The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-08-26
THE kAIsER's HORSES.
Picks Thirty From State Stud Every
Year as Royal Perquisite.

From the Washington Post
Emperor William Is probably the most
magnificently horsed monarch In Chris
tendon. This is due to the fact that as
King of Prussia he has a right to select
free of cost each year as his royal per-
quisite thirty of the finest horses-that
is to say the pick of the flock, from
the state stud at Trakehnen. The latter
is national institution of world-wide
fame, upon which the government ever
since the days of Frederick the Great has
lavished enormous sums
Every year some of the finest horses
on the English, the French and the Amer
lean turf are purchased, we'll nigh regard
less of cost. and are carried Off to this
huge breeding farm of the German cav
airy The stations selected have always
been those in which speed and weight
carrying capacity are united in the high
est possible degree, the result being that
, after nearly 200 years the Trakehnen has
become one of the finest breeds In tho
world Every year, In the month of May
the 4-year-olds are distributed among the
auxiliary, or secondary, stud farms of
Prussia not however, before the Emper-
or's master of the horse has had his pick
of the finest thirty.
1t is this constant addition to his
stables without cost to himself, that rem
; ders 1t necessary for the Kaiser to sell
each spring the surplus stock of his own
stables in order to make room for the
newcomers. 1t is as well to explain this,
since these clearance sales of the royal
stables at Berlin have excited a good
deal of criticism, some people blaming the
Emperor for thus Riding himself of faith
full equine servants entitled to a restful
old age; while others have assumed that
these sales indicated that the Kaiser
was too hard on his horses and quickly
wore them out. Neither of these insinua-
lions Is, therefore. Just. inc Kaiser has
not room for more than a certain num-
Der of horses In his stables, Is obliged
to make room for the new batch of thirty
that arrive from Trakehnen each May
and naturally gets rid of the inferior ma
terial, retaining only the very best. In
fact, there Is a perpetual process of Sc
lection and elimination going on.
A feature of these Trakehnen horses of
the Kaiser Is their extraordinary doeility.
That spirit of subordination to authority
which dominates all things living In Ger
many operates on the colt from its BIRTH
You can enter a field at Trakehnen In
which hundred 3-year-old stations are
running free watched by a mounted herd
err and although stranger you may
walk in the midst OF them, pat them on
the nose or flank, and they will show
themselves as gentle as sheep. To achieve
such result prizes are offered to those
herds whose horses show the most con-
fiding disposition on the approach Of man.
In order to promote this quality 1t is made
a rule that each day the colts are to be
stroked by the hand, their feet raised
and In other ways so streated as to
make them thoroughly familiar with their
future masters.
Trakehnen is situated In the eastern
most portion of Prussia and the property
is about ten miles In one direction and
stretches seven miles in the other II was
the father of. Frederick the Great who
first pitched upon the place and who con-
verified the swamp, over which the moose
roamed wild, into the finest pasture land
In Germany OF course, the least favor
able feature about Trakehnen is its geo.
graphical position with regard to Russia.
and as a matter of fact II has three
times been exposed to capture by inya-
sion from across the eastern frontier but
on each occasion the officials In charge
the Trakehnen stud farm have been
able to escape with all the animals in
their charge.
Within drive from Trakehnen Is Ro-
minten. the favorable hunting retreat of
the Kaiser, forests well stocked with wild