Cart-horse Breeding.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1905, 20 September 1884, Page 6

Cart-horse Breeding.

The chief points to be desired in a farming cart-horse are these : — Neck not long nor too thick; short and flat legs ; four feet even, and not too distant ; ohest wide ; shoulders •frrong, but not high; good length of waist, and wide loins ; quarters fall and somewhat raised; strong muscular thigh; height fifteen hands two inches to sixteen handi. Being rather low in front gives an advantage in draught, and a good length of waist, speed in the walk — a desirable qualification in the draught-horse. Cart-colts are ready for sale j very early, and if a filly is put to the horse at two years, she will be none the worse either for work or sale ; thus no time is lost, for whilst she is in foal she is growing, and by the time she produces she will be getting equal for work. Those heavy blaok and cumbersome horses we sometimes Bee I do not like, they are slow, and as there are times ] when the farmer requires quickness of movement, this is an objection. However, let the breeds be what they may, heavy or light, if possessing the necessary points, the carthorse will always command a price that leaves a handsome surplus to the breeder. I am an admirer of the Montgomeryshire cart-horses, as they have strength oombined with activity, with the qualifications, wide chests, low shQplders, small heads, and hardy constitutions. Two of the Welsh counties are somewhat celebrated for their horses, viz., Montgomery, as I have already observed for carters ; and Pembrokeshire for hunters and hacks. I have seen a very useful roadster bred out of a Montgomery cart mare by a blood stallion. The mare [had a light well-set-on head, this is a great desideratum, deep in the girth, handsomely rounded in the barrel, slanting shoulders, straight in the back, with waist long enough to give speed, and tail well-set on. Suoh is the animal a farmer should choose to breed from : and if covered by a strong racer or hunter, her progeny may be such as will come out when old enough at a good price. And lot me remind him that to breed a good horee costs no more, except of skill, than to breed a bad one ; and fck'ithat cart colts being ready for sale very early do not hang long on the ground. There are two points I wish to dwell upon, one being the feeding of cart-horses, the other the shoeing of them. As to the first, the coarse garbage with which farm-horses are frequently stuffed is a frequent cause of blindness, grease, and colic. There is scarcely a farmer whose stable does not present instances of such results of bad management. The other point, and a very important one, is the absence of attention to the proper shoeing of cart-horses. A gentleman who has his hunters, carriage-horses, or hacks, is somewhat particular that this should be properly done^but the farmer is frequently very careless. Let us inquire what the practice of the country blacksmith is, and we shall find he makes nine times in ten the foot to agree with the shoe, instead of its being vice versa. He pares away the hoof till he gets it to suit the shoe, which he probably puts on hot, a most reprehensible practice, and one calculated to do much mischief. I know a man who had his horse completely ruined by such a proceeding. The smith should not be allowed to cut anything excepting that which is rotten from the sole, bars, and frogs of the horse's foot, these being the defence nature has given to it. The foot, preserved strong and sound, will require smaller nails, and the frog should be allowed to develop itself, touching the ground at every tread. The art of shoeing is a science, and the shoe should be carefully adapted to the foot, some horses having bad feet requiring much management ; thus a bad foot may be improved, but without it a good foot may be become a bad one. It does not require a Solon to disoover that a horse cannot tread pleasantly if his shoes do not suit, no more than the farmer can if he has corns which his boots press upon : and though I admit that amongst the country smiths there may be found men possessing much obstinacy and many prejudices, I think much blame rests with the former owner, who, as I have already said, does not pay any attention to the shoeing of his horses, and is equally satisfied if it be done well or badly, Lastly, let me caution the owner of cart teams with respect to the too common praotice amongst waggoners of giving their horses specifics for making their coats fine. Let him nip all such mischiefs in the bud, for many an excellent horse haa been in suoh way mined. Ramrod.