THE FARMER'S HORSE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1845, 3 May 1884, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE FARMER'S HORSE.

The ideal farmer's horse is a horse of •good constitution and endurance, of good disposition, a fast "walker and a good roadster, and that is the all-purpose horse. Such a horse can be had. It a good diiver, the animal will most likely be more serviceable m the work on the farm. A wretchedly poor roadster is generally poor everywhere. He is a mope at best. But ' ft horse that is active and strong on the road will be a good horse, according to the present standard, on the farm, if he is of sufficient size. In the matter of size opinions will differ, and it is not material whether the animal is large or small — if not too small — if it has the aggregation of merits which we have briefly stated. As to endurance, it is a quality usually confined in its application to road or trotting horses ; but there is no place in this world in which a horse is ever put that he needs more endurance than he does on the farm. It is true that if he lacks that the defect may not be as particularly noticeable while he is at w-ork as it would be in the case of a horse on the race- track or on the road. He may do all the work that is expected of him ; but farm work is hard work, and if the horse lacks endurance, which is the result of a strong constitution, lie is rapidly wearing out, and his period of usefulness ends much sooner than it should. A good disposition, also, is of paramount importance, not only for the good of the horse himself, but for the safety of those fe about him. A bad-dispositioned horse is always a source of danger, and if he does no damage during his life, those who handle him are in exceptional luck. — Tlie Western Rural.