HORSEBREAKING AMONGST THE BOERS

New Zealand Mail, 22 January 1902, Page 57

HORSEBREAKING AMONGST THE BOERS

The Boer breaks his horses in a very simple manner. He will take a young one o,itL pacb a sac k ot mealies weigning about r UOlb. on its back, and will then lunge it m the mealie patch. The mealie stalks will imtate the animal and it will run °, ut " Wh en this happens it will be saddled, a sharp curb will be placed in its mouth, and a Hottentot will mount the now thoroughly exhausted creature. The Hottentot can stick on anything that ever breathed, and there will not be much necessity for much sticking on after the previous proceeding. When this has been done for a few consecutive days the Boer mil take a hand himself. He will mount a steady-going horse, and the young one, saddled and bridled, will be made fast to i r~ e 2 VIU mount the old stager, and will start off on a canter, up and down hill, until both animals are fagged out, when be will slip from one saddle to the other. bills Has been done a few times tne animal will be considered broken, and will be allowed to run with the other noises until it is required for use. The boutfi African horse has little real vice oi it is hard to say what the effect of such draconic treatment might be later on \ , e , <>el ' wnen he can possibly do so breaks his horses for harness by proxy Be will loan a young animal to a postcart company for a few weeks. The youngster will be placed in the centre of a team of eight strong loadsters, and he mil simply have to go. After a couple of journeys in this way, he will be shifted farther back, until eventually he reaches the pole. A few weeks of this and he will be a harness l.orse." A good deal of discussion has taken place at times as to the Boer s capability as a horseman. There caii be little question on this noint. He is not a horseman in any sense of the term, the Boer never lived who would get on a lively horse if he could possibly avoid it. Should a farmer own, amongst others, a horse with a bad reputation, and you were to ask its owner if he ever rode it, he would look at you in surprise and say. But why should I ride that horse when I have quiet horses ?" He has no hands and no seat. He rides with extremely long stirrups, and keeps his seat more by balance than anvtmng else To him riding is simply a means of locomotion, and nothing more. The Boer’s horse lives on what it can pick up on tlie veiclt In the summer it gets on all right and takes a fairly large girth, but in the winter it fares badly. The stock, however, is wonderfully hardy. The favourite pace for travelling in the Transvaal is what is called tripplmg.” This may be described as an easy amble. A horse is taught this pace by holding it in with a sharp bit and keeping tlie spurs well in at the same time, and an animal in fair condition will do 50 miles a day at this pace, and th» rider will feel no more tired at the end of his journey than if he had been sitting m Ins armchair In fact, Englishmen in the Iransvaal will call this the “armchair pace. ’ A good “trippler” will fetch half as much again amongst the Boers as a horse that has not got this pace, but no Englishman or colonial will buy such a horse at any price. Borne farmers have the reputation of turning out good “tripplers,” and a Boer in want of a fresh mount will travel a long distance to purchase one from such a person.—“ hive Stock Journal.”

If a. sow is inclined to eat her pigs when farrowing it- denotes a bad condition of the system* probably' caused oy improper feeding during the period of gestation. It usually' occurs when the sow has been fed largely' on corn or other heating food. It is something unknown in our own herd. If sows have been fed on shorts, middlings, or ground oats .and have had a run on grass, there will he little danger of their eating their pigs. The unnatural appetite is caused by a feverish condition of the system, and wlieu a pig has farrowed there is a strong desire to devour it at once. About the only thing that caii be done is to take the pigs away as fast, as they' come, and keep them away till the sow is all through farrowing, and then carefully put them with her. Sometimes a feed of meat will seem to satisfy the sow. I have known of the sow being made quiet by dropping a few drops of laudanum in the ear, which will have the same effect if given inwardly. If the sow eat her pigs when fed under favourable conditions I would send her to tho butcher and be clone with it. The "materials to form ( lie milk are found in the udder transformed into milk. By a sort, of harmony existing between the milker and the cow, and by' the stimulus excited upon tlie glands by. the milker, the milk is largely caused to form.