The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1908-05-01
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MAJ. BURKE FAVOES BREEDING
OF WILD HORSES.

TTienO OF 0QIfalO Dill BELIEVES G~VsrN
ment Is Making Mistake in Order
ing Shooting Of Nevada
Herds.
New York-"I see that the govern
ment has instructed the rangers on
in Nevada to shoot all the wild horse!
in Lander county," commented al
Burke, who says he raised Buffalo
Bill (Col. William F. Cody). and VIII:
claims to know more about horses c
the plains than any man in this coun
try. II believe that is mistake.' II:
major continued. "Out on the Toel,
abe, the Taquima and the Kouitor r.
serves it is estimated that there A..
between $4,000 and 10000 wild kors y.
aid there is no doubt that they {.
lots of harm to the forests. and r.
they are menace to herds of t.
horses, but it is safe to say that til
are some horses among those ii,
wild fellows that are worth saying !;
breeding purposes.
"You take a herd Of we'll br~,-o.
horses and turn them loose where r.
wild ponies can get to them and y2:.
broken horses will be missing noy
morning. No matter how tame a + cr@
is he becomes demoralized after !,
has had a chat with one Of thCs;
shaggy little fellows who has neve
'nown the touch Of mans hand Til:
q 90 IN ho ntof
the forestry by the wild ponies d>o3;
amount to much. If they wou',; IL.
stop Turing off the man-hand.ed he
here wouldn't be any kick frc.l (
forestry commission.
'The best horse I ever saw in US
life was wild stallion. He r''a~'"'
at TIE head of herd out in Z "
homa, in the early SOS. He was s..
white, and there wasn't a Eo's~ t +:
could held a candle to him w',cn VI
would get after the herd ard t~v
round them up. We used to e..
that stallion in relays, following r -
about the plains for days. He Sc 80
never to tire, and he had speed that NJ
"A couple of years before thu c':':;;
ing of Oklahoma territory some T.: ::
boys got together and determine? +
catch that stallion. They chased :.
in relays for two days, and item :,
was as fresh as he was W.: IN -
started after him. After the frs :.
tours the mares and colts we're all g.
:; = :sted, with the exception of one :
''e bay devil, yearling. This c.
AN with the white horse, and the j.
naarhable thing was that he kept p:
with him.
"0ne of the cowboys on fire.;
pony got the old horse off his bea+~
path by a clever move and turnc:l
head toward a ranch which was wir
in. The horse plunged against one -"
tie barbs and cut his throat as h
ell. bleeding to death, but game
The last. The cowboy then roDed I'll,
colt All CT us agreed that the sta
Zen was a perfect piece Of hCr3efcs!:
a-d for q time we we're trying to hay
"iH stuffed and put on exhibition
*;tn Fran cisco. Some way the sche;1'
81 through, and I have always be-.
sorry for so perfect a horse shoa~
have been preserved.
THAT cowboy made fortune out c
that bay colt. When the territory wa
opened by the government two year
later, and there was such a rush Q
sooners for desired land, one piece c
property in a valley about Is mile
from the start was particularly GOV
e+"'. That bay pony had race VT
about 200 other horses for the land
BIZ: he won out easily.
- alter this pony was bought by on
aggregation and he was the mcst s.?
81 lie and the fastest horse we eve
owned. Five or six years ago age be
gan telling on Oklahoma-tbat's VIII;
we called him-and he was sold wit
nr7lber Of other horses that had ou}
lived their usefulness to U.s. A Jerse
City baker bought Oklahoma and til
last we heard of him he was DRAWN
delivery wagon through the street
IVA t1ClO liz Wdo C0 SoOCu d uCllt
cry horse as he had been at punching
cattle or making record long distanc
races
"Tbat's the sort of horses that ca
be got from some of those $4,000 O
10000 ponies that are to be shot on
in Nevada. I'll venture to say tina
half of those doomed little fellow
would make better saddle horses tha
50 per cent. Of the stiff-kneed plug
that you see galloping about tn
parks. They are tougher and they ar
gentler, and when it comes to faithful
ness a native-born horse is not in
with them.
IF the government would appropr'
ate money to breed from the best Q
these wild ponies our better breed O
horses would be improved in a fe,
years. Those ponies that are to b
killed are as fast as our thoroughbred
for short distance, and hea
faster for "a long run; they are a
strong as mules and as tough a
leather. It seems to me that is wha
our native horses need, and by cros.