1 1II1II 1iI I .811_l1li 1 • 11111"JmIlIIllll,!1I1IIII1ii.1IIII'lIIIii!i'lmilllD!ii_ ii111Di!iillll1i!iillllil'IIFi'lIIIiii _1IIIlIIIlII lIl1111millllllil-IIII.llIIIllIIIi••j'IiIi·••liillll.IIf1'•••••ail!D(). December. 1918 Extension Bulletin Series I. No. 150-A Colorado Agricultural College EXTENSION SERVICE Fort Collina. Colorado H. T. FRENCH. Direc!or 1IIm!!ii lii1UtlamlIllDlIIIIHlIIIliiillllllii!i IIIIIIIII_lIIIlIIIlIIIIlIIIlIIIIlIIIlIIIIlIII__IlII_mIIl111l111l111111111ll1111l11 HORSE MANAGEMENT BY R. W. CLARK I I Belgian stallion owned by .1. D. Brunton, Aspen, Colorado. First and grand champion at thc Internatlona.l ot 1917 and National We"tern ot 1918. Purchase price $25.000. • iIi "W lIIIlIIIlIIIlIII_lIIIIIIIIIlIIIIIIIIIlIlIImlllIIIIIIIlIIIIIIIIlIIIIIIIIlIIIIIIIIlIIIlIIIlIIIlIIIllllmllmlllIII'lIIIlIIIlIIIllIIII!iiiIllll!ii!' CO.OPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE IN AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS-COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE AND U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CO.QPERATING •• _"i!ii iii'Fi!!iiiiili i!i!ii".lIIIIIIIlIIIlIIIlIIIlIIIUII_lIIIlIIIlIIIlIIlIIIlIII_lIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIlIIIlIIIlIIIlIIIlilll HORSE MANAGEMENT By R. W. CLARK l~he coming of the automobile, tractor and truck has changed the outlook of. the horse market. \\That the ultimate effect will be, no one can predict. 1~he question has not simmered do\vn only to the cost of gasoline as against the cost of horse feed, but can the horse be entirely eliminated? If not, then, to what extent? 1"'he auto has greatly reduced the number of driving horses. \ViII the tractor and truck do likewIse to draft horses? Tractors. doing all kinds of work, are common in Colorado. Many a farmer is running a tractor while his horses are idle in the pasture. They are used some, at times, but he does not require so nlany as forlnerly, and he is reducing the number. He runs a tractor because he can run longer hours, more machinery is handled per man, there is no main­ tenance expense when idle, and the cost of operation when at work is less than with horse-po\ver. But the farmer must keep some horses, because there is work that cannot be done \vith either tractor or truck. He must keep a certain number of them at aU times. The average farmer is no mechanic, but he gets along very well while his tractor is new and in good running order. When it becomes worn, and begins to cause delay and trouble, then he is go­ ing to call upon expert Jabor for repairs. This he will find so expensive and unsatisfactory that in a few years he will use it less and horses more. The American people have not learned yet the ultimate cost of gasoline power. When this is realized, autolno­ biles, tractors, and trucks will be used less than they are now. In stony farming sections the use of the tractor is out of the Question. The truck ha~ replaced a large number of horses in the cities, but reports are now beginning to appear that horses in many instan~es furnish the cheaper power. \Vhat effect has the war had on the price of horses, is a ques­ tion often asked. There can be no doubt that horses \vould haye sold far below what they have been se)) ing for, had it not been for the war. The war began at a time when gasoline po\ver on the road and farm was just beginning, and it took a lot of horses for which there was no possible market. Nearly 2,000,000 horses, for 'l\rhich there was no work, have been taken to Europe since the ,var began. Had this light war stuff not been taken out of the country, it would have had a powerful influence in depressing the prices of the bet­ ter grades of horses. In 1914, the United States had a vast surplus 4 COLOR_I\DO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGl! of horses, weighing from 1,000 pounds to 1,400 pounds. This has been practically all bought up and shipped to Europe. The foI.low­ ing, taken from "Red Star Bulletin No.7", gives some idea of the number of horses required in the war: "There are 4,500,000 horses engaged in this war. On the Western front the losses have averaged 47,000 horses a month. In eight hours' fighting along a three-mile front at Verdun the French lost 5,011 horses. Over a million and a half of America's horses have been pur­ chased for service \vith the Allies. In the first seven months of 1917 the value of horses shipped to Europe from American ports was $25,327.333. For the month of July alone the value \vas $1,377,202. Wastage of horses means an enormous money loss, which mere money can­ not now replace. Thirty-three thousand horses ha\'e died in #t\mer­ ica while awaiting shipment and 6,000 have died at sea in course of transit. In nine \veeks the British captured 332 German field and heavy guns and lost none. The German losses are partly due to lack of horses. America, with an army of 2,300,000 men, will reC}uire 750,000 horses to begin with, and shipload after shipload to keep the force. up to the strength. The total need will exceed a million a year under fighting conditions, <J.nd may even be vastly greater." Horses, in 1918, are selling for less than the cost of production, and in consequence, there is a big decrease in the number of mareg hred. The government Year Book shows that about the same number of horses is being raised as formerly, but that prices are decreas­ in!!. In Ohio the number of horses raised last year decreased 9,000 head, and the price dropped from $119 to $li2 per head; in Indiana the decrease was 8.000 head and the price dropped from $108 to $105 per head; in Illinois there was an increase in number, hut the price dropped from $106 to $103 per head ~ in 11 ichigafl there was no increase or decrease, and the price dropped from $121 to $118 per head; in 'Visconsin the decrease '.vas 7.000 head, and the price dropped from $120 to $117 per head; in Minnesota th~re was an increase, but the price dropped from $IOQ to $105 per head; in Io,va there was an increase in numbers, but there was a drop in prices from $107 to $104 per head; in North Dakota there was an increase in numbers, but prices dropped from $106 to $102 per head; in Colorado there was an increase of 19,000 head, and an increase in price from $93 to $97 per head. The total value of HORSE MANAGEMEN1' horses in Colorado, January 1, 1918. \\yas $3R, 703,000. 1'his is the hand writing on the wall, and horse breeders and farmers should take notice. The 1918 colt crop was short and reports throughout the coun­ try now indicate that the next year crop will show a greater short­ age. "The worm will turn". Horses no,,, being bnught at low prices were produced on the cheap feed of years ago. \t\rith a shortage in sight and high-priced feed stuffs, prices are bound to advance and the farmer who is no,,, buying his ,,,ork stock ,vi]] soon realize that he can raise it cheaper. The future prices of horses "viII be stimulated by the follo,ving conditions: . 1. The degree to which there i~' a shortage of horses. Quot­ Ing again from the above mentioned bulletin, we learn that: "'rhe Allies have for months been buying every good horse they could get and are still buying in the American m'arket. ".!\merica has 22 million horses, of which less than one-fifth are usable for war purposes. With the tremendous drain upon onr resources, will the supply of horses be adequate at the time when the horse may become the determining factor in the war? \Vilt battles be lost, will victories be minimized, will the war be length­ ened hecause of insuffici~nt mounted troops to turn defeat i1}to rout ?" Again we read in the same bulletin: "There is a decided short­ ag-e of the best type of cavalry remount .. .. The British and French have been capturing great quantities of guns partly because Germany is short of horses to handle her artillery .. .. ~.fore horses are being- used in this \vorld war than in any other conflict in history. A French officer in Washington a few days ago voiced the opinion that the horse will be the determining factor in this war". 2. Increasing- the demand by raising a heavier and better class .of horses. Complaints are often heard that trucks are used heea'use good suitable horses cannot be had. Many farmers have taken to tractors because they don't kno,v the vatue of a good draft horse. They will use him "vhen they learn his value. 3. The price of g-asoline will also be a factor. If the supply becomes reduced or tTIonopotized and increase of prices take place. Deop)e will tllrn to the use of horses. When the war clo~e~ and farmers turn from grain growing to the building up of their soil, foragee crops will be much cheaper than they are now, and the effect on the use of horses will be the same as cheap gasa]ine on the use of trucks and tractors. 4. Foreign demand for transport and breeding stock will be 6 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE strong. This will call for the best we have, and there will ~e. no limit to the price. Seed stock will be necessary to the rehalnhta­ tion of the industry in Canada and the European countries, Reserve champion Percheron mare I.lIno:s ">tate- F"Rll', 1916.