deal
In horses are not disposed to take any part
in the fraudulent sale of horses. but their
agents, buyers in the west, are to blame Tor
not making more close scrutiny of animals
offered to them by farmers and jockeys.
STILL it seems to me that auctioneers, ac-
customed to see thousands Of horses in
year ought to be able to detect the colts
which are sent to them and ought to tell
their customers plainly that they cannot
guarantee that these animals are really old
enough for hard service; tell them they are
probably young and need to be handed
with care for while, but predict that they
will become very valuable II so treated Ihe
writer desires to call the attention OF all
who raise sell or buy horses to the danger
of inhumanity in this connection, and to In
form our merciful friends to be alert in OBJ
serving and prompt in calling attention OF
careless persons to this matter