Horse market

“ Horse-stock, like every other, has fallen much in price lately, but will doubtless recover itself when times improve. I am acquainted with more than one proprietor who has made no inconsiderable sum of money by rearing horses. There is a constant demand for them; and of late, a good market has been found in India for those suited for cavalry.
Another profitable investment for money is to be found, in Sydney, in the way of mortgage. ”

“ Horses and Mules Notwithstanding the harm that trolley cars and automobiles and mechanically propelled agricultural machines have done to important branches of the horse business, and notwithstanding the competition which American exporters find in Europe from the Argentine ranches, there is still an active market for farm horses and for stock suited to trucking and light delivery work in cities. You no doubt find, in whatever part of the United States your interests lie, that you need to watch the market very closely, and that you must always be ready to change your plans at short notice. ”

“ There are a great many horses for sale, which do not find buyers, although the government agents are here from the neighbouring haras at Callac, and horse-dealers have come from all parts. The cattle market is overstocked, and the little black and white cattle, a cross between Alderneys and Bretons, go for very small sums to reluctant purchasers. ”

“ In the market-place the taboon is driven into an enclosure, near which the owner seats himself, and the tabunshick enters along with his horses. The buyers walk round to make their selection. They must not expect the horses to be trotted out for their inspection, as at Tattersall’s, but must judge for themselves as well as they can, with the comfortable reflection, that, after they have bought the animals, they will have ample time to become acquainted with them. ”

“ There are some horses for sale in the cattle-market; high-mettled, Arab-like beasts that are often very attractive, but which, very unfortunately, are almost invariably gone at the houghs through the stupid native habit of throwing a galloping horse suddenly back on its hindquarters on hard ground to make a dramatic halt before an audience or a king’s house, by means of pressure on the locally-made cruel bit-iron which projects on to the roof of the mouth. ”

“ Doping an unsound horse may be punished by expulsion from the market, and tricks, like the application of “soup” to make a horse act mean, are prohibited on “horse row.” It is when a buyer deals with a “scalper” who conducts his business “under his hat,” or patronizes the dealers who conduct a questionable business at small sales stables on the side streets near the stock-yards, that he may expect to get “the short end of the deal,” and we would strongly advise our readers to give such dealers and sales stables a wide berth. ”

“ He points out that horses involve a large original investment, are worn out in farm work, and after their prime steadily depreciate in value; while, on the other hand, the ox can be fattened for market when his usefulness as a draught animal is over, and then sell for more than his original cost; that he is less subject to infirmities than the horse; can be fed per tractive unit more economically and gives more valuable manure. ”

“ In the great horse markets, when a gentleman’s coachman, or a man who is deemed by him to be an expert judge, is commissioned to buy a certain style of horse at not over a stated price, the expert can easily arrange to make a double profit. He seeks out some scalper friend, and gives him a detailed description of the sort of horse wanted. The scalper then visits the stable of his associates in the business, selects a horse that “looks like the job” and secures an option on him at a price considerably lower than the buyer has said he will be willing to pay. ”

“ The men who make a specialty of horses know every colt and horse in several townships, as well as, or even better than, they do their owners. When a dealer wishes to get together a carload, he applies to such men and can at once get an idea of the quality and prices of all the desirable horses of any particular class in the vicinity, just as readily as if they were all assembled in a market for his inspection. ”

“ In the centre of the market is a lofty clock-tower, and around it are shops devoted to the sale of horse gear and cattle-physic, and the banking-houses, where the cattle are paid for and the money deposited, chief amongst which is that of an active alderman of the city of London, and ex-Lord Mayor and M.P. The animals are ranged in pairs, others tied to rails all around; and on the other side are layers, where the animals that are not sold are lodged on payment of a trifling sum, and slaughtering-houses. ”

“ While the memory of their origin, laws, and the title of every man to his land, was thus imprinted on the people's minds, every other element of their civilization was displayed. Every day of the seven there was a show of the national sport of horse-racing. Commerce had its three markets—a market of food; a market of live stock, cows and horses ”

“ The men, in light canvas trousers and blue jerseys, standing on the left in the picture of the fair, are horse dealers and agents for the government, who attend every cattle fair and market throughout the country. ”

“ When thus gathered together, the animals required for any special purpose—fat bullocks for market, or cows and calves for branding—are ridden out of the mass by the stockmen on their well-trained horses, and collected in a separate herd.
There is no more interesting sight than this 'cutting out,' as it is called. The stockman rides into the mass of animals, which opens out uneasily as he enters. A touch of the stock-whip on the selected beast indicates him to the intelligent horse, whose rider practically leaves to him the rest of the work. ”

“ The old Special Markets mentioned in the Records of the Borough are the Grain Market, the Bean Market, the Sheep Market, the Swine Market and the Cattle Market, and, in later times, a Horse Fair and a Wool Market. The Hay Market was always held outside the walls, on account of the impossibility of waggons loaded with hay passing under the Gateways. ”

“ In making this statement the writer has in mind more than one corroborative instance of the sort in practise.
A Second-Hand Horse.
The owner who wants to sell his horse on the market should not clip off the mane and forelock, and it is a mistake even to cut the latter or to bang the tail. The stock-yard buyers, having special market requirements to meet, prefer to do their own “toilet work” on the horses they buy, and will pass by an otherwise good horse if he has been trimmed in a manner to which they object. ”

“ Similar legislation now is in force in some 16 other states, and it is accomplishing much for the improvement of horse breeding.
Horse trading offers unusual opportunities and temptations for sharp practises. Both buyer and seller equally need to be horse-wise and alert. Dishonesty is discountenanced in the great horse markets, but it is common among scalpers, “gyps” and small traders outside of the recognized markets and is likely to be practised by either the buyer or the seller. ”

“ Where this is the case, it will often pay the farmer whose pocketbook is not particularly well filled to pass by the young, soft, untried, expensive horses that have been specially fattened to bring high prices and buy a second-handed horse at a bargain price.
For example, suppose a big, strong gelding, getting along in years, has four well-developed side-bones which render him stilty and stiff in gait for city use, and which on that account is offered for $80, or thereabout. Such a horse may prove a profitable purchase for use on the land. ”

“ The first move was to buy an outfit of good horses. This was done by selecting from half a dozen remudas, a trail wagon was picked up, and a complement of men secured. Once it was known that we were in the market for cattle, competition was brisk, the sellers bidding against each other and fixing the prices at which we accepted the stock. None but three-year-old steers were taken, and in a single day we closed trades on five thousand head. I received the cattle, confining my selections to five road and ten single-ranch brands, as it was not our intention to rebrand so late in the season. ”

“ But the stock which remains after such a training [Pg 26] offers many guaranties to the dealer who buys it to transfer, if they suit, to the express and omnibus companies; or if they belong to the draft race, to the contractors, wagoners, and builders, of Paris. At five, he is bought by the horse-dealer at the annual horse fair on St. Andrew’s Day in the town of Chartres. There he is delivered, the farmer leading his horse upon the ground. The prices vary from 1,000 to 1,400 francs. The profit is small, sometimes nothing, the greatest gain being his work, which cannot be dispensed with. ”

“ The occurrence of trotting bred horses of the finest conformation is by no means uncommon; it is so frequent, indeed, that these animals supply 170not only the demand for roadsters, but the principal part of the fine city trade in carriage horses, and are conspicuous winners at the horse shows. The demand for such horses has been so keen that dealers have resorted to the pernicious practice of buying mature stallions, many of them valuable breeders, and castrating them to be sold later as carriage horses. ”

“ Every spring and fall these stock-breeders send great herds up this trail. Sometimes as many as twenty-five thousand are strung out in one herd. At these seasons, persons wanting cattle gather along the trail and wait for a herd. The herds are composed of from one to three yearlings; and for first choice the usual price is twelve dollars, and ranging down to seven dollars.{191}
There are large horse companies in the South, and great herds of ponies are also driven up the trail each fall and spring. They sell for from twenty to fifty dollars per head. ”

“ Investing money in blood stock for racing purposes is much like purchasing a lottery ticket. It is the breeders, we suspect, who make most money out of "blood stock." There are, at least, a dozen famous breeding studs in England, kept up at great expense, and introducing to the turf, year by year, many highly bred horses, the greater number of which are sold by auction; two breeders of renown, out of their profits, were enabled to found races of value which are annually decided at Newmarket. ”

“ It hires the horses from the farmers, and makes a moderate profit on each transaction, but saves the traveller from difficulties, delays, and extortions. The prices vary considerably in different districts, and are regulated by the price of forage, the state of the roads, and the number of hireable horses. For a ri, nearly 21⁄2 miles, they charge from 6 to 10 sen for a horse and the man who leads it, for a kuruma with one man from 4 to 9 sen for the same distance, and for baggage coolies about the same. ”

“ It has now become a custom to send very valuable high-class horses to the auction block, and if a man is looking for something that has already proved its superiority in the show-ring, he may often find it his property by nodding to the auctioneer. But, aside from the fact that such an animal has probably reached its climax, and that the same experienced care is demanded to maintain its condition, it is not advisable for a man to purchase such a horse except for exhibition purposes. ”

“ It is noteworthy as proof of our dependence on this class of horse that, even when commerce and agriculture have been passing through a period of depression, at times when customers at any price even for the best classes of other live stock have been difficult to find, heavy draught horses suitable for town work have always remained in brisk demand at remunerative prices. ”

“ The horses would be kept by the English farmer through the risky years of youth, only to be bought, when matured and fit, by the buyers for the foreign armies.
Give a farmer £5 a year. The foreigner has only to add £5 to the horse's value, and away it will go. What is needed, as Mr Williams truly remarks—and none knows better the existing condition of affairs in this respect at the present time—is drastic action at the ports for horses bred under such a grant, while in any and every scheme that may be tried all the government-bred stock ought to be ear-marked and kept strictly in the country. ”

“ Here is held one of the greatest markets of oxen and sheep in Europe, as may easily be imagined when it appears to be the only market for live cattle in this great city, which is held on Mondays and Fridays. There is also a market for horses on Fridays; nor is there anywhere better riding-horses to be purchased, if the buyer has skill, though it must be confessed there is a great deal of jockeying and sharping used by the dealers in horseflesh. As for coach-horses, and those fit for troopers, they are usually purchased in the counties to the northward of the town. ”

“ But the men who are in the business of producing “graded draught horses” appear to know that business well as the horses sold are handsome, strong, and active, and well adapted for the work for which they were created. This is a business pretty sure to decrease rather rapidly. These graded horses are not the ideal farm horse, although on a large farm where there is a deal of hauling, they serve a very useful purpose. ”

“ In those important industries where great numbers of horses are used, and the profit of the business depends upon the efficiency of the animal, the question becomes a very serious one, and the life term of the horse, or the proportion of the number of animals that are kept from their tasks by inability, make the difference between profit and loss to the great transportation lines that facilitate the busy current of city life. ”