Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-13
ABUSE OF COLTS.
Big and Strong Horses That Are Only
Babies in Years.

From the Boston Transcript.
How old is your horse" writes C. H. P,
an expert. land If 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
expected 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 spirdtless 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 will work all
sorts of magical changes In the teeth 50
that colt of three may be made to show
the marks of five years. etc. But in the
case of the gray Norman-Percheron horses
"a breed very valuable as draught 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 ma
turfty in an orderly manner, in such way
than an ordinary observer can read the
record Of age at sight. My attention was
called to this fact by noticing one day a
black colt following white mare Know
ing the owner OF the mare. spoke to him
about the matter, suppoSing that he had
bought motherless colt somewhere after
losing the foal Of his own animal.
No. said Mr.. Haley, that colt is my
mares own offspring
1.-THE next year the colt shed his hair In
the usual spring molting and came out with
coat Of very dark steel-mixed hue A
year later the mott was followed by def
mite gray, exceedingly dark and yet lighter
than the yearlfng coat. At three years the
colt was as tall as the dam and began to
look quite evenly gray, with here and there
suggestion Of a dapple; at four the dap
pies showed prettily and the animal was
no longer colttsh In the least Five years
smoothed out and whitened some of the
dapples; six showed few of them. at seven
white horse was seen. with here and
there dots. specks of dark color, very
few dapples 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 characteris-
tic of white horses generally, especially
of Percherons. Now we have on our streets
numbers of 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 Transfers respect
fully. calling their attention to the color
OF such a colt and pleading for gentle treat
ment. In most instances the man would
reply, bought this horse for five-year-
old Then he would receive kindly my
explanation as 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 for
not making more close scrutiny of animals
offered to them by farmers and jockeys.
Still, 1t seems to me that auctioneers, ac-
customed to see thousands of horses in a
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 handled
with care for while. but predict that they
will become very valuable II so treated
The writer desires to call the attention of
all who raise. sell or buy horses to the dam
ger OF inhumanity In this connection, and to
inform our merciful friends to be alert in
observing and prompt in calling attention
Of careless persons to this matter.