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ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

CHAPTERS ABOUT HORSES AND
THEIR TREATMENT.

fortis eqiius, spatio qui saepe supremo

Vicit 01)'inpia.

BY

H. C. MERWIN.

BOSTON:
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.

1892.

Copyright, 1892.
By Little, Bkown, and Company.

WLnivtmtv. Press:

John V\'ii,son and Son, Camhuidge.

VJNJV£Ml7TY

ni\\

^

iC^ TO

^ ANNE AMORY MERWIN

IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HER ASSISTANCB
AS HORSEWOMAN AND CRITIC.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Ethics of Horse-Keeping .... 1

II. Trotting Families 23

III. Trotting Horses 59

IV. Trotting Races 87

V. Road Horses 113

VI. Saddle Horses 144

VII. Carriage Horses and Cobs 178

VITI. Cart Horses 206

IX. Fire Horses 229

X. Arabian Horses 255

XI. The Care of Horses 286

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page
Glencoe Frontispiece

Naomi and Foal 1

The property of Mr. liaudolpU Huutington.
Rysdyck's Hambletoniax 23

Mambrino King at twenty years of age To face 32
From a Pliotograph wliich Mr. C. J. Hamlin, the owner, kindly
bad taken for this book.

Onward, Son of George Wilkes 59

Arion Toface 84

The property of Mr. J. Malcolm Forbes.

Henry Clay 86

Goldsmith Maid 87

Smuggler 112

A Half-bred JNIare 113

From an instantaneous Photograph.

Antewood, a Trotting Stallion 143

Redrawn from '' The Chicago Horseman."

A Morning Ride 144

From a Picture by J. Sturgis.

Miss Hammond, a Bronco-Thoroughbred . . . 177

Tlie property of Mr. S. D. Warren.

Coach Horses 178

Ethan Allen . Toface 198

A Half-bred Carriage Horse 205

X ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page
A Ploughing Team at Work 206

From an instantaneous Photograph.

Cart Horses 228

Going to a Fire 229

From an instantaneous Photograph.

Old Joe 254

From a Photograph.

Bonaparte's Arabian Ch.a.rger 255

From the Picture by Meissonier.

A Stable Scene 286

Redrawn from " The Cliicago Horseman."

Old Boney 322

From a Photograph.

ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

I.

THE ETHICS OF HORSE-KEEPING.

IF a man could go into open market and for two or
three liundred dollars purchase the lifelong devo-
tion of a friend, though a humble friend, it would be
accounted a wonderful thing. But that is exactly
what happens, or might happen, whenever a horse is
bought. You give him food, lodging, and the reason-
able services of a valet, in return for which he will
not only further your business or your pleasure, as
the case may be, to the best of his ability, but he will
also repay you with affection, respond to your ca-
resses, greet you with a neigh of pleased recognition,
and in a hundred ways of his own exhibit a sense of
the relationship.

There are men to whom a horse is only an animate
machine : they will ride and drive him, liire grooms

I

2 KOAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

and draw cheques for his sustenance and keeping, but
all without a single thought of the animal as having
a character, a mind, a career of his own; as being
susceptible to pain or pleasure ; as a creature for
whose welfare they have assumed a certain respon-
sibility, of which they cannot get rid, although they
may forget it or deny its existence. Even among
people who are intelligent, religious, and kind-hearted,
as the world goes, there is sometimes found, as we all
know, especially when their own convenience is con-
cerned, an astonishing indifference to the sufferings
of dumb beasts.

Xever shall I forget the shock produced upon my
infant mind by a case of this sort in which a deeply
venerated bishop was the actor. The good man de-
scribed in my presence the great difficulty that he
had recently experienced, upon arriving in town, in
obtaining a conveyance from the railroad station to
the house where he was to stay, two or three miles
distant. Through some mistake, no carriage had been
sent for him; and by the liverymen to whom the
bishop applied he was told that all their horses were
so wearied and jaded, a huge picnic or funeral hav-
ing just occurred in the village, that they absolutely
could not send one out again. But the successor of
the Apostles so wrought upon the stable-keepers by
his eloquence — thus he narrated, without suspicion
of the awful judgment tliat was passing upon him by
youthful innocence, sitting unnoticed in a corner —
that some unlucky, overtired brute was finally dragged
from his stall and sent off upon the five-mile jaunt.
Now the day was warm, to be sure, and the bishop a
stout man; still, being in the prime of life, he could

THE ETHICS OP HORSE-KEEPING. 3

have taken no harm, but rather good, from the walk ;
and yet neither when he hired the horse nor when he
related the transaction did it occur to him that the
act was one of inexcusable cruelty. How many peo-
ple, indeed, know or care what is the condition of
the livery horses that they hire from time to time ?
How many, when they summon a cab, so much as
glance at the beast in the shafts ? But it is almost
always possible to make a selection, rejecting the
palpably unlit, choosing the fit horse ; and if every-
body took even this slight amount of trouble, the em-
ployment of broken-down cab horses would cease to
be profitable.

There is a good deal of hard-heartedness in our
Puritan blood as respects dumb animals. I once spent
several weeks on a farm where many beasts of vari-
ous kinds were kept. The family was of pure New
England stock, farmers for many generations back, —
stalwart, intelligent, honest people, pillars of the
church, leading men in the village, but in their treat-
ment of dumb beasts without feeling or compunction.
If the cows did not enter their stalls at the proper
moment, they were pounded with whatever weapon
came handy ; horses were driven when they were
lame, and neglected when they were tired. Every
animal on the place was in a continual state of hunger,
and none ever received a kind word or a pat of the
hand. That on all convenient occasions I surrep-
titiously fed the occupants of the barn, horses, cows,
oxen, and bull, is a fact which I may be permitted to
state, lest I should include myself in the condemna-
tion of these hard-hearted farmers ; and I recall with
pleasure the anticipatory neighing, the scraping of

4 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

hoofs, and the rattling' of chains that soon became
a regnkxr occurrence wlienever I set foot upon the
threshokl. I have known better educated, vilkxge-
bred persons of the same stamp, men of a kind
that command, when tliey die, half-cokimn ohit-
uar}' notices in the papers, who took a vicious de-
ligkt in stoning dogs oft' tlieir lawns, and wko would
have been moved to scorn by any show of affection
for a horse.

People whose attitude toward dumb animals is of
this character not only fail of their duty, but miss a
vast amount of happiness. Horses are to be enjoyed
in other ways than those of riding and driving. To
become familiar with their characters and peculiarities,
of which latter horses have many ; to see them com-
fortable in tlieir stalls, sleek, well fed, well groomed,
warmly blanketed : to give them affection, and to re-
ceive it back ; finally, to take a pride in them, and,
frankly speaking, to l)rag about them without being
more unveracious than a fairly good conscience will
allow, — this it is to enjoy a horse. In this matter, as
in all others where motives are concerned, the good
and bad, or at least the good and indifferent, in liuman
nature can be made to co-operate ; the sense of duty
may be reinforced by a more spontaneous feeling,
namely, the pride of ownership. In fact, to lay a
foundation for the exercise of this quality should
always be a chief object in buying a horse. Let your
new purchase have that about him concerning Avhidi
you can declare, with sufficient plausibility to defy
absolute contradiction, that he stands in the very
front rank of equine excellence; as that he is the
most speedy, or the most enduring, or the hand-

THE ETHICS OF HORSE-KEEPING. 6

soiiiest, or the gentlest, or the most intelligent, or the
toughest, of animals. If these qualities fail, we come
down to minor excellences, such as the fineness of
his coat, the beauty of its color, the silkiness of his
mane, the length of his tail, or the nobility of his
descent. It is quite possible to buy for a small sum
horses of unexceptionable pedigree ; and though a
well-bred weed or screw really travels no better than
a " dunghill," yet his breeding will always command
admiration, and cast a reflected gloi-y upon his owner.
The point of superiority may be this or that ; enough
that it distinguishes your horse from the ruck of
horses, and justifies in some measure, at least to the
world at large, the pride and pleasure that you take
in him. This reference to the opinion of others as a
guide for our affections, even when a human being
constitutes the object, is one of those vile traits that
lie hid in the murky depths of our nature. Was it
not remarked by George Sand, who knew the human
heart, and certainly took no pessimistic view of it,
that men love women not for what they think of
them, but for what they suppose other people to
think of them ?

And yet there is another aspect of the matter.
Just as disinterested affection, or something approach-
ing it, maj^ exist between man and woman, so it is
possible to be fond of a horse, and to be happy in his
well-being, with no admixture of those baser feelings
to which I have alluded. I wish that you, gentle
reader of this book, might be induced to try the fol-
lowing experiment. We will suppose that you have
a stable with an unoccupied stall in it, and by prefer-
ence, though it is not essential, that a paddock is

6 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

appurtenant to the stable. (Not everybody, indeed,
is so fortunately situated, but still the conditions just
mentioned are by no means uncommon.) Now let us
suppose further that you go into the market or to
some private person and purchase, as you may easily
do for forty or fifty dollars, an old, broken-down
horse, of whom a long hard day's work has been, and
unless you intervene will for some years yet con-
tinue to be extracted. Take hini home, and watch
the quick transition from misery to happiness. He
comes into your stable with stiff, painful steps ; his
legs swollen from hock and knee to ankle ; his ribs
clearly visible through a rough, staring coat ; and,
above all, with that strained, anxious expression of
the eye which nobody who has once seen and under-
stood it can ever expel from his memory. It is the
expression of despair. You take off his shoes, give
him a run at grass or a deep bed of straw in a com-
fortable loose box, and forthwith the old horse begins
to improve. Little by little, the expression of his eye
changes, the swelling goes out of his legs, and it will
not be long before he cuts a caper; a stiff and un-
gainly one, to be sure, but still a caper, indicative of
health and happiness. He will neigh at your ap-
proach, and gladly submit his head for a caress,
whereas at first he would have shrunk in terror from
any such advances. (It may be ten years since a
hand was laid upon him in kindness.) If you have
any work for him to do, the old horse will perform
it with alacrity, exerting himself out of gratitude;
he will even flourish off in harness with the airs of
a colt, as who should say, "There is life in me yet;
don't send me to the knacker ; behold my strength

THE ETHICS OF HORSE-KEEPING. 7

and agility." ^ Treat him as you would treat him if he
had cost you a great sum, or as if you expected to win a
great sum through his exertions. Let him have good
blankets, good grooming, and all the little attentions
of a well ordered establishment. Is there anything
ridiculous in this ? Shall not the stable, as well as
the house, have its sacred rites of hospitality ?
Shall not the old cheap horse be made as comfortable
as the young and costly one ?

And here I anticipate an obvious criticism. "The
horse should be killed, and the money that it costs to
maintain him be given to the poor." I grant it. Let
the old horse be shot, and let the two dollars and fifty
cents per week necessary for his support be given in
charity. But see to it, ye who might maintain an
equine pensioner, and forbear to do so for reasons of
conscience, — see to it that the poor be not defrauded
of the sum thus saved for them.

Doubtless the ideal manner of keeping a horse is
that practised in Arabia, whei*e, we are told, he is
treated like one of the family, being the constant
companion of the children, and allowed to poke his
nose within the tent and in all the household affairs.
Unfortunately, our habits of living will not permit
such intimacy, although I have seen a yearling colt
within the walls of a country dwelling-house, taking a
moderate lunch of oats from the kitchen table, and
afterward, with ears erect, briefly surveying the out-
side world through the drawing-room window. Mr.
Briggs's introduction of his hunter to the dining-

1 The fiual illustration is a portrait of an old cab horse, rescued
in a moribund condition, and rejuvenated in the manner stated in
the text.

8 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

room on Christmas niglit, in the animal's professional
capacity, and the consequent results to the china, will
occur to the reader as a similar case. But although
such instances must necessarily be rare, and are not,
perhaps, exactly to be imitated, it is possible for
every horse-owner to cultivate the social and affec-
tionate side of the animal's nature by talking to and
caressing him, by visiting him in the stable, by mak-
ing him little gifts, from time to time, of sugar and
other dainties. Petting like this undoubtedly tends
to render high-spirited horses more tractable and safer
on the road than they would be otherwise.

Mustangs that have been allowed to run wild on the
prairies until they are brought to the East and sold
can rarely be broken so as to be safe in harness ; but
ponies of the same breed that have been in actual use
by the Indians are very trustworthy. Such ponies,
like Arab horses, have become domesticated, and cease
to regard human beings as their natural enemies.

Few persons, moreover, realize how much a nervous,
timid horse dislikes to be left alone, especially amid
terrifying or even unusual surroundings. I once
brought on a steamer from Portland to Boston a
high-strung Morgan mare that I had owned but two
weeks. She had never travelled thus before, and
during the first hour or two, if I left her alone for
a moment, as happened once or twice, she became
distressed and alarmed in the highest degree, sweat-
ing profusely and struggling to get loose; but when I
returned she would immediately become calm again,
rubbing her nose against me as much as to say, "For
Heaven's sake, don't leave me alone." The same
horse (I have her still), Aviien tied in front of a

THE ETHICS OP HORSE-KEEPING. 9

strange house, always greets me when I come out
with an eager, enthusiastic neigh, as if she had begun
to despair of seeing her master again.

Nevertheless, whether from the want of ancestral
usage or otherwise, horses, it must be granted, are
less sociable with men than are dogs. Nor can I
agree with the remark recorded as having been made
by the famous sportsman, Thomas Assheton Smith,
(but perhaps incorrectly,) that "horses are far more
sensible than dogs." The converse, I should say, is
true. Dogs are more sensible, more intelligent, more
affectionate, and, as a rule, more trustwortliy than
horses. So much justice requires that we should
admit, although the contrary is often maintained by
persons well informed upon the subject. Who, indeed,
has not heard the intelligence of the horse eloquently
defended by some hard-headed, hard-drinking old
horseman, who would seem to enjoy a perfect im-
munity from all sentimental considerations ? But he
does not. "If we could have come upon Diogenes
suddenly," Thackeray somewhere remarks, " he would
probably have been found whimpering in his tub over
a sentimental romance." And so the old horseman,
being fond of horses, knowing them, but knowing
nothing else, deriving both his livelihood and his
pleasure from them, unconsciously exaggerates their
good qualities. But, on the other hand, the horse is
far more intelligent than most people suppose, and
there are certain qualities in which he excels all
other dumb animals. " The' conspicuous merit of the
horse, which has given him the dearly paid honor of
sharing in our wars," says Mr. Hamerton, in a charm-
ing essay, " is his capacity for being disciplined ; and

10 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

a very great capacity it is, a very noble gift indeed, —
nobler than much cleverness. Several animals are
cleverer than the horse in the way of intelligence;
not one is so amenable to discipline."^ This is
true, unless an exception should be made in favor
of the elephant. But Mr. Hamerton omits to state

— except perhaps by implication — the very respect
in which the superiority of the horse to all other
dumb animals is most important and most striking,
namely, the fineness of his nervous system. All the
great achievements of the horse ; all his wonderful
Hights of speed and feats of endurance ; all his ca-
pacity for being guided, restrained, quickly turned,
and stopped, for being urged to the limit, and beyond
the limit, of his strength, — all, in fact, that is glo-
rious in him springs from the sensitiveness of his
nervous organization. In this respect no other dumb
animal that I know of will bear comparison with the
horse. IVIr. Hamerton well says, in contrasting the
horse and the ass : —

" I have never yet seen the donkey which could be
guided easily and safely through an intricate crowd
of carriages or on a really dangerous road. The de-
ficiency of the ass may be expressed in a single word,

— it is deficiency of delicacy. You can guide a good
horse as delicately as a sailing-boat ; when the skil-
ful driver has an inch to spare he is perfectly at his

^ Mr. Hamerttju adds that the horse is not observant except of
places. But this is a great mistake. A strange footfall in a stable
will be noticed in a moment by all the occupants of the stalls. A
lively horse observes the least movement of his groom or rider, and
his curio.sity is extreme. On strange roads horses always drive
better than on familiar roads. They are more alert and go faster,
so as to see what is coming next.

THE ETHICS OF HORSE-KEEPING. 11

ease, and he can twist in and out amongst the throng
of vehicles, when a momentary display of self-will in
the animal would be the canse of an immediate acci-
dent. The ass apjiears to be incapable of any delicate
discipline of this kind."

What makes the horse so delicate an instrument to
play upon is the quick and tine connection between
his nerves and his brain, and the sensitiveness of his
skin. People who have never entered into the art of
driving or riding, though they may both drive and
ride all their lives, think that holding the reins is
something like steering a heavy boat : pull to the
right if you want to go in that direction, pull hard
if you want to stop, and so on.^ But the real art of
driving and riding is the exercise of a light, firm,
sensitive hand upon the reins, and the continual play
of intelligence, of command on the one hand and
of obedience on the other, between the man and
the horse.

The same nervous development that makes the
horse a sensitive, controllable, pliable animal makes
him also capable of great feats. To run or trot fast, in
heat after heat, requires not only mechanical fitness,
such as well proportioned limbs, good bone and mus-
cle, good lung power, etc., but also an inward energy,
the "do or die " spirit, as horsemen call it. Many a

^ Opinion as to what constitutes excellence in horse-flesh is very
diverse. I remember once hearing the praises of a certain Dobbin
sung with great enthusiasm by a literary man. This was the most
perfect horse in the world ; but, on cross-examination, perfection
was found to reside in one (juality, — wherever you left him, there
the animal would stand witliout being tied. You might be gone a
year, and come bacic to find liim still waiting for you in the middle
of the road.

12 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

horse has speed enough to make a racer, but lacks the
requisite courage aud determination. " She was tried
a good mare, but never won anything," is a phrase
of frequent occurrence in William Day's reminiscen-
ces. There are cases in which thousands of dollars
have been spent for fast trotters that were afterward
sold for a few hundreds, simply because they were too
sluggish and faint-hearted to keep on after they be-
came tired. On the other hand, almost all the fastest
horses, the "record breakers," whether among racers
or trotters, have been remarkable for their nervous,
" high-strung " constitutions. The trainer of Sunol
(the California filly, who has a three-year-old record
of 2.10, and who at four years of age trotted a mile
upon a kite-shaped track in 2.08|), after describing
the great difficulty that he experienced in breaking
her, says : " Not that she was actually vicious, but
she had and has a will, a temper, and a determina-
tion of her own, and at that time every individual
hair seemed to contain a nerve."

Even among the best breeds of cart horses, such as
the Percherons and Clydesdales, the same quality is
not altogether wanting, and in general it distinguishes,
as I have said, the horse from all other dumb animals.
It follows, of course, that the horse is the most irri-
table of creatures, the most easily worried and dis-
tressed. Little things, such as no other animal, man
included perhaps, would mind, annoy and exasperate
him. If, for example, you notice a row of express-
wagon horses backed up against the curbstone, you
will easily perceive that every horse there has his
temper permanently ruined by the frequent passing
of vehicles before him, thus obliging him to turn

THE ETHICS OF HORSE-KEEPING. 13

his head. Harsh treatment, though it stop short of
inflicting physical pain, keeps a nervous horse in
a state of misery. "An hostler's angry tone will
send a 'quiver of fear — I have seen it scores of
times — down a whole barnful of stalls." ^ On the
other hand, it is perfectly true, as a besotted but
intelligent stable-keeper once observed to me, "A
kind word for a hoss is as good sometimes as a feed
of oats." A single blow may be enough to spoil
a racer. Daniel Lambert, founder of the Lambert
branch of the Morgan family, was thought as a three-
year-old to be the fastest trotting stallion of his
day. He was a very handsome, stylish, intelligent
horse, and also extremely sensitive. His driver, Dan
Mace, though one of the best reinsmen that the track
has produced, once made the mistake, either through
ill temper or bad judgment, of giving Daniel Lam-
bert a severe cut with the whip, and that single
blow put an end to his usefulness as a trotter. He
became wild and ungovernable in harness, and re-
mained so for the rest of his life.

One of the best, most docile, most intelligent ani-
mals that I have known was a powerful brown
horse belonging to a veterinary surgeon. When the
doctor was making professional visits in the city
where he lived, he would often walk from one stable
to another, and beckon or call to the horse to follow
him. This the latter would always do, waiting pa-
tiently meanwhile. But if any strange man or boy
mounted the gig and attempted to drive him off, he
could not be made to budge an inch. This animal

1 I quote this just remark from a ])u1)lished sermon upon dumb
animals, delivered by the Kev. G. L. Walker of Hartford. Conn.

14 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

showed, his iutelligence and docility in many other
ways ; and yet he had begun liis career in harness by
killing two or three men, more or less, and the sur-
geon, who perceived that the horse was naturally
kind, and that his temper had been soured by ill
treatment, purchased him for a song. He served his
master faithfully for more than twenty years.

I do not mean to say that a nervous horse is always
courageous and always intelligent, nor to imply that
courageous intelligent horses are invariably nervous.-^
But these qualities commonly go together; and as the
horse is distinguished from all other dumb beasts by
a highly developed nervous system, if I may be for-
given for repeating the statement, so the finest speci-
mens of the genus are usually those in which this
development is most conspicuous. Hence, in dealing
with the horse, more than with most animals, one
ought to exercise patience, care, and, above all, the
power of sympathy, so as to know, if possible, the
real motive of his doing or refusing to do this or
that. To acquire such knowledge, and to act upon
it when acquired, is a large part of the ethics of
horse-keeping.

In the matter of shying, for example, great dis-
crimination needs to be exercised. Everybody knows

^ It Iiappens sometimes, though rarely, that a courageous horse
is sluggish and has to be " arouserl," even by the whip. Such an an-
imal is the trotting stallion Weilgewood, one of the best "finishers"
ever se(m on tlio track, and famous for winning races of numerous
heats against speedier but less enduring competitors. Another type
is that of the amliitious, but soft and washy horse, who goes off
at a great pace, but soon tires. The ideal roadster starts slowly,
gradually warms to his work, and after ten miles or so (just when
the inferior horse has liad enough) begins to be full of play.
Such pre-eminently is the habit of the Morgan family.

THE ETHICS OF HORSE-KEEPING. 15

that when horses are in good spirits, especially in
cold weather, they will often shy at sights or sounds
which under other circumstances they pass by with-
out notice. In such a case it is always assumed that
the horse, out of roguisliness, is simply pretending to
be afraid ; and commonly this is true. Frequently,
indeed, horses work themselves into a condition of
panic for the mere fun of the thing, — to enjoy the
pleasure of running or shying off from the object
of their half-real, half-fictitious terror, just as a
school-girl might scurry through a churchyard at
dusk.

In one of Mr. Galton's books there is a passage
about wild animals which throws light on the conduct
of some tame animals. He says : " From my own recol-
lection, I believe that every antelope in South Africa
has to run for its life every one or two days upon an
average, and that he starts or gallops under the influ-
ence of a false alarm many times in a day. Those
who have crouched at night by the side of pools in
the desert, in order to have a shot at the beasts that
frequent them, see strange scenes of animal life : how
the creatures gambol at one moment and fight at an-
other ; how a herd suddenly halts in strained atten-
tion, and then breaks into a maddened rush, as one of
them becomes conscious of the stealthy movements or
rank scent of a beast of prey. Now this hourly life-
and-death excitement is a keen delight to most wild
creatures."

But there is more behind. I am convinced that
nervous horses, Avhen in high condition, and stimu-
lated by the cold or otherwise, are often actually
frightened by objects which do not thus affect them

16 ROAD, TKACK, AND STABLE.

at otlier times. Their nerves, being more tense, send
a different message to the brain. I have seen a man
of robust constitution, but just getting out after a
long illness, jump like a colt when a piece of white
paper blew across the sidewalk before him. Now,
what illness had done for his nerves, high condition,
cold air, want of exercise, will do for the nerves of a
horse, especially if he be a young horse ; and the
moral is, that for shying thus brought about the whip
is no cure. In fact, even for intentional shying the
use of the whip does more harm than good ; it is per-
missible only wheii the horse refuses to approach or
to pass a particular object. If he cannot be led or
coaxed forward, then it is well to employ punish-
ment, for he must never be allowed to disobey.

The success in equine matters of Avhich Americans
can fairly boast is due chiefly to the fact that we have
consulted the equine nature. Our trainers, perceiving
that the horse is a nervous, timid, and yet docile ani-
mal, have endeavored to win his confidence, rather
than to subdue his spirit. Instead of breaking colts,
Ave " gentle " them ; and that single word developed
in the daily usage of the stable eloquently indicates
the difference between the old method and the new,
between American horse-training and foreign horse-
breaking. The superintendent (jf a large stock farm
states : " At the age of six months we take up the
colts and gentle them. After several Aveeks of this
work they are again turned out. At fourteen months
old they are taken up and driven double with an old
horse, and in a short time they are put in single har-
ness." In smaller estal)lishments even greater pains
are taken to domesticate tiie colt from infancy up-

THE ETHICS OP HORSE-KEEPING. 17

ward ; and iu general the method is to accustom him
gradually to the bit, to the harness, to being driven
and ridden, so that liis education is completed by a
succession of small steps, each achieved without a
struggle, without rebellion, without exciting the fear
or hatred of the colt. The result is that our horses
are commonly gentle. I have seen a high-spirited
stallion, on the fourth occasion of his being in har-
ness, driven to a top- wagon, and going so kindly that
the owner did not hesitate to take his child of three
years with him.

In England great improvement in these matters has
been made in recent years, but the British horse-
trainer is still behind the age. Vicious horses, again,
are far more to seek here than is the case abroad.
Abroad there is no difficulty in providing those horse-
breakers who perform in public with specimens on
which to exert their skill, — with "man-eaters," con-
firmed kickers, etc. But in this country, when such
an exhibition is to be given, say in Xew York or in
Boston, it is found almost, sometimes quite, impos-
sible to procure a beast savage enough to do credit
to his subjugator.

John Bull has accomplished wonders with horses,
and nobody, I presume, has lighter hands or more
" faculty " in the management of them than the gen-
tlemen of England. But the understrappers and
grooms, the breakers and trainers, lack the sympa-
thetic understanding, the gentleness and patience,
that are essential for the proper education of a horse.
To discover what could be done by the exercise of
these qualities was, I make bold to say, reserved for
the American trainer ; and anybody who studies the

18 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

history of the trotting horse will perceive the truth
of this statement.

I read lately of a former well known M. F. H. Avho
kept an enormous equine establishment, and yet
among all his men there was but one tit to be in-
trusted with the exercise of his best hunters.

To create the trotter, increasing his speed within
seventy-five years from a mile in 2.40 to a mile in
2.08f, was perhaps an even greater achievement than
the development of the modern thoroughbred in the
one hundred and fifty years that have elapsed since
the importation to England of the Godolphin Arabian.
The utility of the achievement is another matter ; and
I should confess to some sympathy with the critic
who was inclined to estimate it lightly. But what-
ever we may think of the result, whether or not we
hold that a 2.08 horse is greatly better than a 2.40
horse, the value of the process by which this result
was reached can hardly be exaggerated. The trainers
of the American trotter have taught the world the
best lesson that it has ever received in the ethics of
horse-keeping.

The case of Johnston, the famous pacer, illustrates
what can be acconijilished by humoring the sensitive
equine disposition. "■ He was," writes John Splan,
his trainer and driver, " the most nervous horse that
I ever saw, and I found that in shipping him about
from one track to another he became more nervous
and irritable. If you left him long alone in the stable,
he would tramp around like a wild animal, and get
himself in a sweat. If anybody went into the stall
next to him, and began to hammer or make anything
like a loud noise, he would try to climb out of the

THE ETHICS OF HORSE-KEEPING. 19

window. Whenever a stranger stepped into liis stall
he would give a snort and back into the farthest cor-
ner." Splan, with some difficulty, obtained the ser-
vices of a quiet, faithful " rubber " or groom called
"Dave." Dave procured a dog as additional com-
pany for Johnston, and these three remained insep-
arable through the period of Johnston's training. It
was a matter of course that the groom should sleep
in the stall, but he never left it, day or night, having
all his meals brought there. Under this treatment
Johnston rapidly improved. He became less ner-
vous, ate better, and in the event lowered the pacing
record to 2.06^, a mark which has not yet been sur-
passed upon a regulation track.

There remains only one branch of the subject which
I feel bound to consider, namely, the duty of the
owner toward the horse that has grown old and in-
firm in his service. I Sc^y little about the man who
employs horses in the course of his business ; let him
settle the matter with his own conscience, though I
cannot refrain from the obvious remark, that whereas
it might be a poor man's duty to sell his superannu-
ated beast for what he would bring, lest his family
should suffer, so it would be the rich man's duty to
dispose of his work horses in a diiferent manner. But
as regards horses bought and used for pleasure this
general rule seems to me undeniable, that the owner
is morally bound to protect them from cruelty when
they become old or broken down. He may do it by
killing them, or otherwise, as he sees fit. But how
seldom is this duty performed ! It is neglected, pos-
sibly, more from thoughtlessness than from intention.
A span of carriage horses, we will say, after some

20 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

years of service, lose their style ; they become a little
stiff, a little '• sore forward," it may be ; one of them,
perhaps, is suffering from incipient spavin; and on
the whole it is thought high time to dispose of them,
and get a fresher, younger pair. Accordingly, John,
the groom, is directed to take them to an auction
stable, and in due course Dives, their old master, re-
ceives in return a cheque, — a very small cheque, to be
sure, but still large enough to make a respectable con-
tribution to foreign missions or to purchase a case of
champagne. That is all he knows about the transac-
tion, and he does not allow his mind to dwell upon
the inevitable results. But let Dives go to the auction
stable himself ; let him observe the wistful, homesick
air (for horses are often homesick) Avith Avhich the
old favorites look about them when they are backed
out of the unaccustomed stalls ; then let him stand
by and see them whipped up and down the stable floor
to show their tardy paces, and Anally knocked down
to some hard-faced, thin-lipped dealer. It needs very
little imagination to foresee their after career. To
begin with, the old companions are separated, — a
great grief to both, which it requires a long time to
obliterate. The more active one goes into a country
livery stable, where he is hacked about by people
whose only interest in the beast is to take out of him
the pound of flesh for which they have paid. He has
no rest on week days, but his Sunday task is the hard-
est. On that sacred day, the reprobates of the village
who have arrived at the perfect age of cruelty (which
I take to be about nineteen or twenty) lash the old
carriage horse from one public house to another, and
bring him home exhausted and reeking Avith sweat.

THE ETHICS OP HORSE-KEEPING. 21

His mate goes into a job wagon perhaps, possibly
into a herdic, and is driven by night lest his staring
ribs and the painful lameness in his hind leg should
attract the notice of meddlesome persons. The last
stage of many a downward equine career is found in
the shafts of a fruit pedler's or junk dealer's wagon,
in which situation there is continual exposure to heat
and cold, to rain and snow, recompensed by the least
possible amount of food. It may be that one of the
old horses whose fate we are considering is finally
bought by some poverty-stricken farmer; he works
without grain in summer, and passes long winter
nights in a cold and draughty barn, with scanty cov-
ering, and no bed but the floor. It is hard that
in his old age, when, like an old man, he feels the
cold most, and is most in need of nourishing food, he
should be deprived of all the comforts — the warm
stall and soft bed, the good blankets and plentiful
oats — which were heaped upon him in youth.

If, as is probably the case, the old carriage horse
has been docked, his suffering in warm weather will
greatly be increaserl . That form of mutilation which
we call docking is, I believe, inartistic and barbarous,
and I do not doubt that before many years it will be-
come obsolete, as is now the cropping of horses' ears,
which was practised so late as 1840. But still I
should not utterly condemn the owner for docking his
horses, or buying them after they had been docked,
which comes to the same thing, if his intention and
custom were to keep them so long as they lived.
But to dock a horse, thus depriving him forever of
his tail, to keep him till he is old or broken down,
and then to sell him for what he will bring, is the

22 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

very refinement of cruelty. The Anglomaniacs, to
whom we owe the revival of docking, should consider
that in our climate of flies and mosquitos the practice
is infinitely more cruel than it is in England.

I have endeavored to show that the horse is an
animal peculiarly capable of suffering, and to suggest
some of the ways in which his suffering can be pre-
vented or alleviated. Of late years, thanks largely
to anti-cruelty societies, the horse has been less abused
than was formerly the case. But let any one, and
especially any one who may have a fancy for the
human race, consider what awful arrears of cruelty
to dumb animals have accrued at its hands. Let him
think of the horses that have been baited to death, as
bulls are baited ; let him think of the unspeakable
remedies that have been applied by ignorant farriers
and grooms, such as the forcing of ground glass into
the animal's eye ; let him think of the horses that
have been "whipped sound" in coaches and heavy
wagons, — that is, compelled by the lash to travel
chiefly on three legs, one leg or foot being disabled,
until the overwrought muscles gave out entirely ; let
him think of th*e agonies that have been inflicted by
beating and spurring, of the heavy loads that a vast
army of painfully lame, of diseased, and even of dying
horses have been forced to draw. Let him take but a
single glance at the history of the human race in this
respect, and another perhaps at his own heart, and
then declare if it be not true, as was once remarked
to me,^ " Man deserves a hell, were it only for his
treatment of horses."

1 By the late John Boyle O'Reilly.

II.

TROTTING FAMILIES.

THE American trotting horse is derived from these
sources : —
The English thoroughbred.^
The Norfolk trotter.
The Arab and Barb.
Certain pacers of mixed breeding.
And just as the best running horses now extant in

1 A thoroughbred is one all of whose ancestors, back to the
eighteenth century, are recorded either in the English or in the
American Stud Book for running horses. The American work is
a continuation for this country of the English. The first volume
of the English Stud Book was issued in 1808, and an annual volume
of each book is published.

A thoroughbred is, therefore, a horse of pure running stock.
The origin of this stock, which is chiefly Oriental, will be found
stated briefly at page 118.

24 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

England are descended from three or four animals
foaled in the eighteenth century, and bred chiefly
from Arab importations, so the American trotter of
to-day can usually be referred to one or more of the
following ancestors : jMessenger, True Briton, and Di-
omed, thoroughbreds ; Bellfounder, a Norfolk trotter ;
Grand Bashaw, a Barb ; Pilot, a Canadian pacer ; and
Blue Bull, a pacer from the State of Ohio.

Of these horses Messenger has played the greatest
part. He was a gray, foaled at Newmarket in Eng-
land in the year 1780, and imported to this country in
1788. For a thoroughbred, he was a plain, almost
coarse animal, with a big, bony head, low withers, up-
right shoulders, and a rather short, straight neck. But
his shoulders were deep and strong, his loins and quar-
ters very powerful, his legs flat and clean. He had big
knees, big hocks ; and his windpipe and nostrils were
described by a contempoiary writer as being "nearly
twice as large as ordinary." He stood 15| hands high,
and, " whether at rest or in motion, his legs were always
in a perfect position." The low withers, the upright
shoulders, the plain head, Messenger inherited from
Sampson, his great-grandsire,^ a. black horse ; and these
peculiarities, as well as the black color, were so ex-
traordinary in a horse of Oriental breeding, that suspi-
cions have been entertained as to Sampson's pedigree,
and some writers have asserted that his dam was a Lin-
colnshire cart mare. But the best authorities do not
appear to share these painful doubts, and Sampson may
safely be regarded as a true thoroughbred, close to the

1 Messenger was V)_v Mambrino, by Engineer, by Sampson, by
Blaze, by Flying Childers, by tbe Darley Arabian. Messenger's dam
was by Turf, by Matchem, by Cade, l)y tlie G<i(lolphin Arabian.

TROTTING FAMILIES, 25

Arab fouudation. At all events, he was superlatively
excellent both as a race horse and as a sire, and Mes-
senger inherited most of his good qualities, but not his
extreme speed. Messenger, though running bred, was
a natural trotter, — the more so, perhaps, on account
of his somewhat straight shoulders and low withers.
It is true indeed that certain of our very fastest
trotters, notably Axtell and Palo Alto, have sloping
shoulders and fairly high withers ; but the Messenger
or Sampson conformation is that of the typical trotter.
Maud S.,^ Sunol,^ and Nancy Hanks ^ are built thus.

Messenger was an animal of great soundness and
vigor. One who saw him taken off the ship was ac-
customed to relate that three other horses, his com-
panions on the long voyage, " had become so reduced
and weak that they had to be helped and supported
down the gang-plank ; but when it became Messenger's
turn to land, he, with a loud neigh, rushed down, with
a negro on each side holding him back, and dashed up
the street at a stiff trot, carrying the grooms along in
spite of all their efforts to bring him to a standstill."
"When Messenger charged down the gang-plank,"
Hiram Woodruff declared, " the value of not less than
one hundred million dollars struck our soil."

Messenger died of colic, at Oyster Bay on Long
Island, in January, 1808, being then twenty-eight
years of age, and having attained such a height of
equine reputation that he was buried with military
honors, and a charge of musketry was fired over his
grave.

1 Her record is 2.08|.

2 Her record is 2.08^ on a kite-shaped track.
^ See page 87.

26 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

Nearly fifty years later, in ^STovember, 1854, an old
bay horse called Abdallali was turned out on the sands
of this same Long Island, and abandoned to die of cold
and starvation. He had been sold for thirty-five dol-
lars to a fisherman, who attempted to put him in har-
ness. But Abdallah had never been broken to harness,
and being of a vicious temper he kicked the fish-wagon
to pieces, and thereupon the fisherman cruelly cast him
adrift. Abdallah was a grandson of Messenger,^ and,
so far as we know, the best of his descendants in that
generation. He was an ugly, rat-tailed horse, but big,
strong, tough, and a fast trotter. Unlike the Messen-
ger stock in general, he had fine sloping shoulders.
Abdallah was the sire of Rysdyck's Hambletonian,-
who founded the noted trotting family called the
Hambletonians.^

The dam of Rysdyck's Hambletonian, known to
fame as the Charles Kent mare, was of a lineage en-
tirely different, for her sire Avas Bellfounder, a Nor-
folk trotter. Bellfounder was imported in 1822 by
Mr. James Boott, a rich merchant of Boston, Massa-
chusetts, who paid seven hundred pounds sterling for

1 Abdallali was sired by ^lambriiio. Mambriiio -was by Mes-
senger, out of a mare by imported Sour-Crout. Abdallab's dam
was said to be by another son of Messenger.

■•^ The sire of his grandam was called Bishop's " Hamiltonian,"
after Alexander Hamilton. The name was however corrujited to
" Hamliletonian," which was also the name of an English race
horse bred iu Hambleton, a district of Yorkshire.

3 Of the twenty trotting stallions who stand liighest on the list,
judging bv the records of tlieir sons and daughters, all but two are
descended from Rysdyck's Hambletonian, either on the paternal or
maternal side; and of those two one is also a descendant of Mes-
senger (in a different line), and the breeding of the other is un-
known on the dam's side.

TROTTING FAMILIES. 27

him. He was a handsome round-built bay horse with
black poiuts, and he is said to have trotted in England
nine miles in twenty-nine minutes and thirty-eight
seconds, and two miles in six minutes. Bellfounder
was of the same blood from which the modern hackney
is derived, and of much the same origin as that famous
Marshland Shales whose name is preserved in the
works of George Borrow. An old advertising card
was discovered some years ago, in which it is stated
that Bellfounder's dam Avas Velocity. In 1806 Velo-
city was matched to trot sixteen miles within an hour
on the Korwich road, and although she broke into a
gallop fifteen times, " and as often turned round " (that
being the penalty), she won the match.

Bellfounder was described as " plump in form and
muscular in all his parts," and as having "a fine,
slashing gait." He contributed to the Hambletonian
family that mildness of temper for which, unlike
the earlier Messengers, they have always been distin-
guished.

Rysdyck's Hambletonian was an animal of extraor-
dinary appearance, looking very much as a locomo-
tive might look if it were turned into a horse witli no
more changes than were necessary to effect the trans-
formation. He had a long, round body, like the boiler
of an engine, of almost the same girth throughout.
His neck was short and straight, and he had a big,
ugly head, surmounted by ears which, though large
and coarse, were a little too well shaped to be posi-
tively ill-bred. His expression was good, phlegmatic
but amiable, and full of character. He stood very
firm and solid, on feet perfect in shape and texture ;
and his legs were flat, clean, heavily muscled, and free

28 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

from gumminess or swelling even in his old age. It is
hardly necessary to add that his tail was set low and
carried low, for there was nothing ornamental about
E-ysdyck's Hambletonian. His hind quarters were
very powerful, and he had great length from hip to
hock. The rump was rather round than sloping.
Altogether he presented the appearance of a service-
able, practical beast, ht, when well warmed up, to trot
for a man's life, as the phrase is, but neither beautiful
nor lively. In color he took after the Bellfounder
strain, being a rich, deep bay with black points, and
this color was transmitted to his descendants with
singular uniformity.^

The Hambletonians, indeed, have a marked family
resemblance. They are almost always big bay horses,
with large ears, drooping tails, a long, wide gait, and
a sleepy disposition. Thus it appears that they are
ill adapted for roadster purposes, whether in form, in
action, or in character ; and the predominance of the
family is, on the whole, to be regretted. It has in-
creased the speed, but lessened the beauty and dulled
the spirit of our average harness horse. Hambleto-
nian himself had no record, but he was undoubtedly
fast. His chief points of excellence were his long
trotting gait, his muscular development, the fine qual-
ity of his bones and sinews. It is estimated that he
sired about 1,340 foals, and of these only fort}- made
records of 2.30 or better. Hambletonian's reputation is

' The following measurements of Hambletonian may interest
certain of my readers. He stood l.'i.l at tlie withers, and 15.3 at
the rump. His knee was 1.3| inches in circuniference, his hock 17^
inches. From the centre of the hip-joint to the point of the hock
he measured 41 inches ; from the point of the stifle to the point of
the hock, the length of his thigh was 24 inches.

TROTTING FAMILIES. 29

established by his more remote descendants, in whom
the cart-liorse qualities inherited from the Bellfonnder
strain were overcome by an infusion of thoroughbred
or Arab blood. His best sons were invariably from
high-bred mares. Perhaps the best of all was Alex-
ander's Abdallah.^ This grand horse came to an end
more untimely and no less cruel than that suffered by
his grandsire Abdallah. In February, 1865, just be-
fore the Civil War closed, Alexander's Abdallah was
stolen by a Eebel guerilla from his owner's farm at
Woodburn, Kentucky. The next day he was recap-
tured by a Federal soldier, ridden fifty miles unshod,
and then abandoned at the roadside without food or
shelter. He died a few days later of pneumonia.
Among his few descendants are Belmont,^ Almont,
and Thorndale, all of whom founded subordinate trot-
ting families, and the famous Goldsmith Maid, whose
career will be glanced at in a subsequent chapter.
Other noted sous of Rysdyck's Hambletonian are
George Wilkes and Electioneer, both of whose danis
were of the Clay family (presently to be described),
Volunteer (whose dam Avas a high-bred mare called
Lady Patriot), Happy Medium, Harold (the sire of
Maud S.), Strathmore, Dictator, and Aberdeen. At.
present, the two most popular trotting families are
those founded by George Wilkes and Electioneer,
respectively. Both of these horses were bred in New
York State, but Wilkes passed the greater part of
his life in Kentucky, and Electioneer stood for many

^ His dam was a small, M'iry hay mare, who showed signs of
high breeding. Her pedigree is untraced, but she is said to have
descended from Mambrino, son of Messenger.

- Sire of Nutwood and of Wedeewood.

30 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

3"ears at the head of Goveruor Stanford's famous farm
in California. He is the sire of Sunol, of Palo Alto,
whose dam was a thoroughbred, of Arion, and of many
other fast trotters.

Neither the Wilkeses nor the Electioneers pure and
simple are possessed of much style or beauty, nor are
they suitable for roadster use ; but some of the younger
branches in each family where other blood has been
introduced excel in these respects, as well as in
trotting speed.

There is another strain descended from Messenger
scarcely inferior to the Hambletonians in speed, equal
to them in soundness, and far superior in point of
elegance and spirit. This is the Kentucky family of
Mambrino Chief,^ and more especially of his son, Mam-
brino Patchen. The dam of Mambrino Patchen was
the Rodes mare, by Gano,^ a thoroughbred. Mambrino
Patchen himself was a very beautiful black horse,
about sixteen hands high, with sloping shoulders,
high withers, a fine arched neck, a tail well put on and
well carried. In fact, this whole family is noted for
the proud and graceful carriage of its tails, so much
so that some detractors have insinuated that artificial
means were used to produce this effect. An own
sister of Mambrino Patchen was Lady Thorne, perhaps
the best trotting mare, all things considered, ever bred.
She was a blood bay, 16-^ hands high, with the marks

1 Foaled in 1844; by Mambrino Paymaster, he by Mambrino, a
thoroughbred son of Messenger. The dam of Mambrino Chief
cannot be traced, but she was a fine, strong, courageous animal,
and a great roadster.

- Gano was a son of American Eclipse. The grandam and great-
grandam of Mambrino Patchen were also half-bred horses of much
quality, sound and long-lived.

TROTTING FAMILIES. 31

of a thoroughbred. Her record is only 2.18:^, but she
beat all the fastest horses of her day, including Dexter,
Mountain Boy, Goldsmith Maid, American Girl, Lucy,
and George Palmer, and had it not been for an injury
to her hip received while she was being taken from
a car she would doubtless have lowered this record.
The accident compelled her retirement from the
turf. There is a tradition that Dan Mace once drove
Lady Thorne a mile in 2.08 and a fraction, and it is
fairly well established that she trotted a trial mile
in 2.101.

The best son of Mambrino Patchen is Mambrino
King,^ now twenty years of age, but still a prize
winner at horse shows. There is a singular unanimity
of opinion about this animal, for, so far as I can as-
certain, all who have seen him pronounce Mambrino
King to be the handsomest horse in the world. Such
is the judgment of Mr. Robert Bonner, for example,
in this country, of Mr. Burdett-Coutts in England, and
of those Continental connoisseurs in horse-flesh who
have visited this country. Among the latter is Baron
Favorot de Kerbeck, a French Colonel of Dragoons,
who, with two other officers, Avas sent to the United
States by his government, a few years ago, to inspect
our horses. He reported : —

" Mambrino King is the most splendid specimen we
have had an opportunity of admiring. Imagine an
Alfred de Dreux, a burnt chestnut, whole colored,
standing 15.3 hands, with an expressive head, large,
intelligent, and spirited eyes, well opened lower jaws,
well set ears, the neck and shoulders splendidly shaped,

1 His dam was by Edwin Forrest, a half-bred horse raised in
Kentucky.

32 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

long, and. gracefully rouuded off, the shoulders strong
and thrown back well, the withers well in place and
top muscular, the ribs round and loins superb, the
crupper long and broad, limbs exceedingly fine, the
joints powerful, the tail carried majestically, and all
the movements high and spirited, — iinagiue all this,
and you will have an idea of this stallion. He is as
fine, if we look at him in front, as he is in his hind
quarters, the whole animal being an embodiment of
purity of lines, elegance, and elasticity. He is in fact
perfection."

Some years ago Mambrino King was stigmatized by
many practical horsemen, Avhose ideal trotter was a
coarse-bred brute, as the Dude Stallion ; but since his
sons and daughters have displayed both speed and
gameness in numerous hard fought races, Mambrino
King's solid qualities are no longer questioned.

Having, then, such horses as Mambrino King, as
Quartermaster,^ Alcantara,^ Ivy wood,^ and many others
like them, it seems absurd that we should import for
our driving hackneys from England, which do not sur-
pass the American horses just mentioned in any re-
spect, and are far inferior to them in speed. In this
connection I will quote a remark from the present
Duke of Marlborough's account of his visit to the stock
farms of Kentucky. ''Tlie small farmer," he says,
" drives an animal that would leave the English farmer
on his way to mar-ket in the last parish, while the
amateur can buy for £150 to £200 a pair of animals
which could not be obtained in England for double the

1 A great-grandson of Mambrino Patchen, sired by Alcyone, a
son of George Wilkes.

2 A grandson of Mainlirino I'atcheu, own brother to Alcyone.
•'' A son of Wedgewood.

TROTTING FAMILIES. 33

money, and are able to go at a speed far greater than
our best Norfolk trotters can manage."

I have now indicated the two most important trot-
ting families descended from Messenger, and there are
others but little inferior. Vermont had the Harris
Hambletonian, a grandson of Messenger, out of a gray
" English mare." He was a gray himself, and so were
most of his descendants. This horse was the sire of
Soutag, who once beat Flora Temple in a match race,
and graudsire of the Morse horse, among whose de-
scendants was Lulu, with a record of 2.141, and Gov-
ernor Sprague, a trotting stallion of high reputation.

Maine had Winthrop Messenger and the Bush Mes-
senger. The Bush Messengers were almost invariably
chestnuts. Fanny Pullen, dam of Trustee,^ the first
horse to trot twenty miles within an hour, was a Bush
Messenger.

Still another Messenger strain, and one of more
''quality" than the rest, is that of the Champions.
In the first quarter of this century, one Mr. John
Tredwell of Long Island had a pair of extraordinarily
fast and enduring road mares, called Amazonia and
Sophronisba, the former being of Messenger descent,
and the latter a granddaughter of imported Baronet.^
In 1823 both of these mares produced foals by Mam-
brino, son of Messenger. Amazonia's foal was Abdal-
lah, sire, as we have seen, of the famous Rysdyck's
Hambletonian, and Sophronisba's foal was Almack,
sire of Grinnell's Champion,^ first of the name, and

1 His sire was imported Trusteo, a thoroughbred.

2 By Vertumims out of Peuulti*a. Barouet, a bay horse, was
noted for his beaut}^.

^ The dam of Grinnell's Champion was by Engineer, and his
granda'ni by the famous American Eclipse.

3

34 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE,

founder of the family. Tiiis liorse Avas thus de-
scribed by one who had seen him : —

" He was a gohlen chestnut, about sixteen hands,
with a perfect diamond on his nose, and two white
socks behind. In his general make-up he partook
much of the thoroughbred appearance : the lightness
of his head and neck, his wiry leg and elastic move-
ment, his glossy coat and waveless mane and tail,
shaded from a darker hue to a bright tint on the
edge, — in all a perfect type of the high-bred runner.
He was exhibited at the State Fair at Auburn, IS^ew
York, in 184S. I can never forget, though I was
very young at the time, this eventful show, as he
assumed a position among his rivals which bade
defiance to the artist. He seemed to realize the ad-
miration with which he was regarded by the immense
throng about him."

The rich chestnut color, the high spirit, the well-
bred look, displayed by Grinnell's Champion, distin-
guish the family to this day, and it is probably owing
more to accident and mismanagement than to any
deficiency that the Champions are few in number,
and of less reputation than the Hambletonians. The
fastest of the family was the Auburn horse, who
belonged to Mr. Robert Bonner.^

The Auburn horse was the last of those famous
trotters which, as one writer remarks with pardona-
ble extravagance, were stabled in Hiram Woodruff's
brain. 2 In the autumn of 1864, just before winter

' lie was a son of Kinji;'s Champion, his dam being by Ked
Bird, son of liilly Duroc, l)y J)uroc, son of imported Diomed.

- Mr. Woodruff, a genius in the art of horsemanship, and a
verv honest man, was the author of "The Trotting liorse of
America," bv far tlie nmst interesting work upon the subject.

TROTTING FAMILIES. 35

closed in and the ground became frozen, the Auburn
horse showed a flight of speed that set Mr. Woodruff's
household and stable in commotion. On alighting
from the sulky, he declared that he had just been car-
ried faster than he ever rode before in his life, and
he made the same remark to JNIr. Bonner later in the
day, when that gentleman paid the stable a visit.
"But," said Mr. Bonner, "you rode at the rate of
two minutes to the mile behind Peerless for a quar-
ter. Do you mean to say that you rode faster behind
the Auburn horse than behind the gray mare ? "
Woodruff answered, " Faster than behind the gray
mare, — faster than I ever rode before behind any
horse." This was probably true, for he was a man
not given to overstatement ; but early in the follow-
ing spring, before the season opened, Hiram Woodruff
died, and the Auburn horse did not long survive him.
So much for the chief strains of trotting blood
derived from Messenger. Kext in importance among
founders of the trotter comes the Barb or Arab,
Grand Bashaw, who was imported from Tripoli in
1820. He is described as a very beautiful little black
horse, about 14.1 high, with a small star in his fore-
head. He died in Pennsylvania in the year 1845.
Among his sons was Young Bashaw, a larger and
much coarser animal, and gray in color like his dam,
who was Pearl, by Bond's First Consul ; his grandam
was a Messenger mare. Young Bashaw sired Andrew
Jackson,^ the fastest trotting stallion of his day, a
black horse, strong, compact, and short-legged. When
Andrew Jackson was foaled, his dam was the prop-
erty of one Daniel Jeffreys, a brickmaker, and the

1 His dam was a pacer, and nothing more is known of her.

36 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

lirst act of the little colt was to tumble luto a pit
where clay had been mixed for making bricks. He
was rescued from this hole in a very sorry condition,
and either on account of the accident, or from natural
weakness, he was unable to stand upright. His pas-
tern joints bent under his weight, and altogether he
appeared to be so wretched and worthless a creature
that Mr. Jeffreys gave orders to have him killed.
But his wife interceded, begged that the foal's life
might be spared, and undertook to look after him
herself. The colt was accordingly permitted to live,
a little careful nursing soon brought him round, and
thus, through the pity of a woman, did the ances-
tor of all the Clays escape being murdered in his in-
fancy. It is an odd fact that Vermont Blackhawk,
founder of the trotting branch of the Morgan fam-
ily, and one of the handsomest horses that ever
lived, was also condemned to death by his owner
because of the weak and ugly appearance that he
first made in the world. In his case it was the
groom who successfully interceded for his life. The
same thing is true of Santa Clans, one of the best
grandsons of Rysdyck's Hambletonian. Andrew Jack-
son was the sire of Henry Clay, founder of the Clay
family, his dam being a Canadian trotting mare called
Surrey, of unknown breeding.

Some writers assert that Henry Clay's good quali-
ties as a trotter were derived from the Messenger
element in his composition ; but it is a striking fact,
that in form, in disposition, and in color he resembled
his great-grandsire Grand Bashaw very closely. He
was a coal-black horse with a beautiful white cres-
cent on his face, "very perfect, the line of it extend-

TROTTINCx FAMILIES. 37

ing up and clown, that is, one horn above the eyes,
the other below." He had the curved neck, the fine
sloping shoulders, the round swelling barrel, the
small ears, the springy pasterns, the tough, round
feet of a Barb or Arab horse. In the hind parts,
however, he took after his dam. His hips were
sharp, the rump was long and drooping. He had
grciit length from hip to hock, the invariable forma-
tion of a trotter, and his tail was thick and wavy, with
a few white hairs at the dock.

''' In disposition and temper," writes Mr. Eandolph
Huntington, " he was a very lovable horse. The
last time I went to see him was in October, 1865.
Henry Clay was then twenty-eight years old. Mr.
Fellows, who owned him, knew that I loved the old
horse, and asked me if I would not like to see him out.
However, not wishing to trouble him, and knowing
that Henry Clay had long been blind, I answered,
'Never mind,' but the door of his box was swung
wide open, and after a cheerful, ' Come, Henry,' from
his master, the old horse sailed out into the barnyard
with as lofty and as sure a step as though he could see
every spot in which it was possible to place a foot."

Henry Clay was a horse of great bottom and of
sound constitution, as is sufficiently proved by the
fact that he lived to be twenty-nine years old, notwith-
standing the hard usage to which he was subjected.
There is a tradition that he was once driven ninety
miles in a single day, and started the next afternoon
in a race which he won. However this may be, it is
certain that for many years Henry Clay belonged to
an owner who cruelly abused him. It seems to be
the natural amusement of a drunken man to ill-treat

38 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

a horse, and Heiuy Clay was one of that innumerable
company of dumb beasts whose fate it has been to
supply this kind of entertainment for the superior
animal. When his " peculiar turns were upon liim,"

writes one who knew both horse and man, "W

always Avanted to drive Henry Clay. At such times
the city of Rochester, which is twenty-eight miles
by road from Geneseo, was the objective point.
When ready to return, after an experience that tries
men's nerves, he would get into the wagon, take out
his whip, and, giving it a wide swing, exclaim, ' One
hour and a half into my barn,' — which the horse
had to do. Sometimes his carriage would break down.
The President of the Livingston Agricultural Society,
the late ^I. L. Cumraings, wishing at one time to

see W on some important matters, waited for

him in his barn, and W finally drove in hang-
ing to the dashboard, the hind axle dragging, both
hind wheels gone. The horse was dripping wet, and
panting so that Mr. Cummings (a first-class horse-
man) thought that he would never recover his wind.
W took out his watch, looked at it, and ex-
claimed, ' He did it, or I would shoot him. One hour
and a half, twenty-eight miles ! ' "

On another occasion W struck Henry Clay

with a club, breaking one of his ribs, and the injury
left its mark on tl>e skeleton of the horse, whicli
is still preserved in the National Museum at Wash-
ington.

The Orloff trotters of liussia were bred in uuich
the same way as the Clays, and there is a resemblance
between the two families. Some years ago there was
an exhibition of Orloif trotters at a State fair held in

• TROTTING FAMILIES. 39

Central ISTew York, neai the former home of Henry
Ckiy, and many farmers who saw the Rnssian horses
there protested at what they considered an imposition.
" These are not foreign horses, the}^ are nothing but
Clays," was their criticism.

For many years, while tlie Hambletonian star was
rising, the Clay family were undervalued and mis-
represented ; but finally, when it became apparent
that the most successful Hambletonian sires, George
Wilkes and Electioneer, were out of Clay mares, and
that in many other cases Clay blood had helped to
produce extreme speed, this prejudice was dissipated.
It seems to be true, howevei', that there is a slight
tendency in the family to sulk at critical moments.
''It was undoubtedly," says Mr. H. T. Helm,! "a
mental quality, which, when they were collared by an
antagonist, and likely to be forced to the utmost, caused
them to sulk and refuse to do their best." And Mr.
Helm adds that Boston, the famous four-mile racer,
and Harry Bassett, his grandson, both exhibited the
same trait.

I have stated already the maternal lines coming
from Clay stock in which chiefly distinction has been
won. There is also an important California family
descended from the Clays in the paternal line. This
is the family founded by The Moor, among whose
descendants are Sultan, and the son of Sultan, Stam-
boul, Avhose record is 2.11. Tliese California Clays
are very beautiful horses, having almost the finish
and quality of thoroughbreds. -

1 "Ajnerican Roadsters and Trotting Horses." A valuable
work, of which I shall make frequent use.

- The breeding of this family is as follows : Henry Clay sired

40 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

It is an interesting fact that the Hambletonians,
the Mambrino Chiefs, and the Clays all have a hall-
mark, so to say, of their own, not found of course in
every individual belonging to their blood, but still
extremely common. In the Hambletonian family this
is a white hind foot, mottled with black; in the
Mambrino Chief family, especially in the Mambrino
Patchen branch, it is one hind leg gray from foot to
hock ; in the Clays, it is a few gray hairs at the root
of the tail.

Having now indicated in a general way three of
the main sources of trotting speed, — namely, the
Messenger strain as exhibited especially in the Ham-
bletonian and Mambrino Chief families, the Bell-
founder or Norfolk Trotter strain as represented in
the Hambletonian family, and the Grand Bashaw or
Barb strain preserved in the Clays, — I come to the
fourth main source of trotting speed, namely, the
Morgans, a New England breed.

In the troubled year 1788, one Colonel De Lancey,
a King's officer, and a patron of horse racing, was in
command of a regiment stationed at a point on Long
Island connected with the mainland by a long bridge.
As his private charger, the Colonel had a very hand-
some bay stallion, a thoroughbred, called True Briton,*
and afterward Beautiful Bay.

Cassius M. Clay out of a well-bred but untraced mare. Cassius M.
Clay sired Clay Tilot out of a mare by Pacing Tilot (a Canadian
horse of unknown peilisjree), second dam by Gray Eagle, an in-
bred T)iomed. Clay I'ilot sired The Moor out of Belle of Wabash,
a very blood-like animal, a thoroughbred, or nearly thorongld)red,
grandilaugliter of ini))orted Fylde.

' True Briton was by Lloyd's Traveller, by Imported Traveller.
Imported (or Moreton's) 'J'raveller was bred by Mr. Crofts. He

TROTTING FAMILIES, 41

Some nameless person, j^^^'^'^^H-'S ^ patriot ambitious
to despoil the enemy, or, as is more likely, a miscreant
bent upon plunder, stole this True Briton, and ran
him across the bridge to Connecticut, and thereupon
he became an American possession, and was kept at
East Hartford. This horse was the sire of the bay
colt afterward known as Justin Morgan. The dam
of Justin Morgan is represented to have been of the
Wildair breed. Wildair, a horse of the very first
quality, was imported from England, and afterward
repurchased at a high price and returned to that
country. According to other accounts, Justin Mor-
gan's dam was descended from the Lindsey Arabian,
a noted animal kept first in Connecticut and after-
ward in Maryland.^ At all events, it is probable

was sired by Partuer, grandson of the Byerly Turk, and graudsire
of King Herod. The dam of Traveller was by Bloody Buttocks,
the Arabian. The dam of Lloyd's Traveller was by a son of Old
Fox, out of Miss Belvoir.

1 The story of this horse is a romantic one. In return for some
very important service, he was presented by the Emperor of Mo-
rocco to the captain of a Britisii frigate, who took him on board
and set sail for home. Being obliged to call at one of the West
India islands, the captain put the horse ashore in order that he
might exercise himself in a large enclosed yard near the sea.
Unfortunately there was a pile of lumber in this yard upon which
the horse climbed, and, the lumber slipping, he fell and broke three
of his legs. In the harbor at the time tliere happened to be also an
American ship commanded by an acquaintance of the British officer,
and, as this vessel was intending to remain there for some weeks!
the horse was given to the American captain, who brought him on
board, put him in a sling, and succeeded in setting his broken legs.
The anmial finally arrived in the United States in good condition
and was sent to Connecticut, where he soon made a reputation!
He was now called Eanger. During the Revolutionarv War some
^ irginia officers, including General Harry Lee, were struck bv the
great excellence of certain horses ridden by soldiers from Con-

42 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

that she was nearly, if not quite, as well bred as
True Briton, for so remarkable an animal as Justin
Morgan could hardly have been a mongrel.

It must be remembered that at the time when
Justin Morgan was foaled the typical thoroughbred
was very unlike the thoroughbred of the present day.
He was close to the Arab foundation, and conse
quently he was a shorter-legged, rounder built, more
compact animal than the race horse of the nineteenth
century. Such was the famous and beautiful Gim-
crack,^ foaled in 17G0. It is not surprising, therefore,
that Justin Morgan, though well-bred, was a chunky
little horse, with short legs and round quarters. He
had a fine mane and tail, a sliort, powerful back, a
longish body, strong, oblique shoulders, a delicate
ear, a noble head, and the most intelligent, expressive,
and courageous eyes that the spirit of a Houyhnhnm
ever looked out of. He stood fourteen hands only,
and weighed about nine hundred pounds. He was
foaled in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1793, and as
a two-year-old he was taken in part payment of a debt
by a school-teacher named Justin Morgan, who brought
him to Randolph, Vermont. The horse died in 1821,
near Chelsea, Vermont.

necticiit. On inquiry, they lonrned tliat these horses were sons
of Hanger. There were sixty of them, all grays, in a troop com-
manded l)y Captain Tallmadge, who is said to have lamented the
loss of one of them more hitterly tlian he did the death of a trooper.
The Virginia gentlemen made up a j)nrse, and sent one Captain
Lindsey to inspect Hanger, and, if the horse answered the account
that ha<l been given to them, to purcjiase him if possible. Captain
[..indsey accordingly Ixmght l^angcr aii<l took him to Virginia, where
he was known as I>indsey's Aral>ian. He was a gray, high-s])irited,
of a proud and commanding appearance.

^ Gimcrack was by Cripple, by the (iodolphin Arabian. He
stood onl\ 14.1 liands.

TROTTING FAMILIES. 4o

Justiu Morgan was no trotter, and not till the third
or fourth generation did a trotter arise in his family
but he was distinguished in three ways, as a draught
iiorse, as a short-distance runner, and as a military
charger or parade horse. In his day there were no
race-courses and no stated races in Vermont ; but when
the sporting element gathered at a tavern on a spring
or summer evening, they were wont to amuse them-
selves by running their horses on the level road in
front of the tavern, the prize being a gallon of rum,
and in these races Justin Morgan is said never to have
been beaten. On the same occasions a contest would
often be had in pulling logs ; and when the other horses
concerned had done their best, it was the custom of
Justin Morgan's owner to hitch him to the heaviest
log that had been stirred, then to jump on himself,
and the little horse never failed to move the load.
When ridden at a muster, his proud carriage made
him the cynosure of all eyes ; and he was so intelli-
gent and tractable that Avomen could ride him. In
line, Justin Morgan was an animal of extraordinary
utility and style. To an extraordinaiy extent, also,
he stamped his image and impressed his qualities upon
his descendants.

Unfortunate indeed is the American in whose ears
those magic words, " Morgan horse," awake no recol-
lection, or not even a thrill of sympathetic interest.
For nearly a century the Morgans have served the
farmer, the stable-keeper, the minister, the country
doctor, the mounted militiaman, and all other people
who desired to travel quickly or to be carried hand-
somely. Wonderful truly (and perhaps at times a
little apocryphal) are the stories of Morgan intelli-

44 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

geuce, of Morgan speed, and of Morgan endurance,
that are told by the dim light of a lantern in many
a country livery stable in ]S"orthern New England.
I remember — But at present we are concerned with
the Morgan merely as a trotter, and so I reserve
my stories of Morgan roadsters for a subsequent
chapter.

Justin Morgan's finest son was Sherman, whose dam
was a small but highly bred chestnut mare, Sherman
himself, a bright chestnut in color, stood no taller than
a pony, for he measured only 13| hands. He weighed,
however, 925 pounds. Sherman was the sire of Ver-
mont Black Hawk, and Vermont Black Hawk founded
a trotting family. His dam was a half-bred "Eng-
lish " mare from New Brunswick. She stood sixteen
hands high, and weighed about eleven hundred pounds.
Vermont Black Hawk was foaled in 1833 ; he was a
little under fifteen hands, and jet-black in color. This
horse, besides being a trotter, had every quality of a
good roadster ; he was strong, speedy, enduring ; he
had a lively but pleasant disposition, and he was re-
markably handsome. His back was short, he carried
his head high, and he possessed that elastic " trappy "
gait which is the true roadster way of going.

His most distinguished son was Ethan Allen, a very
beautiful little, bay horse, whose dam was a highly
bred gray^ mare, said to be of Messenger descent.
Ethan Allen's trotting action was wonderfully smooth
and pure. He has a record of 2.15- with running

^ Botli the hlac-k color of his siro and the gray color of his dam
are very infrequent in the descendants of Ethan Allen. They are
commonly hays or chestnuts.

2 II. B. Winship, a descendant of Ethan Allen, has since trotted
a mile in 2.00 with ruiiiiin<r mute.

TROTTING FAMILIES. 45

mate, and lie was, I believe, the tirst horse to be driveu
ill that somewhat ridiculous fashion. The manner is,
to provide strong breeching covered with sheepskin,
and to make the traces of the runner shorter than
those of his mate. The runner thus pulls the trotter
along, very much as a boy is pulled by a wagon when
he " cuts behind," and hangs on to the tail-board.

Ethan Allen's record in single harness is 2.254.
This discrepancy of lOj- seconds between his record
with and his record without a running mate is greater
than it should be, and is probably due chiefly to the
fact that his hind legs were faulty, his hocks being
somewhat weak, and his pastern joints too long and
delicate, so that he could not maintain his speed except
for a short distance. These defects he inherited from
his dam. One who knew the horse well wrote of him :
" He works with the least possible waste of motion.
His stride is as precise as the stroke of a pendulum,
and so true does he carry his body, so graceful his
head and neck, and so animated his carriage, that he
seems to ' light up ' all over, and presents a most per-
fect, sylph-like form of elegance."

The best son of Ethan Allen was Daniel Lambert,
who became the most distinguished progenitor of trot-
ters that has appeared m the Morgan family. His
dam was Fanny Cook, a chestnut, and a daughter of
Abdallah, son of Messenger and sire of Rysdyek's
Hambletonian. Thus m Daniel Lambert the Messen-
ger and Morgan strains were united, and this combina-
tion has since produced many fast trotters. ■• In Daniel
Lambert disappeared the faulty conformation that
Ethan Allen inherited from his dam, and he was not

1 Notably Jack, 2.12:^, and Pamlico, 2.16|.

46 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

inferior in beauty to his sire or grandsire. He was a
chestnut, with mane and tail some sliades lighter, the
mane being very silky, and the tail long, Avavy, and
well carried. This peculiar coloring of two shades of
chestnut is still very common in the Lambert family,
and, seen at its best, nothing could be more striking or
picturesque. The Lamberts are apt to be a little hot-
headed, but they are intelligent, docile when properly
treated, very spirited, speedy, and courageous. Per-
haps It would be no exaggeration to say that the finest
ggntlemen's roadsters bred m this country have been
of Lambert stock. Daniel Ijambert himself was a
horse of commanding style and of magnificent carriage.
For many years he was kept in the vicinity of Boston,
but late in life he was brought back to Middlebury.
Yt., where he had been raised. On this occasion all
the inhabitants turned out with a brass band to wel-
come him home, and there was a procession through
the village streets. " The old horse," relates an eye-
witness of the scene, " kept time to the music, and was
the proudest creature that ever walked on earth."

I have mentioned the pacer as one source of trotting
speed. Why he should be such is a problem muchi dis-
cussed, and not yet solved, although an important sug-
gestion on this subject has been contributed by Hark
Comstock. ^ He conjectures that the pacing gait is
apt to result when thoroughbred horses are first crossed
with ordinary mares ; and he shows that pacers have
been common in those parts of the country where this
condition obtained. Moreover, there is, I believe, no
case where a very fast trotter has come from pacing

^ Nom de guerre of Mr. Peter C. Kellogg, au origiual and in-
structive writer on tlie trotting horse.

TROTTING FAMILIES. 47

stock, except when this blood was qualified by that of
high-bred horses. The great Smuggler ^ was of pacing-
thoroughbred descent. Both Maud S. and Jay -Eye-See
are descended on the maternal side from a Canadian
pacer. Their grandsire was Pilot, or, as he is now
more commonly called. Old Pacing Pilot, — a Canadian
horse with all the characteristics of that race. He
was coal-black, with a long, thick, " wavy" mane and
tail, and hairy fetlocks. He stood a little under fifteen
hands. His head was plain, but not coarse, his neck
fairly long ; he had a sloping rump, and his hocks were
well let down. He Avas a very muscular, compactly
built, stout, tough horse, full of '^ character," and he
could pace a mile in 2.26, carrying a weight of one
hundred and sixty pounds on his back. Pilot was a
typical Canadian, descended probably from Norman
horses brought into Canada by the French, and ren-
dered smaller, tougher, and longer-haired by the
severe climate and rough fare.

By far the best son of Old Pacing Pilot was Pilot
Jr., a handsome gray horse, Avhose dam was Nancy
Pope, a Diomed mare, nearly if not quite thorough-
bred ; and it was Pilot Jr. who sired the dams of both
Maud S, and Jay-Eye-See.

There is another trotting family descended from a
pacer, which is far more numerous though somewhat
less distinguished than the family of Pilot Jr. Many
years ago there was in the mountainous part of Ohio
an extraordinai-y looking horse owned by a man named
Merring, This horse was dubbed ''Merring's Blue
Bull " by the local wag, — '^ Blue " on account of his
color (which was that rare shade commonly known

^ See page 100.

48 EOAD, TRACK, AND STABLE,

as mouse-color), "Ball" on accouut of his thick neck,
— and the name Blue Bull, thus given in scorn, be-
came in the third generation a badge of honor. Mer-
ring's Blue Bull had a son called Pruden's Blue Bull,
no less remarkable in appearance than his sire. He
was a big horse, at least IG.V hands high, weighing
twelve hundred pounds, — a mouse-colored beast with
a white face, a black stripe down his back, three white
feet, and legs marked like those of a zebra.

A writer in the American Horse Breeder gives the
following description of him : " He was a deep mouse-
color, generally called blue, blazed face, glass eyes,
heavy black mane and tail, black stripe down his back,
legs white to the knees, and from there up had yel-
low s,tripes around them. He Avas a powerfully built,
heavy-bodied, close-ribbed horse, with an enormous
beefy neck, a natural pacer, and ungainly in action.
Many of this family were natural pacers, and but few
proved to be good riding horses, on account of their
awkward and stumbling gait. They were, however, a
strong, tough, hardy race of horses, and served admi-
rably for heavy teaming in this hilly country before
the days of turnpikes and railroads."

Merring's Blue Bull and his son Pruden's Blue Bull
were, then, clumsy pacing cart horses, and AVilson's
Blue Bull, son of Pruden's Blue Bull, looked much
like his sire and grandsire ; and yet he is the founder
of a trotting family almost if not quite as numerous
as the Wilkeses or the Electioneers. Wilson's Blue
Bull, the only lUue Bull up to his day who had at-
tained the slightest distinction, was foaled in 1844.
"His appearance," as related by an ex])eripnced horse-
man, "was the most peculiar I ever saw. From a

TROTTING FAMILIES. 49

side view one would judge him to be a draught horse,
but a front or rear view would dispel the illusion. His
hind legs were sickle-shaped, front knees sprung back-
wards, legs wide and thin, very short from knees down,
great length of arms, with muscles long and massive,
hips extending so far forward and shoulders so far
backward that there was not length enough of back
for an ordinary riding saddle to be properly adjusted.
He seemed to be made of hips and shoulders, but had
good length of belly. His only gait M^as a pace. I
have often seen him pace with a running horse beside
him, and for a few hundred yards he would always
come out ahead."

He had a sleek, short coat, and this and his sloping
shoulders were his only indications of good breeding.
As he was the single son of Pruden's Blue Bull, and
the single grandson of Herring's Blue Bull, to attain
reputation as a trotting sire it is fair to assume that
he derived his good qualities in great measure from
his dam. She was a " sorrel chestnut," about 15.1
high, with good trotting action, considerable speed,
and great endurance. On one occasion she was ridden
eighty-seven miles in eleven hours by a man who
weighed one hundred and eighty pounds. Her sire
was Young Selim, of a family called Truxton,^ and
Young Selim is supposed to have been a half-bred.
Earl3^ in life Wilson's Blue Bull lost an eye, and was
deformed by a kick which broke one of his fore legs.
Thus his extraordinary and ugly appearance was

1 The orijjinal Truxton, a son of Diomed, was owned and
raced by President .Jackstm. General Stonewall .Jackson's favorite
charger was a sorrel called Truxton, probably a member of the
same family.

50 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

heightened, aud, uutil a few chauce colts by him
begau to show great speed, he was held in the veiy
lowest estimation.^ Moreover, his descendants are
remarkable not only for speed, but for beauty and
finish, and the term " Blue Bull " now suggests
qualities the very opposite of those for which it
was given. The Blue Bulls, however, are thought to
lack gameness.

Of the six horses that I mentioned in the beginning
of this chapter as being, in a general way, the founda-
tion stock of the American trotter, there remains only
one to be described, and that is Diomed, a thorough-
bred, and a contemporary of Messenger. Messenger
as a sire of running horses was a failure. Of all his
foals, only one, a filly called Miller's Damsel,- at-
tained distinction on the running track ; but Messen-
ger, though running bred, had good trotting action, and
the gift of imparting it to his numerous descendants.
Thus, as we have seen, he played a leading part in the
development of the trotter.

The case of Diomed is very different. He was a
successful runner himself, and from him descend the
stanchest, speediest runners that have appeared on
the American turf. But he was not a trotter nor a
sire of trotters, and his foals were few in number, so
that upon the general harness horses of the country
the influence of his blood was very slight. On what
ground, then, can he be regarded as one of the half-
dozen foundation horses from which the American
trotter is chiefly derived ?

^ He bepjan his career ])rc('.isely as did the (lodolphin Arabian,
and his value was discovered in the same accidental manner.
2 And her dam was by a son of Diomed.

TROTTING FAMILIES. 51

Diomed owes this distinction to tlie high quality of
a few trotters that have descended from him in the
maternal line. If the pedigree of all horses that have
made 2.30 or better were consulted, Diomed's name
would appear so seldom as to make his part in the
development of the trotter seem very insignificant.
But when the pedigrees of the select few that have
trotted in say 2.12 or better are examined, Diomed's
name appears so frequently as to suggest something
more than a series of coincidences.

Before stating a few of these cases, I will take a
brief glance at Diomed's history. The first "Derby"
was run at Epsom on jVlay 4, 1780, and it was won by
a "compact, well formed chestnut colt, the property
of Sir Charles Bunbury." This was Diomed. He
was bred by the Hon. Richard Vernon, of Newmarket,
and foaled in 1777. Diomed was by Florizel, by King
Herod, and his dam was the famous Spectator mare.-*

James Rice, who wrote a History of the British Turf,
says : " It has been the fashion to underrate the Derby
victory of Diomed, but the history of his three-year-old
career on the turf shows that he was a good performer,
and won or received a forfeit in all his engagements,
proving himself thereby one of the best three-year-olds
of his time."

Diomed was brought to this country in 1799^ having
been purchased for the small sum of fifty guineas, at
the age of twenty -two, and he died in 1808, which was
also the year of Messenger's death. He left, as I have

^ To show the Oriental richness of his pedigree, it is sufficient to
state that he traces to the Leeds Arabian nine times ; to tlie Darley
Arabian seven times; to the Byerly Turk five times; to Curwen's
Bay Barb twice ; to the Bald Oalloway once ; to the Godolphin
Arabian twice ; to Flying Childers four times ; etc.

52 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

said, ouly a few foals in this country, — less than a
hundred ; but those few appear conspicuously in the
pedigrees of our fastest horses, whether at the running,
the trotting, or the pacing gait.

The best son of Diomed was Sir Archy, foaled on
the banks of the James liiver, in Virginia, in the year
1805.-^ Sir Archy was a thoroughbred of the very first
breeding, the speediest, ganiest race-horse of his day,
and his descendants have not been unworthy of their
origin. Sir Archy was of a rich bay color, with one
wliite hind foot, and he is thus described by Frank
Forester : " He was a horse of commanding appear-
ance, standing fully sixteen hands in height, possess-
ing great power and substance. He was eminently
superior in all those points indispensable to the turf
horse and mainly contributory to strength and action.
His shoulder, one of the most material parts of the
horse, was strikingly distinguished, being very deep,
fairly mounting to the top of the withers, and ob-
liquely inclined to the hips. His girth was full and
deep, back short and strong, thighs and arms long and
muscular, and bone of excellent quality. His front
appearance was fine and commanding, his head and
neck being beautifully formed, the latter rising well
out of his withers. Take Sir Archy as a whole, and
he had more size, power, and substance than are often
seen combined in the full-bred horse."

Sir Archy beat all the best horses of his day in this

1 His ilam was tlic imported mare Castianira l)y Rockingliam.
TJockingham was the best son of Iliglifiyor, wiio in turn was the
best son of King Herod, one of the liorses to wliom all the fastest
thoroughl)reds are said to trace. The dam of l\ofkingbani was
Purity, by Matcliem, another member of the great trio just indi-
eated, out of tlie famous marc known as S(|uirt.

TROTTING FAMILIES. 53

country, and his owner challenged the world at four-
mile heats. Boston, a grandson of Sir Archy, started
in forty-five races and won forty, of which thirty were
races of four-mile heats. Lexington, son of Boston,
was also a noted loug-distance runner. Both Boston
and Lexington were inbred to Diomed.

When we turn to the very fastest trotters and pacers,
we find, as I have stated, that the blood of Diomed,
chiefly through his son Sir Archy, figures not very
remotely in their pedigrees. Thus, Miss Russell, dam
of Maud S. and of Nutwood, ^ was out of Sally Eussell,
a daughter of Boston, and the dam of Miss Russell's
sire. Pilot Jr., was by Havoc, by Sir Charles, a grand-
son of Diomed. The grandam of Jay-Eye-See was by
Lexington.

The dam of the wonderful Arion, whose two-year-
old record is 2.10f , was by Nutwood, just mentioned.
In the pedigree of Direct, the pacer who holds the
fastest record, of Allerton, of Nancy Hanks, and of
others scarcely inferior, will be found a double, and
sometimes a triple and quadruple cross of Diomed
blood. If it be asked what essential quality these
horses may be supposed to derive from Diomed, the
answer would be that it is gameness, endurance, or
"nerve force." Speaking generally. Messenger con-
tributed the action, and Diomed contributed the inward
spirit, both of which are necessary to bring a trotter
to the wire m superlatively fast time.

Other thoroughbreds that figure largely in trotting
pedigrees are Trustee, Glencoe, and Margrave ; and it
is a notable fact that all these names, as well as the

1 His record is 2.18|, and no less than seventy-five of his sons
and danghters, including pacers, are in the 2.30 list.

54 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

uaine of Diomed, appear in the pedigree of Dame
Winuie,! the thoroughbred dam of Palo Alto, the
fastest trotting stallion yet produced.

A controversy has raged bitterly among fanciers of
the trotting horse, and still rages, as to the amount
of thoroughbred blood that is desirable in a trotter.
The anti-thoroughbred party declare that " trutting
instinct " is what makes a trotter trot, and that every
thoroughbred cross tends to weaken this " trotting
instinct." The other party maintain that superlative
speed for a mile or more, at any gait, be it run, trot,
or pace, can be obtained only through the courage,
through the bone and sinew, of the thoroughbred.
In their view, the ideal pedigree for a trotting horse
is one which contains only just enough cold blood
to furnish the requisite action, — that bending of
the knee and long stroke of the hind leg which are
not natural to the thoroughbred. Electioneer, for
example, had excellent trotting action, and trans-
mitted it to his colts from tlioroughbred or half-
bred mares.

This is not the place to engage in the controversy,
but I cannot resist making two remarks that bear
upon it. First, then, beauty, style, a high spirit, intel-
ligence, and courage ; these surely are desirable quali-
ties in a trotter, — the last named is an indispensable
quality, — and their only source is thoroughbred
or Arab blood. But secondly, in a degree, there is

1 Dame Winnie, a chestnut, is by Planet, by Revenue, by Trus-
tee. Planet's dam was Nina by Boston. The dam of Dame Winnie
was Liz Mardis by Glencoe. The second dam of Dame Winnie
was Fanny G. by Margrave. Ilor third dam was Lancess by Lance,
by American Eclipse. The fourth dam of Dame Winnie was by
Aratus, son f)f Director by Sir Archy.

TROTTING FAMILIES. 55

such a thing as a trotting thoroughbred. That is,
when a family of trotters has been subjected for a
considerable period to race-horse usage, it tends to
acquire race-horse or thoroughbred traits. Courage,
a line nervous organization, muscle, and lung power
are developed by the severe contests, the high feed-
ing, the careful training, which fall to the lot of a
trotter, and when this process has been continued for
some generations its effects are marked.

The breeding of trotters is only beginning to be
a science. In the early days, pedigrees were very
slightly considered, and the transmission of qualities
was not appreciated or understood. Then came a
period when the value of pedigree was over-esti-
mated; or, more correctly, when the value of such
trotting pedigrees as we had was over-estimated. It
must be remembered that the trotter is not a fixed
type ; he is commonly of mixed descent, and therefore
members of the same family, own orothers and sisters,
for example, may differ widely in capacity. This is
true of course, in some degree, of thoroughbreds,
but it is far less true of them than it is of trotters.
Almost any thoroughbred in training can run a mile
in 1.42 or 1.43, and as the fastest will run it in 1.35|
or thereabout, the difference between them is not very
great. But the fastest time for a mile at the trotting
gait is 2.08a, and there are many very well-bred
trotters who cannot trot a mile faster than three or
even four minutes. This wide difference is accounted
for by the fact that the trotter has scarcely emerged
from the mongrel state, and consequently the own
brother of a very superior animal may " throw back,"
either in himself or in his descendants, to some an-

56 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

cestor of inferior quality. There is au example of
this in the family of Maud !S. Harold, her sire, is
also the sire of thirty other trotters, whose record is
2.30 or better. Harold has a brother called Lakeland
Abdallah, far superior to himself in size, in beauty,
and in apparent power, and yet as a sire of trotters
Lakeland Abdallah has been an utter failure. He
has but a single representative in the 2.30 list. Of
course his opportunities have been less than those of
Harold, but still they have been considerable.

However, by a process of selection, these discrepan-
cies are diminishing. One by one, those branches of
a trotting family in which speed has not been shown
are dropped ; only successful sons of successful sires
and grandsires are looked to for the transmission
of speed. The lines are drawn in, comparatively
few strains are cultivated, and thus a thoroughbred
trotter tends to be evolved. It is probable that in
the near future the breeder will be able to predict
of a given animal, This horse will trot in 2.20 ; and
doubtless fifty or one hundred years hence a much
higher rate of speed will be insured by certain lines
of breeding.

It is commonly believed that horses, as a rule, take
their form and gait from their sire, and their dis-
position and nervous system from the dam ; and there
are many facts which appear to support this theory.
Certain horses, conspicuous among whom is Mam-
brino Patchen, have had their reputation made chiefly
by their daughters, and for this reason they are called
" Great Brood Mare sires." Pilot Jr. is another
noted member of this class. On the other hand,
Rysdyck's Hambletonian, and many other famous

TROTTING FAMILIES. 57

horses, are distinguished more through their sons than
through their daughters. Now Mambrino Patchen
and Pilot Jr. excelled in nervous energy which they
derived from the thoroughbreds in their ancestry ;
whereas Hambletonian excelled in gait and structure,
and was deficient in nervous energy. Hence it would
seem to be true that the outward form is derived
chiefly from the sire, and the inward energy from the
dam, inasmuch as Hambletonian's sons, inheriting
his superior structure and gait, surpass his daughters ;
and Mambrino Patchen's daughters, inheriting his
superior nervous system, surpass his sons. However,
these general rules are subject to many exceptions.

But there is one principle in relation to trotting
horses which is, I think, admitted on all sides. The
single quality that the " record breakers " have in
common is nervous energy, — that mental or physical
trait, or that relation between the mind and the body,
which enables or compels the muscular system to
accomplish the utmost of which it is capable. A
good shape, good lung power, good action, — these of
course are indispensable, and they are found in many
a trotting-bred horse ; but the motive power which
lies back of the mechanism ultimately determines
the animal's speed for a mile, if not for a quarter;
and it is chieflj^ in this power that the record-breakers
excel their contemporaries.

Now, if, as we may safely assume, it is nervous
energy and courage that make a horse trot superla-
tively fast, and if, as may reasonably be conjectured,
these qualities are derived chiefly from the maternal
side, then we shall believe that the dam and grandam
in a pedigree are of more consequence than the sire

58 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

and grandsire.^ And the facts seem to bear out this
conclusion. It is extraordinary how many short
trotting pedigrees end with " a mare of unknown
breeding, but a great roadster."' Such, for example,
was the dam of Mambrino Chief. Sometimes, in-
deed, the maternal ancestor has possessed too mu.ch
energy even for roadster purposes. Green Mountain
Maid, the dam of Electioneer, was so high-strung that
her owner abandoned the attempt to break her to
harness. It is said of Lady Duval, a Glencoe mare,
and the mother of two or three trotters, that " so
extreme was her nervous ambition, unless she was
permitted to rush ahead as soon as she reached the
level stretches of the roadway, she would gallop
sometimes for ten miles without cessation, and
then, when she finally concluded to behave herself,
she would settle down into a long, low, level stride
that reminded one of the daisy-cutting movement of
Lady Thorne." Many other similar examples might
be cited.

" Notice in a field of brood mares," remarks a keen
observer,^ "the one that herds, drives, and dominates
all the others, and (if the remaining qualities of ac-
tion, blood, and soundness are equal) you can always
select her ladyship as the most siiccessful brood mare
in the paddock."

The truth seems to be that great trotters, like great
men, inherit from their mothers what has aptly been
termed the subtle ambition to succeed.

' Such is the opinion of the oldest liorse breeders in the world, —
the Arabs. With them a horse is always eonsidcrcd as belongiug
to the family of liis (Uxni, not to that of his sire.

- Mr. S. T. Harris.

III.

TROTTING HORSES.

THE trotting horse plays an important part in the
daily life of the whole conimnnity, being con-
cerned, as Dr. Holmes has pointed out, even in the
early conveyance of milk-cans and in the prompt
delivery of fresh rolls. These humble offices have
actually been performed by horses who afterward
acquired fame upon the track. Several years ago an
old Dutchman, living in Western New York and en-
gaged in the milk business, was astonished and not a
little frightened by the pace which his beast set up
one frosty morning. The cart was bounced over the
pavements of the city where his route lay, the cans
hopped and rattled in their seats, and the driver lost
his breath. But he had no sooner recovered it than

60 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

be began to boast of the wonderful speed at which
the horse had carried hiiu, and thereafter the animal
was taken out, harnessed to a buggy, on Saturday
afternoons and like occasions, for a brush on the
road with the fast trotters of the neighborhood, all
of whom he outstripped. Within a few weeks the
Dutchman's son, who had been brought u]) in this
country, procured an old sulky, and put the milk-
wagon steed in some sort of training. In two
months' time they appeared at a track, engaged in a
race with veteran drivers and horses of established
reputation, and beat them all in three straight heats,
— a wonderful achievement for a green trotter and
jockey, and an immense surprise to the professional
persons who had jeered at the uncouth appearance
of the newcomers.

This case bears out Dr. Holmes's illustration of
the milk-cart ; nor is the other example that he sug-
gests without foundation in fact. Some years ago, a
baker's mare in Boston, after delivering her rolls and
brown bread in the city one day as usual, was driven
to Saugus, a distance of about eight miles, and started
in a match race at the track there. In the exuber-
ance of her spirits she ran away in the first heat,
and went around the course once or twice before she
could be stopped. But being allowed to start again,
notwithstanding this irregularity, she won the race,
and finished her day's work by bringing the baker
back to Boston, and beating all the horses that en-
gaged witli her on the road home.

It must not ))e supposed, however, tliat these ani-
mals were entirely of plebeian origin. The milk-
man's horse had a dash of thoroucrhbred in his

TROTTING HORSES. (51

composition, and tlie baker's mare belonged to tlie
incomparable Morgan strain. Indeed, it never hap-
pens that a horse who is not connected more or less
closely with the equine aristocracy becomes distin-
guished as a trotter. There is a popular superstition
that Flora Temple, Dexter, and other celebrated
animals, were of obscure birth, and began life in
humble situations ; but this, as I shall presently
show, is not the case. Dutchman,^ to be sure, an
old-time trotter of great courage and bottom, was
first used in a string team at Philadelphia to haul
brick ; but he was a horse of good breeding. He
was a bay gelding, fifteen hands three inches high,
very powerfully made, bony and strong, with a plain
but resolute face, and a fine neck and head. Dutch-
man's time for three miles, namely, 7.41, remained
the best on record from the year when it was made,
1839, till 1872, when Huntress,^ a beautiful bay mare,
reduced it to 7.21 1.

There is another reason why every American ought
to take an interest in the trotter. Trotting, like
base-ball, is, as its votaries often remark, a national
sport, — national in the sense not only that it is
popular among us, but that it was created by us ; and
consequently anybod}^ in tlie United States who fails
to take an interest in it is so far forth out of touch
with his countrymen. There is something lacking in
him, — some obscure though doubtless valuable trait,
which, if he possessed it, would certainly make him
interesting in other directions, but which is most
conspicuously revealed in a fondness for the track.

1 Dutchman was by a grandson of Messenger ; and his dam is
said to have been by a son of Messenger.

^ By Volunteer. Her dam was a Star mare. See page 69.

62 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

Ruuning horses furnish a spirited and beautiful sport,
but the runner can never be domesticated ; whereas
any man who owns a single horse may find himself
in the possession of a trotter, or at least of an animal
which he considers to be such, — and this comes to
nearly the same thing. The very beast who drags
a family carryall may, like the milkman's or the
baker's nag, prove worthy of a better fate. It must
be remembered that few horses trot fast naturally.
They require skilful driving and training ; often, also,
the judicious application of weights, boots, rollers,
and the like, in order to lengthen their stride or to
correct other imperfections in their gait. It is pos-
sible, therefore, for a horse to have " the making of
a trotter in him " diiring an indefinite period ; and
so long as the owner refrains from putting his in-
choate racer to the test, his opportunity for boasting
about the animal's latent speed is almost unlimited.
Scoffers may throw cold water upon his pretensions,
but no man can assert absolutely that he is wrong.

What, then, does a trotter look like ? That is a
question very hard to answer. Trotting horses range
in size and shape from Great Eastern, — a big, long-
legged horse, standing seventeen hands, who holds
the best saddle record, namely, 2.15f , — to Little
Dot, a pony of Morgan extraction, weighing six hun-
dred and seventy-five pounds, who was raised in Xew
Brunswick about twenty-five years ago, grew up with
a flock of sheep, was knocked about by a drunken
sailor, and finally, coming into the hands of a horse-
man, made a record of 2.26}. Nevertheless, there
are two or three trotting types. Frank Forester re-
marked that American trottinuc horses reminded him

TROTTING HORSES. 63

strongly of Irish hunters ; and this is not strange,
for, as a rule, the best American trotters, like
Irish hunters, are partly thoroughbred. The Duke
of Marlborough has made recently a similar state-
ment. " The type," he says, " is something of the
class of the English hunter with a shorter head, and
not quite such good shoulders." Palo Alto, Stamboul,
and Nelson ^ are examples of this type, except that
their heads are not short. Allerton and Axtell are
more stockily built, and show less quality ; Arion,
again, is much smaller and somewhat finer than
they. These are the fastest six stallions now on
the track. They all, with the exception of Arion,
stand higher at the withers than at the rump.

A more common type, perhaps, is that exemplified
in the three mares holding the fastest records, namely,
Sunol, Maud S., and Nancy Hanks. ^ These are on
the racing machine order ; they are somewhat narrow-
chested ; their necks are straight; they stand higher
at the rump than at the withers. Sunol is a large
mare, sixteen hands high. Maud S. and Nancy Hanks
are smaller. The trotter of the present day is repre-
sented best perhaps by these last two mares ; but it
is probable that the trotter of the future will more
nearly resemble Palo Alto and StamboiiL

When it comes to details of form, the difficulty
of fixing general rules is even greater. If there be
one invariable feature in a trotting horse it is prob-
ably this : great length from hip to hock. Such was
Messenger's conformation, derived, it is said, from

1 Nelson is a beautiful horse, of Hambletonian, Morgan, and
thoroughlired descent.

- Nancy Hanks, it may he mentioned, was the maiden name of
Abraham Lincoln's mother^ near whose birthplace the mare was
raised.

64 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

Sampson. Great length from liip to hock implies a
short cannon bone iu the hind leg, and a short cannon
bone in front is also the badge of a trotter. Smug-
gler and Stamboul are the only notable exceptions
to this rule that I recall. Wide hips are apt to be
found in a trotting horse : this is especially true of
the Clay family, llysdyck's Hambletouian had a
round rump, but a sloping rump is more common in
the trotter ; an excessively sloping rump, however, is
the peculiar mark of a pacer. Very oblique shoulders,
running far back, such as belong to the saddle horse
and hunter, seldoui occur in a fast trotter ; and I be-
lieve that this remark would be almost equally true
of running horses. Many trotters, as we have seen,
are disfigured by tails set on low ; and this again
is a common feature in running horses. In fact,
shoulders inclined to be straight, and drooping tails,
are thought by some writers to have a close connec-
tion with excessive speed at any gait. A long body
combined with a rather short back furnishes another
indication of trotting capacity; and this was the
shape of Flora Temple, the first horse to attain
national reputation as a trotter.

Flora Temple reduced the record for a mile from
2.2o^ to 2.195. >^he was well born, her sire being
Kentucky Hunter, but in her early youth she was
considered almost worthless on account of her wild,
and, as everybody supposed, ungov^ernable temper.
Flora, as they called her at first, was a rough-coated
little bay mare, not over fourteen hands two inches
high, but possessed of a blood-like head, shapely neck,
straight l)ack, and fine legs with powerful muscles.
Her birthplace was in the neighborhood of Utica,

TROTTING HORSES. 65

New York, where she was sold at the age of four
years for the small sum of $13. A few months later,
for $80, she passed into the hands of a drover, who
took her with him on his way to the city of Xew
York. One bright morning in June, 1850, this drover
was passing through the beautiful village of Wash-
ington Hollow. He was mounted on a tine gray stal-
lion, and kept his cattle in line, while the small bay
horse was tied to the tail-board of an open wagon
drawn by two stout mules and driven by a sleepy
negro. This interesting procession attracted the no-
tice of one Mr. Jonathan A. Vielee, a shrewd horse-
man, who happened to be basking in the sun at his
stable door on the morning in ij^uestion, and who, re-
marking the strong and gamy appearance of the
future Queen of the Turf, hailed the drover, and
presently "had the little mare by the nose, and was
studying every mark upon her teeth. He then '' —
1 quote from Mr. George Wilkes's history of Flora
Temple — " took hold of her feet ; and the little mare
lifted them successively in his hand, with a quiet,
downward glance that seemed to say, ' You '11 find
everything right there, Mr. Vielee, and as fair and
as firm as if you wished me to trot for a man's life ! '
And so Mr. Vielee did : and as he dropped the last
foot, he liked the promise of the little mare amaz
ingly, and it struck him that if he could get her for
any sum short of $250 she would be a mighty good
bargain.

" ' She is about five years old ? ' said Mr. Vielee,
inquiringly.

"'You have seen for yourself,' replied the drover.

"'1 should judge she was all right?' again sug-
5

66 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

gested Mr. Vielee, partly walking rouud the mare,
and again looking at lier up and down.

" ' Sound as a dollar, and kind as a kitten,' re-
sponded the drover, as lirnily as if prepared to give
a written guaranty.

" ' Not always so kind, neither,' said Mr. Vielee,
looking again steadily at the mare's face, ' or I don't
understand that deviltry in her eye. But that 's nei-
ther here nor there. You say the mare is for sale.
Now let's know what you will take for her.' The
result was that Mr. Vielee bought her for .$175.

" ' And a pretty good price at that,' said the drover
to himself on pocketing the cash, ' for an animal that
only cost me eighty, and who is so foolisli and flighty
that she will never be aijle to make a square trot in
her life.""

A few weeks later Mr. Vielee took his new pur-
chase to New York, and sold her to Mr. G. E. Perrin
for .fSSO. "In the hands of Mr. Perrin," relates the
graphic writer from whom I have quoted already,
"the little bay mare, who had proved so intractable,
so flighty, so harum-scarum, and, to come down to the
true term, so tvorfhless to her original owners, was
favored with more advantages than ever she had en-
joyed before. She was not only introduced to the
very best society of fast-goers on the Bloom Ingrlale
and Long Island roads, but she was taught, when
'flinging herself out' with exuberant and superabun-
dant spirit all over the road, as it were, to play her
limbs in a true line, and give her extraordinary quali-
tiesa chance to show their actual wortli. If ever she
made a skip, a quick admonition and a steady check
brought her to her senses ; and when in her frenzy

TROTTING HORSES. 67

of excitement at being challenged by some tip-top
goer, she would, to use a sportmau's phrase, ' travel
over herself ' and go ' up ' into the air, she was stead-
ied and settled down by a hrm rein into solid trotting
and good behavior in an instant. The crazy, flighty,
half-racking, and half-trotting little bay mare became
a true stepper, and very luckily passed out of her
confused ' rip-i-ty clip-i-ty ' sort of going into a clean,
even, long, low, locomotive-trotting stroke. Many a
man who came up to a road tavern, after having been
unexpectedly beaten by her, would say to her owner,
as they took a drink at the bar, ' That 's a mighty
nice little mare of yours, and if she was only big
enough to stand hard work, you might expect a good
deal from her.' "

But Flora Temple was big enough, as her subse-
quent career proved. Little horses, in fact, usually
make the best weight-pullers and stand the most
work. Hopeful, whose time to a skeleton w^agon for
a mile, 2.16^, made in 1878, remained the best on
record till 1891,^ was a small gray horse, and, like
almost all weight-pullers, a very short and quick
stepper. " If little horses of this sort be particu-
larly examined." says a high authority, " it will com-
monly be found that, though they are low, they are
long in all the moving parts ; and their quarters are
generally as big and sometimes a deal bigger than
those of many much larger horses." This remark
would apply to Arab coursers, who, although their
muscles are great, rarely stand above 14|- hands ; and

1 In the autumn of 1891, Allerton (a grandson of George Wilkes
and of Mambrino Patchen) trotted a mile to wagon on a kite-
shaped track in 2.15.

68 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

many thoroughbreds, conspicuous for their staying-
powers, have iiad the same general conformation.

Flora Temple soon came into the hands of Hiram
Woodruff, and under his tuition she became a famous
race horse. She reduced the mile record, as we have
seen, from 2.25^ to 2.19|, being equally good at two
and three mile heats. There were several contemporary
trotters, between whom and Flora Temple very little
difference in speed existed when they first encoun-
tered her ; but she outlasted the others. Some of
these horses actually beat her once or twice ; but the
longer they kept at it, the wider became the distance
between them and the little bay mare, of whom it
had been said that she might prove valuable if she
were only big enough to stand hard work. Highland
Maid, a well-bred, long-stepping bay mare ; Tacony,
the first horse to make a record of 2.25^ ; Lancet ;
Ethan Allen ; Rose of Washington ; Princess, a very
handsome, high-bred mare, who came on from Cali-
fornia expressly to beat Flora Temple ; John Mor-
gan, a big, fine-looking golden-chestnut horse of good
breeding, brought from the West for the same pur-
pose ; George M. Patchen, a famous brown stallion
of Morgan and Clay blood, — all these horses and
many others engaged with Flora Temple, sometimes
"turn and turn about," but all were badly l^eaten in
the (md. " Flora Temple," said Hiram Woodruff,
''would train on and got better, when thoroughly
hardened, towards the middle and close of the season.
This is one of the most valuable (]ualities that a trot-
ting horse can liave. The greatest excellence in trot-
ting is only to be reached through much labor and
cultivation. Now, if strong work at a few sharp

TROTTING HORSES. 69

races overdoes a horse and knocks him off, it is a
great, almost an insurmountable obstacle to his at-
taining the greatest excellence, even in speed for a
mile."

After Flora Temple came Dexter, a brown horse
with a white face and four white feet, by Kysdyck's
Hambletonian. He also had remarkable courage
and endurance, his dam being of the American Star
family.

" Some of the Stars," Hiram Woodruff said, " have
given out in the legs ; but their pluck is so good that
they stand up to the last, when little better than
mere cripples. It is no wonder that they have great
game and courage ; for Starts grandsire was the thor-
oughbred four-miler Henry, who ran for the South
on the Island here against the Northern horse Eclipse,
in 1823. I went to see the race, being then six years
old, and got a licking for it when I came home." The
Stars were descended from Diomed,

Dexter was first sold at the age of four, bringing
four hundred dollars. He lowered the record to 2.17^,
and doubtless would have reduced it still further had
he not become the property of Mr. Robert Bonner,
who withdrew him from the turf. The excellence of
this horse probably gave the finishing blow to an
old superstition which is embodied in the following
stanza . —

" One wliite foot, inspect liim ,
Two white feet, reject him ,
Three white feet, sell him to your foes;
Four white feet, feed him to the crows."

The first great performance of Dexter was made in
October, 1865, when he trotted under saddle against

70 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

time, being matched to beat 2.19. He was trained by
Woodruff, but ridden in the race by John Murphy, a
very skilful horseman, and one of the few jockeys
whose reputation for honesty was always absolutely
unblemished. In this match. Dexter trotted the first
half-mile in 1.06^ ; but after passing that point he
broke. " When he broke," Hiram Woodruff relates,
" the people cried, 'He can't do it this time ! ' But he
settled well, and when he came on to the home stretch
he had a fine burst in. I was up towards there, and
sung out to Johnny, as he came by me, 'Cut him
loose ; you '11 do it yet ! ' Then Johnny clucked to
him, and he went away like an arrow from the bow,
true and stmight, and with immense resolution and
power of stroke. I knew he must do it if he did not
break before he got to the score, and up I tossed my
hat into the air. I never felt happier in all my life.
The time given by the judges was 2 m. 18^ s. ; the
outsiders made it somewhat less."

Of the great trotters, Dexter seems to have been
the best " all-round " horse, for none of his contempo-
raries was able to beat him either in one, two, or three
mile heats ; and he showed his superiority to a wagon
or under saddle as Avell as in harness. Hiram Wood-
ruff anticipated, but did not live to see his greatest
triumphs. " It is a long time now," he wrote shortly
before his own death, "since I took Mr. Foster to his
box, and, pointing out his very remarkable shape, —
the wicked head, the gaino-cock throttle, the immense
depth over the heart, the fiat, oblique shoulder, laid
back clean under the saddle, the strong back, the
mighty haunches, square and as big as those of a
cart-horse, and the good, wiry legs, — predicted to

TROTTING HORSES. 71

him that here stood the future Lord of the Trotting
World/'

Goldsmith Maid, who reduced the mark from 2.17^
to 2.14, had almost the appearance of a thoroughbred.
She was small, being 15| hands high ; her legs were
lean, flat, and wiry; her head and neck were finely
cut, and indicative of good breeding ; she was deep
through the lungs, but so slight in the waist as to
su"-gest a lack of constitution, although she was in.
reality extremely tough and lasting ; her feet were
small and good. It was said of this famous mare
that " in her highest trotting form, drawn to an edge,
she is almost deer-like in appearance ; and when scor-
ing for a start, and alive to the emergencies of the
race, with her great flashing eye and dilated nostrils,
she is a perfect picture of animation and living beauty.
Her gait is long, bold, and sweeping, and she is, in the
hands of a driver acquainted with her peculiarities, a
perfect piece of machinery."

Not a few horses like Goldsmith Maid have had this
peculiar thin-waisted appearance, and yet were pos-
sessed of much nervous strength and of great cour-
age. A noted trotter described by Hiram Woodruff
was of this character. "Rattler," he says, "was a
bay gelding, fifteen hands high, a fast and stout horse,
though light- waisted and delicate in appetite and con-
stitution. He was a very long stridor, and when going
liis best it sometimes seemed as though he would part
in the middle." He was afterward taken to England,
where the climate suited him so well that he gained
in appetite, and consequently in health and strength.

Goldsmith Maid, when six years of age, was sold by
her breeder for $260, having never been put to work

72 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

ou account of her nervous disposition. She had, how-
ever, taken a very creditable part in certain amateur
running races, which were held in a grassy lane about
one quarter of a mile long. These dashes always took
place by moonlight, being unauthorized by the elders
of the family, but secretly enjoyed by the boys on the
farm. Soon after she left her birthplace the Maid
was sold again for $600 to Mr. Alden Goldsmith, a
famous horseman, by whom she was named. He kept
her for five years, and sold her for $20,000. Her
dam was a well-bred animal, probably a daughter
of Abdallah, who sired Rysdyck's Hambletonian.
Goldsmith Maid's sire was Alexander's Abdallah,
whose origin and fate are described in the preceding
chapter.

All the great trotters have had grooms, or " rub-
bers," as they are technically called, between whom
and the horses a strong affection existed. The name
of Peter Conover is linked in this way with that of
Dexter. Conover not only "rubbed" Dexter, but
made most of his "boots," and gave him his exercise.
Dexter was an intelligent horse, and whenever Budd
Doble, who drove him in his races, mounted the sulky,
he would become excited and pull, thinking that a
contest impended ; but with his groom holding the
reins he would go along quietly enough. The same
thing is true of Nancy Hanks. Rarus had his " Dave "
and " Barney." A colored man named Grant was trans-
ferred to Mr. Bonner with Maud S., as being neces-
sarily appurtenant to her. "Lucy Jimmy" was, as
his name denotes, the attendant of Lucy, a celebrated
mare contemporary with Goldsmith Maid, and very
little inferior to her in speed. " Old Charlie " faith-

TROTTING HORSES. 73

fully served the Maid herself for many years, during
live of which he was never absent from her stall ex-
cept for two nights. Goldsmith Maid, like Rarus and
like Johnston, the wonderful pacer, had a little dog as
a companion. " They were a great family," says Mr.
Doble, " that old mare, ( jld Charlie, and the dog, —
apparently interested in nothing else in the world but
themselves, and getting along together as well as you
could wish. When it was bed-time Charlie would lie
down on his cot in one corner of the stall, his pillow
being a bag containing the mare's morning feed of
oats ; the Maid would ensconce herself in another
corner ; and somewhere else in the stall the dog would
stretch himself out. About live o'clock in the morn-
ing the Maid would get a little restless and hungry.
She knew well enough where the oats were, and would
come over to where Charlie lay sleeping and stick her
nose under his head, and in this manner wake him,
and give notice that she wanted to be fed."

Goldsmith Maid, after her retirement from the
track, exhibited a very bad temper, and became noto-
rious for kicking and biting. She was kept at a stock
farm in Trenton, New Jersey, and one day, after an
absence of some years, " Old Charlie " came to see her.
He was warned not to go near the mare, but neverthe-
less he entered her paddock. The Maid recognized
him immediately, neighed with pleasure, and, coming
up, rubbed her nose against him with every mark of
affection. At this farm. Goldsmith Maid met her old
rival, Lucy, and the two venerable mares struck up a
great intimacy ; they became constant companions,
and repelled with teeth and heels all other equine
society.

74 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

I shall speak hereafter of Goldsmith Maid's remark-
able intelligence in " scoring." But perhaps the most
interesting fact in her career is that she made her
fastest time, 2.14, at the age of nineteen ; and on her
twenty-first birthday Budd Doble drove her a mile
in 2.16. Goldsmith Maid continued on the track for
nearly fifteen years, conquered all the fastest horses
of her time, and trotted in all 332 heats under 2.30.
She lasted so long partly because of her good breed-
ing, and partly, it may be, because she was never
trained or worked until she had become a mature
horse. The fashion now is to make the trotter's
career begin while he is a colt, but although the prac-
tice has not been tested thoroughly, it must be fraught
with danger. If it ever should become general, it
is certain that many young horses would be over-
worked and ruined every year, comparatively few
drivers having the discretion and patience that are
required for the safe " preparation " of a colt. There
have been other horses who, like Goldsmith Maid,
being well bred and beginning at a mature age, lasted
a long time on the track. Dutchman, who trotted
his first race at six years of age, was a sound and
fast horse at eighteen. Topgallant, a grandson of the
thoroughbred imported horse Messenger, and the first
to make a record of 2.40, is a still more extraordinary
example. When twenty-four years old he trotted a
very hard race of four three-mile heats against all
the best horses of his day, winning one heat ; and the
week after he engaged in another race of three-mile
heats, which he Vv^on. Old Topgallant was a gr(^at
favorite of Hiram Woodruff, who as a boy took care
of him, and as a young man trained, rode, and drove

TROTTING HORSES. 75

him. Woodruff describes Topgallant as " a dark bay
horse, 15 hands 3 inches high, plain and rawboned,
but with rather a fine head and neck, and an eye
expressive of much courage. He was spavined in
both hind legs, and his tail was slim at the root.
His spirit was very high, and yet he was so reliable
that he would hardly ever break, and his bottom was
of the finest and toughest quality. He was more
than fourteen years of age before he was known at
all as a trotter, except that he could go a distance,
the whole length of the New York Eoad, as well as
any horse that had ever been extended on it."

At the close of the Civil War there was living on a
small farm at Greenport, Long Island, one Mr. R. B.
Conklin, a retired stage carpenter, who by industry
and thrift had saved a little money. Mr. Conklin had
a passion for horses, especially for trotters, and he con-
ceived the idea that a certain colt born on his farm,
and the only one that he ever raised, was destined to
become the champion trotter of the world. The
colt's sire was Conklin's Abdallah, whose breeding is
unknown. Its mother was a gray nag called Nancy
Awful, half-thoroughbred, and very high-spirited. She
also belonged to Mr. Conklin, and his belief in her
and in her colt became a sort of religion. Many men,
no doubt, under similar circumstances, have been
equally enthusiastic, but the peculiarity in this case
was that Mr. Conklin had always enjoyed the repu-
tation of being 'Hiard-headed." His neighbors there-
fore came to the charitable conclusion that on this
particular subject the old carpenter had gone mad.
The foal was certainly very promising, long, muscular,
and full of life and spirit. " From the day of its

76 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

birth," says the historian, " it was treated differently
from any other animal on the place. As soon as it
Jiad been weaned, a suitable stall was built in a big
barn for its accommodation, and from that day forth
nothing was left undone to secure its comfort ; and
it was not long before Conklin and his colt were the
talk of that end of Long Island. When the colt was
three years old it was broken to harness, and during
the following summer took part in a little race on
the Island, winning the contest in about three min-
utes. Then the old man was more certain than ever
that he had the wonder of the world, and redoubled
his efforts in the way of care, etc., had a special sta-
ble built for the colt, with an office adjoining, where
in winter, all seated around a big fire, he would
entertain his neighbors, telling them w^hat a great
horse that colt was going to be. . . . For the next
two years Mr. Conklin gave almost his entire time
to the care and education of this colt. He bought
himself a light wagon, got a set of double harness,
secured an old runner, and as he was a very heavy
man, and did not want to compel the colt to draw his
weight, he hooked him by the side of the runner,
and in this manner he received his first lessons in
trotting." ^

The extraordinary part of this story is that the colt,
who was called Rarus, perfectly fulfilled the extrav-
agant expectations of his breeder and owner, becoming
the champion trotter of the world, and reducing the
record in 1878 to 2.13|. Mr. Conklin brought him
up well, for Splan, in whose hands Rarus passed the

1 This quotation is from John Sjilan's " Life witli tlio Trottors,"
a vcrv ciitortaininsr work.

TROTTING HORSES. 77

famous part of his career, declared that he never
drove a better broken horse.

Earus was a rangy bay, of high courage, with a phiin
though blood-like and intelligent head, a good neck,
but rather poor feet. Excepting the tendency to in-
flammation in his feet, he was a remarkably healthy
horse, never losing his appetite despite the long jour-
neys that he made and tlie hard races that he trotted.
At one time Earus served as a foil for Goldsmith
Maid, just as in earlier days George M. Patchen, John
Morgan, and other horses did for Flora Temple, and
as the same Patchen and Princess did later for Dex-
ter. But in this case there was a difference. Earus
was much younger than Goldsmith Maid, and he was
controlled by a driver who had no notion of using him
up in hopeless contests.

Both horses spent the Avinter of 1876-77 in Cali-
fornia, where they gave some '' exhibition " races, no
pools being sold, and it being understood that Earus
would not attempt to win. In the spring, a purse
was offered in a " free-for-all " race, near San Fran-
cisco, and both Goldsmith Maid and Earus were
entered. The betting men in general supposed that
the Maid would have an easy victory, but Earus de-
feated her, Splan and his friends thus winning a
great sum. This race marked the end of Goldsmith
Maid's public career. Earus took her place as a
"■ star " performer, and tAvo years later he was sold to
Mr. Eobert Bonner for $36,000.

No sketch of Earus would be complete without
some mention of his remarkable friendship for a dog.
When the horse was in California, a fireman gave to
Splan a wiry-haired Scotch terrier pup, who was then

<8 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

two months old, and weighed when full grown only
fifteen pounds. Splan in turn gave the pup to Dave,
the groom of Harus, with a caution not to let the horse
hurt him. for on several occasions Rarus had bitten
dogs that ventured into his stall. But to this terrier,
who is described as possessing '• almost human intel-
ligence," the trotter took a great fancy, which the dog
fully returned. They became fast and inseparable
friends. " Not only," says Mr. Splan, " were they ex-
tremely fond of each other, but they showed their
affection plainly as did ever a man for a woman. We
never took any pains to teach the dog anything about
the horse. Everything he knew came to him by his
own patience. From the time I took him to the sta-
ble, a pup, until I sold Earns, they were never sepa-
rated an hour. We once left the dog in the stall while
we took the horse to the blacksmith shop, and when
we came back we found he had made havoc with every-
thing there was in there, trying to get out, while the
horse during the entire journey was uneasy, restless,
and in general acted as badly as the dog did. Dave
remarked that he thought that we had better keep the
horse and dog together after that. When Rarus went
to the track for exercise, or to trot a race, the dog
would follow Dave around and sit by the gate at his
side, watching Rarus with as much interest as Dave
did. When the horse returned to the stable after a
heat, and was unchecked, the dog would walk up and
climb up on his forward legs and kiss him, the horse
always bending his head down to receive the caress.
In the stable, after work was over, Jim and the horse
would often frolic like two boys. If the horse lay
down, Jim would climb on his back, and in that way

TROTTING HORSES. 79

soon learned to ride him ; and whenever 1 led Rarus
out to show him to the public, Jim invariably knew
what it meant, and enhanced the value of the per-
formance by the manner in which he would get on the
horse's back. On these occasions the horse was shown
to halter, and Jimmy, who learned to distinguish such
events from those in which the sulky was used, would
follow Dave and Earus out on the quarter stretch ;
and then w^hen the halt was made in front of the grand
stand, Dave would stoop down, and in a flash Jimmy
would jump on his back, run up his shoulder, from
there leap on the horse's back, and there he would
stand, his head high in the air and his tail out stiff
behind, barking furiously at the people. He seemed
to know that he was as much a part of the show as
the horse, and apparently took great delight in attract-
ing attention to himself.''

When Rarus was sold to Mr. Bonner, Splan sent
Jimmy with the horse, rightly judging that it would
be cruel to separate them. But in Mr. Bonner's stable
there was already a bull-terrier in charge, and one da}'
when, for some real or fancied affront, the small dog
attacked the larger one, the latter took Jimmy by the
neck and was fast killing him ; but Rarus heard his
outcries, and perceiving that his little friend was in
danger and distress, pulled back on the halter till it
broke, rushed out of his stall, and would have made
short work with the bull-terrier had he not been re-
strained by the grooms.

The examples which I have cited prove that horses
are far more capable of attaching themselves to other
animals, man included, than is commonly supposed ;
for neither Dexter nor Goldsmith Maid nor Rarus

80 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

was particularly ati'ectiouate in disposition. There is
recorded one extraordinary case of friendship between
an old horse and a young one. A trotting-bred colt,
called Bay, had conceived a great fondness for a gray
gelding who was pastured in the same lot with liim,
his affection being warmly returned. When the young
horse arrived at the proper age he was sent to a trainer,
but in his new quarters he became unmanageable ; he
refused to eat, kicked and plunged in his stall, and
kept the whole place in an uproar. Finally he was re-
turned to the farm, and put back in the lield with his
gray friend, where he seemed perfectly contented.
His owner then concluded that he would have to send
the old horse also to the trainer, as a sort of compan-
ion or nurse to the young one. This he did, and there-
after the two animals were never separated. When
Bay's education was so far advanced that he was
thought Avorthy to go on the '' grand circuit," the gray
gelding was taken with liim from city to city. In the
''palace horse car" which conveyed Bay and the
other costly racers, a stall was invariably reserved for
his humble friend ; and whenever Bay engaged in a
race the old horse accompanied the " rubbers " to the
track, being always stationed in some place where the
young trotter could conveniently see and speak to him
between the heats. In another case, a great affection
sprang up between a trotter and a goat ; and certain
friendships between horses and other animals have be-
come historical. Thus the Godolphin Arabian had his
cat. Eclipse his sheep, and Chillaby or the "Mad
Arabian" was excessively fond of a lamb that kept
the Hies from him.

The 2.13| of Earns was reduced the very next year

TROTTING HORSES. 81

by St. Julien to 2.11^. This is a big, slashiug bay
horse, with a large but good head, wide hips, aud pow-
erful hind legs. His sire was Volunteer, who was by
the famous E-ysdyck's Hambletoniau, Volunteer's dam
being a well-bred mare, from whom he derived a hand-
some head and neck and a high spirit, these being
characteristics seldom found in the Hambletonian
strain. The dam of St. Julieu was of the Clay fam-
ily, which he closely resembled. St. Julien, like many
other trotters, was not educated to the turf without
the expenditure of exceeding pains on the part of his
trainer and driver, Mr. Orrin Hickock. He is a very
nervous horse, and it required months of practice be-
fore he became accustomed to " scoring," so that he
was fit to start m a race.

A year later, Maud S. reduced the record to 2.10|,
and again in 1885, to 2.08|, which is still the best
time for a regulation or oval-shaped track, though
on the kite-shaped track Palo Alto equalled it, and
Sunol surpassed it by half a second in the autumn of
1891. Jay-Eye-See, with his record of 2.10, held the
supremacy for a single day in 1884. He is an honest
but ugly little black horse, having hind legs of tre-
mendous power, which propel him with the accuracy
and force of locomotive driving-wheels. Jay-Eye-See
was by Dictator, a son of Rysdyck's Hambletonian,
and brother to Dexter. Jay-Eye-See's dam was a
daughter of Pilot Jr., and his grandam was by Lex-
ington, a famous race horse inbred to Diomed. Maud
S., as we have seen, was bred in much the same way.
Her sire was Harold, by Rysdyck's Hambletonian ;
her dam was Miss Russell, by Pilot Jr., and her
grandam was by Boston, the four-mile racer, and sire

6

82 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

of Lexington. Maud S. shows ber thoroughbred
quality in every line. She is a medium-sized golden
chestnut, with a good neck, a large, but bony, clean-
cut, and noble head, ears that are well shaped, though
a little too big, and a large eye, full of intelligence
and courage. She has a straight back and strong
quarters. Her present owner, Mr. Eobert Bonner,
says of her : " Maud S. is the most intelligent and
the most affectionate animal that I have ever owned.
She has, however, ' a will of her own,' and would re-
sent harsh treatment of any kind ; but if you use
her gently and kindly you can do anything with her.
Soloman's dictum concerning children Avould not an-
swer in her case. If you did not 'spare the rod,' you
would be sure to ' spoil ' her. I would as soon think
of striking a woman as to give Maud S. a sharp cut
with a whip." There was a time in the career of
Maud S. when she was wild, ungovernable, and, as a
racing mare, nearly if not quite worthless. But a
long course of patient training brought her back to
her original state, and she is now perhaps the best
driving horse as well as the fastest trotter in the
world.

I have mentioned the California horses Palo Alto
and Sunol. The former, whose breeding has already
been stated, is a noble animal, of immense courage, of
bull-dog tenacity, and of sound bottom. He is a big
brown horse, with fine shoulders, a well-shaped neck,
and a handsome though not superfine head. Palo
Alto has large, intelligent eyes, widely separated,
and altogether he presents an appearance of sub-
stance, of character, and of dignity. During the
greater part of his career upon the turf he has suf-

TROTTING HORSES. 83

fered from a "game" leg, ami yet he has never
flinched or faltered. Considering his half-thorough-
bred origin, he is a little phlegmatic ; it takes severe
work to " warm him up," and he is apt to lose the
first heat or two in a race. " Palo Alto." writes Mr.
Marvin, " requires constant and vigorous driving, but
there is a point beyond which it is dangerous to go."
Sunol, his half-sister, has not yet been tested in a long
race, but she has shown an extraordinary capacity
of sustaining speed for a mile. Of all the famous
trotters Sunol appears to have the least pleasant
disposition; she is too intelligent to be positively
vicious, but she is irritable, and perhaps a little
spiteful. It is said that she has an especial dislike
for her trainer and driver, Mr. Marvin, and that
she shows this feeling unmistakably whenever he
comes near her. Nevertheless, the two seem to un-
derstand each other perfectly. " Sunol's redeeming
feature," says a California writer, "is her affection
for her groom." ^

Another balf-brother of Sunol, the young Arion,^ is
commonly regarded as the greatest trotter yet pro-
duced. Arion is a small bay horse, not particularly
beautiful or striking in appearance, except in one re-
spect. His hind legs, and especially the hocks, are
enormously large and muscular. To this peculiarity,
no doubt, he owes his extreme speed. His disposi-
tion is superlatively good, and he is said to be full of

- Suuol is by Electioneer. Her dam was by General Benton.
Sunol's grand am was Waxy, a thoroughbred daughter of Lexing-
ton, just mentioned.

2 By Electioneer. His dam is Manette, by Nutwood. Arion's
two-year-old record, as already stated, is 2.l0f.

84 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

life and energy. " When he went back to the stall
after his wonderful mile at Stockton," relates a writer
in the San Francisco Examiner, " Arion was as full
of play as any frisky young thing just out of the
paddock. He had just trotted a mile that would kill
many great horses, but he caught hold of the groom's
coat with his teeth, shook it as a terrier does a rat,
and nosed around the pockets for sugar, of which
he is inordinately fond. Assuring himself that the
groom was out of the way, he let fly with one hind
foot, and struck the wall behind him with a bang like
the report of a pistol ; then he looked around to see
how big a hole he had made in the wood." Ariou, it
is said, enjoys admiration, and likes to be looked at,
talked to, and photographed. " He loves everybody.
There is not a streak of meanness in his composition.
He woidd not harm a mangy dog that came into his
stall to sleep." He has " large, soft eyes."

In the course of this brief survey it must have
occurred to the reader that there is one respect in
which all the most distinguished trotters have resem-
bled one another, and that is in their nervous energy,
their high spirit and courage. That latent flame
which the Washington Hollow horseman detected in
the eye of Flora Temple came out afterward in the
resolute bursts of speed with which she finished her
fastest miles. Dexter was represented as being " chock
full of fire and deviltry," and capable of jumping like
a cat. Hiram Woodruff, as we have seen, spoke of his
"wicked head." Goldsmith Maid had a strong will
of her own, and the excitement which she betrayed on
the eve of a race showed how fine was her organiza-
tion. " She would stand qui(^tly enough," says her

I?*

TROTTING HORSES. 85

driver, " while being hitched to the sulky," — although
she had previously been kicking and plunging in her
stall, — " but she would shake and tremble until I
have heard her feet make the same noise against the
hard ground that a person's teeth will when the body
is suddenly chilled ; that is, her feet actually chattered
on the ground. The instant I would get into the sulky
all this would pass away, and she would start in a
walk for the track as sober as any old horse you ever
saw." Rarus was so nervous that he never could have
been driven with safety on the road, and his courage
was of the finest temper. St. Julien was exceedingly
high strung, and in hands less patient and discreet
than those of his trainer might never have been sub-
dued to the purposes of racing. Jay-Eye-See, though
I know less of his personal history, is notorious for
the pluck that he showed on the last quarters of his
hard miles ; and Maud S. is the most spirited, the
most determined, and at the same time the gentlest
of animals.

Sunol is described by Governor Stanford, who bred
her, as " a bundle of nerves." Palo Alto ^ is a horse
of immense resolution, and Arion overflows with
energy. The groom who has been his constant com-
panion night and day for the past year or more says
that he never saw Arion stand quietly for a full
minute. " He is never at rest, and is always at play,
except when the harness goes on, and he feels Mar-
vin's hand on the lines : then he becomes at once an
old campaigner, not a frisky colt."

In all these horses we find strength of will, fine-
ness of nerve, and a '^ do or die " quality that goes

^ Palto Alto died of pneumonia after this chapter was in type.

86

ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

far to redeem the trotting track from those degrading
associations with which, one must admit, it is almost
always connected. Man may take a lesson from the
horse, as well as from the dog, in courage, in resolu-
tion, and in discipline. It is a noble spirit that ani-
mates the exhausted trotter, who, obedient to the rein
and voice of the jockey, expends his last reserve of
force on the home stretch, and staggers under the
wire a winner by a head.

IV.

TROTTING RACES.

SINCE 1824, when trotting may be said to have
begun as a sport, the record has been reduced
from 2 minutes 40 seconds to 2 minutes 8| seconds.^
Whence comes this great advance? It is due to
improvements in trotting courses, in sulkies, in
horseshoes, in boots and toe-weights, in harness (par-

1 Since tliis chapter was printed, the record has been reduced by
Nancy Hanks to 2.04. On this occasion, however, she drew the
newly invented " bicycle " sulky with pneumatic rubber tires, the
use of which is thought to make a saving of at least two seconds in
a mile. Nancy Hanks is by Happy Medium, son of Eysdyck's
Hambletonian : her dam was Nancy Lee, by Dictator, another son
of Hambletonian and brother to Dexter. Nancy Lee's dam was by
Edwin Forrest, of the lialf-bred Kentucky Hunter family to which
Flora Temple belonged. Edwin Forrest also sired the dam of
Mambrino King.

88 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

ticularly in the device of the overdraw check), in
training and driving, and finally in the speed and
endurance of the trotters themselves. The gain in
actual speed for a short distance has been much
slighter than is commonly supposed. So long ago as
1866, Hiram Woodruif drove Mr. Bonner's gray
mare Peerless (who was bred like Dexter, being in
part Messenger and in part Star) a quarter of a mile
at the rate of a mile in two minutes, — and this not
to a sulky, but to a skeleton wagon, a four-wheeled
vehicle, which is much heavier. It is doubtful if
this rate of going will ever greatly be surpassed,
though it is, I think, commonly believed by horse-
men that some time or other a mile will be trotted
in two minutes. The gain will probably be not so
much in speed for a short distance as in the ability
to maintain speed for a full circuit of the track.
Even Maud S. flagged a little on the last quarter of
her fastest mile.

For the past fifty years, and especially for the
latter half of that time, much ingenuity and in-
ventive skill have been employed to afford the trot-
ter all the mechanical assistance that is possible.
Tracks are made of an elliptical instead of a round
shape, because the two comparatively long stretches
or straight pieces thus obtained give the horse,
particularly a big-striding one, the opportunity that
he requires to get up his speed. Courses laid out in
this way are found to be much faster than the old
tracks, which were more nearly round. During the
past two years many tracks have been constructed
in what is called the kite shape, which resembles
a long loop, or an oval, the sides of which have

TROTTING RACES. 89

been compressed until they nearly meet. On these
tracks the horses start from one end of the loop, go
up one side, come back on the other, and finish at
the starting point. The kite track is considered to
be about two seconds faster than the ordinary or
regulation track, because it consists almost entirely
of two long stretches; but it is of course very un-
satisfactory to the spectator, who is able to see,
in any real sense, only the beginning and the finish
of the race. It seems unlikely that these tracks will
long be tolerated.^

Then, too, the footing has greatly been improved.
The best tracks now have an underlayer of turf or
of bog grass, Avhich makes them springy, and the
surface is soft Avithout being deep or heavy. The
sulky drawn by Dutchman, the old-time trotter, of
whom I have spoken in a former chapter, weighed
eighty-two pounds. Hiram Woodruff, writing in
1867, mentioned this fact, adding, " I now have two
that weigh less than sixty pounds.". The present
weight is about forty pounds. ^ This reduction of
forty pounds, or one half of the total weight, since
Dutchman's day, makes a great difference in time
for a mile, being probably equivalent on the average
to about one and a half seconds.

1 In Delaware, perhaps in other States also, a kite track which
is clown grade all the way has been constructed. This crowning
absurdity was accomplished by making the return side of the loop
end at a lower level than that from which the outgoing side of
the loop starts.

- I have seen lately in a Boston warehouse a skeleton wagon
that weighs but fifty pounds, and a top buggy that weighs only
one hundred and twenty-eight pounds. Nancy Hanks's sulky
weighs but thirty-eight pounds. Such vehicles might almost be
described as works of art.

90 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

Equal mechanical skill has been exerted in an-
other direction. Many horses cannot be driven at
anything like their highest speed without danger
of cutting themselves, by striking one foot or leg
against another, especially when they " break " ; and
to protect them from injury in this manner a great
variety of " boots" have been invented. Counting dif-
ferent sizes of these articles separately, the number
of them now on sale is over two hundred. Very few
trotters are able to dispense with boots entirely, and
many of them could not be used as race horses at all
except for these appliances. The shoeing of trotting
horses, again, is an art in itself,^ and so is the use of
toe-weights, which are small pieces of brass screwed
or otherwise attached to the hoofs of the fore feet.
Heavy shoes and toe-weights are employed to make
horses trot who otherwise would pace, to keep them
level in their gait, and sometimes to cause a length-
ening of their stride. The difficulty and importance
of these matters may be gathered from the fact that
a change of no more than two ounces in a trotter's
fore shoes or toe-weights would, in many cases, make
a difference of seveial seconds in his speed for a
mile, and consequently of thousands of dollars in his
value as a race horse. The necessity for toe-weights
or heavy shoes lies in some defect of conformation
or of gait, and when a trotter is obliged to carry a
heavy load in this manner his feet and legs suffer.

1 A fast horse now on the track is shod as follows : a sixteen-
ounce shoe on the off fore foot, and a fourteen and a half ounce ■
shoe on the near one ; a shoe of eight ounces on the off hind foot,
and one of six ounces on the near liind foot. Jack, to take another
instance, wore only light tips on his fore feet when he made his
record of 2.12^.

TROTTING RACES. 91

The famous Smuggler, a noble browu stallion with
a white blaze in his face, a heavy and powerful an-
imal, was originally a pacer, and in his races he wore
shoes on his fore feet weighing two pounds each;
in fact, he is said to have carried at one time three
pounds on each fore foot. His great strength and
courage enabled him to bear this burden, but event-
ually it disabled him. Smuggler was once sold for
^40,000, the highest price at that time ever paid
in this country for a horse j and though he was
capable of very high speed, he is regarded as on
the whole a failure. If he made a single break in
a race, he lost so much ground that he was nearly
sure to be distanced. This peculiarity is explained
by Mr. H. T. Helm, who says that Smuggler's stride
with his fore legs is not long enough to correspond
with the tremendovis stroke of his hind legs, and
consequently that he is apt to lose his balance. If
he does so, one of two things must occur : he will
either fall headlong and prostrate on the ground, —
which of course does not happen, — or he will throw
out both fore feet together ; in other words, gallop
instead of trot. But Smuggler gallops very high in
front, and therefore it is not easy for him to change
quickly back again from the gallop to the trot : his
speed has to be very much reduced before he can
pass from one gait to the other, and in this way he
loses so much ground that the other horses in the
race are very likely to distance him. That a horse
so severely handicapped by heavy shoes could trot
such races as Smuggler did is a good illustration
of equine strength and pluck.

The last factor in the development of the trotting

92 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

horse is the driver; aud here we touch upon the
great difference between running and trotting races.
A running race may be described, with some exag-
geration, as a brief but spirited flight of colts ridden
by boys, whereas a trotting race is a long-drawn
contest between seasoned horses and mature men,
who are commonly the trainers as well as the drivers
of their steeds. Not all running horses, to be sure,
are colts, nor all their riders boys, but the limit of
age in the horse and of Aveight in the man is quickly
reached. In trotting races the jockeys are always
men; the standard weight is liiO pounds, and if the
driver falls below that he must carry lead enough on
his sulky to make up the deficiency. In running
races, steeple-chases excepted, the weight (including
that of the rider) varies, roughly speaking, from 75
to 130 pounds, and a Fred Archer who tips the scales
at anything over d20 must retire to private life.
Then, again, running races, nowadays at least, al-
most invariably consist of a single dash, whereas
trotting races are in heats, the best three in five:
and this affords an opportunity for stratagem and
patience on the part of the driver; for courage, en-
durance, and even for recuperation on the part of
the horse. There is, therefore, in the trotting race,
an element of subtlety which gives it a peculiar fas-
cination. The typical driver who has been evolved
from these conditions is a spare but sinewy man,
with a quiet manner and a firm mouth, — as distinctly
American a ])erson as any that can be found. His
chief qualities, so far as the horse is concerned, are
sympathy and resolution. " Confidence between the
trotting horse and his driver,'' said the great master

TROTTING RACES. 93

of the art, " is of the utmost importance : it is all iu
all. Some men inspire it readily, so that a horse
will take hold and do all he knows the first time the
man drives him. For another man the same horse
will not trot a yard. The truth is that the horse is
a very knowing, sagacious creature, much more so
than he gets credit for. If a driver has no settled
system of his own, or if he is rash or severe without
cause, it is not likely that conlidence will be inspired
in the horse, even in a long time."

It is a fact often remarked, that some drivers suc-
ceed much better with certain equine families than
with others, the reason doubtless being that they are
better adapted to them in disposition. A trainer,
for example, who did very well with a well known
high-spirited and Avilful breed failed conspicuously
with another strain, of a milder and more gentle
nature.

There are, indeed, some boisterous drivers, but
they are not the most successful; in fact, the
quality of a horseman can almost be discovered by
observing the manner in Avhich he goes up to the
animal's head or enters his stall. The loud, rough
fellow may be a judge of soundness, and fairly well
qualified for the box seat of a hack; but he is not
the man for a close finish with a tired horse, when
victory depends upon calling out the last reserve of
strength ; nor will he make the successful trainer of
a high-strung colt. The trotter, moreover, cannot
be convinced by mere noise and violence : he is much
too clever an animal for that, and will hardly be
cheated into thinking that the jockey possesses any
quality which he really lacks. But when a driver

94 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

has the required combination of sympathy and force,
the trotter is quick to recognize his master and ready
to obey him.

"One half of a horse's speed," wrote Mr. George
Wilkes, "is in the mind of his rider or driver.
When it is known to the world that a horse has
made a mile a second or half-second faster than it
was ever made before, some rider of some other
horse, nerving himself with the knowledge of the
fact, and infusing that knowledge into his horse by
dint of his own enthusiasm, sends Mth a second or
two faster still; and the result of the mental emu-
lation is a permanent improvement which never is
retraced. Hiram Woodruff was the first to take this
mental grip of the powers of the trotting horse; and
the result in his case was, that, by dint of his own
mind, he carried him triumphantly over the gap
which lies between 2.40 and 2.18."

"Dan Mace," said Woodruff: himself, speaking of
another famous reinsman, now dead, "is very reso-
lute, and the horses that he handles know it."

To drive a trotter with art is, first, to get from
him the highest speed of which he is capable;
secondly, to keep him from making a break; and,
thirdly, to bring him back to the trot with as little
loss as possible after a break has actually occurred.
To do this well requires a light and "sensational"
hand, a sympathetic intelligence, and a vast deal of
practice. The break is prevented, sometimes by
restraining the animal with voice and rein, when it
is simply a case of too much eagerness, but more
often by moving the bit in his mouth. If the break
happens, the horse "leaving his feet," as the phrase

TROTTING RACES. 95

is, and going to a gallop or a run, he must be
" caught" by pulling his head to one side, so that he
will have to come back to a trot in order to keep his
balance ; and in extreme cases it will be necessary to
pull him first this way, and then that. The break
does not come without premonitory signals; there
is a sort of general unsteadiness of the horse's gait,
when the change is in contemplation, and at the last
moment he moves his ears backward. " The sign of
a coming break," says Hiram Woodruff, that excel-
lent writer from whom I have quoted so much al-
ready, "will be discovered by watching the head and
ears of the horse. The attention of the driver ought
always to be fixed upon the head of his horse. Many
a heat is lost by neglect of this matter. A driver is
seen coming up the home stretch a length or a length
and a half ahead. Both the horses are tired, but
the leading one could win. The driver, however,
when he gets \Vhere the carriages are, turns his head
to look at the ladies, or to see whether they are
looking at him. Just then the horse gives a twitch
with his ears; the driver does n't see it; up flies the
trotter, and the ugly man behind holds his horse
square, and wins by a neck."

Of all muscular pleasures, there is none, perhaps,
more fine and delicate than this of the skilful reins-
man. Whirled along at the rate of a mile in two
minutes and a half, he keeps his trotter steady by a
slight turn of the wrist, thus moving the bit in the
animal's responsive mouth, and so distracting his
attention and jogging his memory. If there is any
parallel to this exercise, it will probably be found
in those clever manipulations of rod and line by

96 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE,

means of which an angler transfers the shy but gamy-
trout from water to land. Nor is it necessary to
mount a sulky in order to experience these delights.
Mr. Vanderbilt drove Maud S. and Aldine, harnessed
to his road wagon, a mile in 2.15^; at Cleveland,
some years ago, a four-in-hand accomplished the
same distance in 2.40; and a moderately fast horse,
a moderately light wagon, and a smooth road supply
all the necessary conditions for artistic driving.

There is another function of the bit scarcely less
important, and that is to encourage and restore a
tired horse. When, at the end of a stoutly contested
heat, two trotters are struggling for supremacy, they
can be urged by the voice, reinforced either by the
whip or by the bit. A coarsely bred, sluggish animal
may, at this critical moment, require the lash, but its
application to a beast of any spirit is almost sure to
disgust and dishearten him. In some subtle way,
however, when the driver moves the bit to and fro
in the horse's mouth, the effect is to enliven and stim-
ulate him, as if something of the jockey's spirit were
thus conveyed to his mind. If this motion be per-
formed with an exaggerated movement of the arm, it
is called "reefing," and it sometimes appears, when
it is "neck or nothing," at the end of a heat, as if
the driver were actually "sawing" the horse's mouth,
whereas in reality, he is only giving the bit a loose
but vigorous motion therein.

At this point, it might not be amiss to state the
conditions of a trotting race, for it is highly probable
that to some of my readers the following explanation
will not be superfluous.

The race is over a mile track, almost elliptical in

TROTTING RACES. 97

shape, and the judges are perched in a two-story
balcony close to the track, and near one extrem-
ity of the ellipse, so that at the end of a heat the
horses have a long, straight stretch before reach-
ing the goal. Across the track from the judges'
stand, and high enough to clear the trotters' heads,
is stretched a wire, by the aid of which, in a very
close finish, the judges can determine which horse
has won. The race is usually " best three in five " ;
that is, in order to win, a horse must come in first
three times, not necessarily in succession. Thus it
will be seen, if there are many contestants in the
race, it may be prolonged to seven, eight, and even
ten heats, before any one trotter has secured three.
But if a horse has taken part in five ^ heats without
winning a single one, he is ruled out, or "sent to the
barn," as the expression is, and cannot start again.
So, also, he may be ruled out if at the close of a heat
he is very far behind the winning horse. At a point
in the home stretch one hundred feet from the judges'
stand, (one hundred and fifty, if eight or more horses
are engaged in the race,) a man is stationed with a
flag in his hand, which he drops when the winner
reaches the wire ; and if any lagging horse has not
passed him when his flag falls, that horse is "dis-
tanced," and cannot start again. It is possible for a
driver to "lay up" a heat, as it is called; that is, if
his horse be tired, or for any other cause, he may
content himself for that heat with just "saving his
distance," making no effort to win. The start is a
flying one. When the judges ring their bell, the
drivers turn about at or near the distance point, and

1 A recent rule makes this limit three heats instead of five.

98 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

come down past the judges' stand almost or quite at
full speed. If, when they pass under the wire, they
are upon fairly even terms, the starter (one of the
judges) cries out, " Go ! " and on the^^ rush. If,
however, the start would not be a fair one, the bell
is rung as a signal that the drivers must come back
and try again. Sometimes the scoring, as these
attempts are called, is prolonged for a long while;
but the judges are authorized to fine any driver who
comes down ahead of or behind the "pole" horse;
that is, the horse who has the inside position, or
that nearest the poles which mark the quarter, the
half, and the three-quarter mile points. All the
positions are assigned by lot. The attempt is occa-
sionally made by a combination of drivers to tire out
or excite some particular horse by unnecessary scor-
ing, and in former years this nefarious plan was
often practised successfully, but of late the rules are
enforced with more strictness. Even with the best
intentions on the part of all the drivers concerned,
it is sometimes difficult to get a fair start, especially
if the horses are young or badly behaved, and the
scoring is frequently spoken of as a great drawback
to the pleasures of a trotting race. These false
starts, however, afford a most interesting exhibition
of horses and men ; the spectator has such an oppor-
tunity as he could not otherwise enjoy to study the
gaits of the various trotters, to note how well or ill
they "catch," and to observe the skill, temper, and
courage of the jockeys. There is a great difference
in the behavior of the different horses. Some pull
and tug on the bit, despite the signal to return, car-
rying their drivers down to the first turn in the

TROTTING RACES. 99

track before they can be stopped; whereas others,
old campaigners as a ruh^, will slacken speed at
ouce when they hear the bell, stop, and tnrn around
of their own accord.

Goldsmith Maid, a mare whose natural cleverness
enabled her to profit by a long and varied experience,
showed wonderful intelligence in scoring. When
turned about to come down for the start, she would
measure with her eye the distance between herself
and the other horses; and if it seemed to her that
they were likely to get first to the judges' stand, she
would refuse to put forth her best speed, despite the
efforts of her driver. The result in such cases was,
of course, as she foresaw, that the judges, perceiving
that the start would be an unfair one, rang the recall
bell. "On the contrary," says Mr. Doble, "if she
had a good chance to beat the other horses in scoring,
she would go along gradually with them until pretty
close to the wire, and then of her own accord come
w ith a terrible rush of speed, so that when the word
was given she would almost invariably be going at
the best rate of any horse in the party. ... If she
had the pole, she woiild make it a point to see that
no horse beat her around the first turn, seeming to be
perfectly well aware that the animal that trotted on
the outside had a good deal the worst of it.^'

Close to the fence, but inside of it on the track,
opposite the judges' stand or thereabout, there is
always a motley group of " rubbers " or grooms, and
helpers, with pails of water and sponges in their
hands, and blankets, thick or thin according to the
weather, thrown over their shoulders, or deposited
conveniently on the fence. Here, very often, the

r

100 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

di'iver pulls up for a moment, on his way back to
the starting point after tlie bell has rung for a re-
call, while the groom hastily sponges out the horse's
mouth and nostrils, adjusts the check-rein, takes up
a hole in the breeching, or makes some other slight
change in the harness.

These are tense moments in an important race,
especially if the contestants are known to be evenly
matched, and if each driver is anxious that the oth-
ers shall take no advantage of him. At such times
a reputation for courage is of some service; it is
always a temptation for one jockey to " cut out "
another, or unfairly drive in to the " pole" ahead of
him, just as one boat in a rowing race may take
another boat's water. Under these circumstances, it
is the right of the driver, whose territory is invaded
to keep on, even though a collision may result ; and
a resolute man will do so, undeterred by the fact
that spokes are flying from the wheel of his own or
of his adversary's sulky, as the two gossamer vehicles
come together. "The quarter stretch looked more
like a toothpick factory than a race-course," was face-
tiously remarked of one occasion, when the driving
had been reckless.

With this explanation, I shall venture to give a
short account of a notal)le race which occurred at
Cleveland, in July, ISTO, between the famous horses
Smuggler and Goldsmith Maid. The latter was at
this time nineteen years old, but she was thought to
be invincible, and in this very year she repeated her
best record, 2.14, first made by her in 1874. The
Maid was, as we have seen, the fastest trotter from
the time of Dexter, who achieved 2.17^ in 1867,

TROTTING RACES. 101

to that of Rarus, who iu 1878 covered a mile in
2.1o|. A slight sketch of Goldsmith Maid was
given in a former chapter, and I have stated already
in the present chapter the chief characteristics of
Smuggler.

There were three other fast horses in the race,
Lurille Golddust, Bodine, and Judge Fullerton; but
none of them, excepting perhaps Lucille Golddust,
played a part of any importance. Goldsmith Maid
was driven by Budd Doble, a young man whom
Hiram Woodruff: picked out to succeed himself in the
charge of Dexter, and who has since amply justified
the selection by intelligent training and skilful driv-
ing of many celebrated horses. He is, moreover, one
of the few jockeys whose reputations are without
flaw. Charles Marvin, who also ranks high in the
craft, sat in the sulky of Smuggler. But the judges
are ringing their bell, the horses have been " warmed
up," the rubbers are gathered at the wire, a hush has
fallen upon the vast throng of spectators, anticipa-
tion is on tiptoe, and it is time for the

First Heat. At the third trial, the horses re-
ceived a fair start, and Goldsmith Maid, pursuing
her usual tactics, made a rush for the lead, and
secured it. The first half-mile was trotted very fast,
and for the first quarter Bodine was second and
Smuggler third. Smuggler, however, went by Bo-
dine in the second quarter, and soon after the half-
mile pole was passed he came very close to the Maid,
but at this point he faltered a little. The cause was
not known at first to the spectators, but after the
heat a mounted patrol judge galloped in with a shoe
which Smuggler had cast from his near fore foot.

102 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

Despite this accident, — and its importance may be
estimated from the fact that his fore shoes weighed
two pounds each, — Smuggler came down the liome
stretcli with tremendous speed, pushing tlie Maid
hard; and when she swept under tlie wire in -Ao^,
his nose was on a level with her tail. This was a
great heat, and Smuggler would probably have won
it had he not cast a shoe.

Second Heat. There was some trouble in scoring,
for Smuggler broke badly, but on the fourth attempt
they were sent off, Goldsmith Maid being a little
ahead of the others. In going around the first turn
Smuggler made one of his characteristic breaks, and
had to be pulled almost to a standstill before be
regained a trot. His driver therefore contented him-
self with just saving his distance. But the Maid was
given no rest, for Lucille Golddust was close upon
her heels, forcing the Queen of the Turf to trot the
mile in 2.17]-. These two fast heats distressed
Goldsmith Maid, but those who had backed her
were still confident, relying upon the great speed
and steadiness of the old mare to pull her througli.

ThhuJ Heat. The Maid, having won the preceding
heat, had the inside position, and kept it, although
she broke at the first turn ; but her breaks were not
like those of Smuggler. To the half-mile pole she
led, with Fullerton second, Lucille Golddiist third,
and Smuggler fourth. But after this point had been
reached, Marvin called upon Smuggler for an effort.
The horse answered gamely ; he passed Lucille Gold-
dust, then Fullerton, and when Goldsmith Maid
turned into tlic liomc stretch Smuggler was close
Vjehind her. Tlui race was extremely close from

TROTTING RACES. 103

this point; but Smuggler gained on tlie Maid iucli
by inch, and finally dashed under the wire, three
quarters of a length in advance, amid tumultous ap-
plause. Time, 2.16|. "The scene which followed,"
says a contemporary and graphic report in the
Turf, Field, and Farm, "is indescribable An elec-
trical wave swept over the vast assembly, and men
swung their hats and shouted themselves hoarse,
while the ladies snapped fans and parasols and
burst their kid gloves in an endeavor to get rid of
the storm of emotion. The police vainly tried to
keep the quarter stretch clear. The multitude poured
through the gates, and Smuggler returned to the
stand through a narrow lane of humanity, which
closed as he advanced. Doble was ashy pale, and
the grand mare who had scored so many victories
stood with trembling flanks and head down. Her
attitude seemed to say, '1 have done my best, but
am forced to resign the crown. ' "

"During the intermiss-ion," according to the same
account, "the stallion was the object of the greatest
scrutiny. So great was the press that it was difficult
to obtain breathing-room for him. He appeared fresh,
and ate eagerly of the small bunch of hay which was
presented to him by his trainer after he had cooled
off. It was manifest that the fast work had not de-
stroyed his appetite. The betting now changed, for
it was seen that the Maid was tired."

The race, however, was not over yet. Smuggler
had two heats to win before victory would be his,
whereas Goldsmith Maid needed only one more. She
was leg-weary, to be sure, but then she could be
counted on to make a humanly sagacious use of her

104 llOAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

Opportunities, and a single bad break would cause
Smuggler's defeat. Excitement subdued the specta-
tors to perfect stillness, and not a sound was heard
except the rhythmical tramp of the live horses, as
they thundered down the stretch to the wire for
the

Fourth Heat. At the second attempt the judges
gave the word " Go" as Smuggler was trotting stead-
ily, although somewhat behind the others. The
Maid, as usual, rushed off with the lead, and Lucille
Golddust took the second place, being pulled out a
little, so as to bring her near the centre of the track.
This left Marvin in a very bad position, technically
known as a "pocket." He could not slip in be-
tween the other two horses, for Doble kept the Maid
back just far enough to prevent such a move; and
if he should check his own horse sufficiently to get
past Lucille Golddust, much distance would be lost.
What he did was to remain in this helpless situation
until the home stretch was reached, thinking that
the driver of Golddust would finally get out of his
way; but this did not happen, and when Smuggler
was only three hundred yards from the wire, when
Goldsmith Maid had a long lead, when "a smile of
triumph lighted Doble's face, and the crowd settled
sullenly down to the belief that the race was over,"
then at last the driver of Smuggler ])ulled him back
and turned to the right, so as to get out of the
pocket, and made desperate play for the heat. Con-
trary to what every one expected, the horse did not
break, despite this interference with his stride, but,
keeping level and steady, came down the course,
when he saw the way clear before him, with a

TROTTING RACES. 105

burst of speed which will always be famous in the
chronicles of the American turf. His ears were laid,
flat on his head, his neck was stretched out low and
long, so as to bring his head scarcely above the level
of his withers, and tire flashed in his eye.

'•He trotted," writes Mi'. Helm, who was among
the spectators, "with a grim desperation, that can-
not readily be forgotten by the thousands who were
present. His fleet-footed and never faltering oppo-
nent, the victor in a hundred trials, tlie Queen of
2.14, was already thirty-tive feet ahead of him.
With a gathering of resources never perhaps held
by any other, and a rate of speed never equalled on
the trotting turf, he made for the front. There can
be no doubt, I think, that he moved for six or eight
hundred feet at the rate of a two-minute gait. He
trotted then as if he knew he could and would win
the heat; and in his very eye there was the look of
win it, or perish in the attempt. Woe to the animal
or vehicle that should come between him and the
end of that race ! His speed was terrific, his mo-
mentum was fearful, and his stroke as steady and
true as any ever beheld. His very appearance was
a sort of magnetism that electrified the thousands
that were present."

"It was more like flying than trotting," says the
report from which I first quoted. "Doble hurries
his mare into a break, but he cannot stop the dark
shadow which flits by him. His smile of triumph
is turned into an expression of despair. Smuggler
goes over the score a winner of the heat by a neck,
and the roar which comes from the grand stand and
the quarter stretch is deafening. The time was

106 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

-!.19|. Smuggler again cooled oft' well, uibbliug
eagerly at his bunch of hay. The jVIaid was more
tired than ever, while Lucille Golddust showed no
signs of distress."

Even yet, however, the race was in doubt.

Fifth Heat. It was evident that the other horses,
or rather their drivers, had formed a combination
against Smuggler. They worried him so much in
scoring that twice again he pulled off the shoe from
his near fore foot, and nearly an hour elapsed before
a start was obtained. ''The shell of the foot,'' re-
lates the excellent writer in the Turf, Field, and
Farm, "was pretty badly splintered by the triple
accident, but the stallion was not rendered lame.
Misfortunes, however, seemed to be gathering
thickly about him, and the partisans of the Maid
wore the old jaunty air of confidence." The other
horses had an unbroken rest while Smuggler was
shoeing, so that they all appeared fresh when the
word was finally given. "FuUerton," says the
Turf, Field, and Farm, "went to the front like a
flash of light, trotting without a skip to the quarter
pole in thirty -three seconds," but Smuggler passed
him near the half-mile pole, kept the lead from that
point, and won the race, although Goldsmith Maid
came along with great speed on the home stretch,
forcing Smuggler to trot the heat in 2.17|, and
finishing a good second.

Thus ended what was perhaps, all things consid-
ered, the best race ever trotted. Here were five
heats in 2.15i, 2.17^, 2.161, o.t9|^ o.lJi, each one
being gallantly contested, and the result remaining
in the utmost doubt till the very close of the fifth

TROTTING RACES. 107

heat. "The evening shadows had now thickened,
and, as the great crowd had shouted itself weak and
hoarse, it passed slowly through the gates, and drove
in a subdued manner home."

There is one other race of which I cannot forbear
giving a brief account, because the winner displayed
the same admirable qualities as Smuggler, and tri-
umphed where his defeat was supposed to be inev-
itable. There were eight contestants, but the real
competitors were three, namely, Nobby, Felix, and
Florence.

Nobby was a very peculiar horse: a dark bay
gelding, with a long neck and body, a fine head, and
altogether a thoroughbred and even greyhound appear-
ance. His gait was long, low, and smooth. He was
however a wild breaker, and extremely nervous. " The
twitter of a canary bird on a limb, " said John Splan,
his driver, " would have more effect on Nobby than
a full brass band on an ord.inary horse." Both his
mouth and feet were in bad condition, but Splan,
who took the horse for the first time on the day of
the race, poulticed his feet, and relieved his mouth
by driving him with an easy bit and nose-band at-
tachment. He also stuffed the horse's ears with
cotton, so that he should not be seared or worried to
a break by the shouting and whipping of the other
drivers. "Nobby," said the contemporary report in
the Spirit of the Times, "impresses you with the
idea that he is constantly trying to lose the race by
making a mistake. Splan drove him as carefully as
if he were handling eggs." Felix was a bay gelding,
and a horse of speed, — much speedier, in fact, than
Nobby ; but, as a reporter of the race remarked, " he

108 KOAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

has a soft spot in him somewhere when pinched."
Florence was a beautiful mare, also fast, and a good
breaker. All three, it should be mentioned, were
driven by masters of the art.

The first heat was won by Florence after a sharp
contest with Felix, Xobby making no effort. In the
second heat Xobby outstripped the others on the home
stretch, but made a wild break, passing under the
wire on a run, and Florence was awarded first place.
In the third heat Nobby again broke badly, and Felix
won after another hard contest with Florence. In
the fourth heat Xobby showed his quality. At the
three-quarter pole Felix led him by four lengths, but
from this point Xobby began to gain inch by inch,
Splan driving him with great patience and skill.
His long neck showed nearer and nearer to the sulky
of Felix, as the two horses approached the judge's
stand, until at last they were side by side. Then
Felix seemed to fall back, and Xobby won amid wild
hurrahs. "I have seen his sire do the same thing in
California," said a noted horseman who was among
the spectators. In the ffth heat, however, Nobby
made another disastrous break, and Felix won easily.
Five heats had now been trotted, and the coming
heat would decide the race if it fell either to Felix
or to Florence. Nobby, so far, had only one to
his credit. This brings us to the

Sixth Heat. It had begun to rain a litth^ the
track was sticky, and all the horses were tired.
"Their courage," says the report, "was cheered by
sherry." It is more likely, however, that Nobby was
treated to cliampagne and seltzer water, that being
the agreeable dose usually administered by Splan

TROTTING RACES. 109

under similar circumstances. Only the winners of
heats, Felix, Florence, and Nobby were allowed to
start; the others, who had not secured a single one
out of the five heats that had been trotted, being
"sent to the barn," in accordance with a rule already
stated. The pools sold fast and furious on Felix
against the field, twenty-five dollars to six, for what
slight chance iNobby ever had was thought to be
gone.

Now came one of the most stubbornly contested
heats ever seen on a trotting course. At the start
Felix showed much more speed than the others, and
was a length ahead at the quarter pole, with Florence
second, and Nobby trotting steadily in the rear. At
the half-mile pole Felix had gained three lengths
more, and looked, as the sporting phrase is, a sure
winner. Soon after this point was passed Florence
gave place to Nobby, and "now," said the Spirit of
the Times, " Sjjlan began to show his tactics, 'wait
and win.' His gain to the three-quarter pole was
almost imperceptible, and Felix still kept a long
lead; but from this point Splan began to use every
particle of speed that was in his horse. When they
turned into the home stretch Felix was swung out to
the middle of the track, where the footing was better
but Nobby was driven close to the pole. 'I can't
spare a foot of distance, was my thought,' Splan
afterward remarked."

"Nobby gamely entered into the spirit of the task;
a stern chase, it is true, but gradually he lessened the
gap. At the drawgates, where the path was hard,
he wavered, as if about to break, but Splan steadied
him with a slight pull, and on recovering his stride

110 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

he now measured the distance to be overcome.
Slowly but surely came he nearer to Felix; within
a few lengths of the wire they were almost even.
Just at the last moment Splan roused Nobby for a
final effort, and landed him first under the wire by
a neck. Time, 2.25."

Seventh Heat. Twilight was coming on as the
tired horses scored for the word. At the third trial
they received a fair start. Felix broke almost im-
mediately, and lost three lengths, but Florence gave
Nobby no rest so long as her wind and courage
lasted. She hung close to the wheel of his sulky
until they had got midway of the second quarter,
when Nobby began to draw away from her. At this
point Felix came along, and the driver of Florence,
seeing that she had "shot her bolt," kindly pulled
her out from the pole to the centre of the track, thus
allowing Felix to slip into her place. Florence then
dropped behind, but Felix continued to gain, and
at the half-mile pole he was trotting neck and neck
with Nobby. From this point, as before, Felix out-
trotted Nobby, and when they turned into the home
stretch for the last time he had a good lead of three
full lengths. Again the driver of Felix brought
him out to the centre of the track, and again Splan
hugged the pole. The brush down the home stretch
was an exciting one. Felix trotted fast, but behind
him still pegged away the unconquerable Nobby, and
the distance between them was reduced inch by inch,
until at last Splan brought his horse up on even terms
with the other. They were now but a few yards
from the goal. Both horses were exhausted, and
Nobby could not be aroused by the voice, for his ears

TROTTING RACES. Ill

were stuffed with cottou. Splan took "the last,
dying chance," as he called it. Running the risk of
a break, wliich would have been fatal, he leaned
forward and touched Nobby lightly on the shoulder
with his whip. The move was successful. Nobby
kept steadily to a trot, but, gamely responding to
the appeal, made one final effort, and fairly staggered
under the wire, a winner by a head.-^ Time, 2.28|-.

Thus ended a memorable contest. It was won by
the horse who proved himself the slowest trotter
and the worst breaker of the three competitors, —
won through his own courage and endurance, and
through the skill and patience of his driver. " But
who cares to see a race which falls to the slowest
horse? The race should be to the swift," is a com-
ment that might perhaps be made. Such a criticism
would be founded upon a false notion of sport. All
sports ]3i'actised for the amusement of a spectator are
noble according as victory in them depends upon the
exercise of moral and mental qualities. The atten-
tive reader of Boxiana will conclude that, taking the
history of the ring as a whole, the fight was usually
won by the man who had determined that he would
not be beaten; and from this circumstance alone a
very fair argument might be made — how nearly
adequate need not here be considered — in support
of pugilism.

In trotting races, for the reasons already stated, and
as is apparent from the illustrations that have been
given, there is a peculiar opportunity for the exercise

^ Since the writing of this chapter, Nobby has been sokl at
auction. He brought $2,000, and his purchaser, as the senti-
mental reader will be glad to learn, was John Splan.

112

ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

of admirable qualities on the part of both horse and
man. It is true, that, so far as the drivers are con-
cerned, their skill is often prostituted to the eKigen-
cies of the pool-box, but no accusation of this sort
was ever brought against a trotter. The breath of
suspicion may at times have rested upon Splan, but
the luvme of Nobby is untarnished. In the two eon-
tests just described, all parties to the fight honestly
exerted the qualifications that nature and experience
had given them; and although victory perched first
here and then there, the prize finally fell, as should
be the case, to superior courage, endurance, patience,
and skill.

EOAD HOKSES.

AMONG the irregular acquaintances of my boy-
hood, I remember a certain Ed Hulbert, who
was wont to express his notion of felicity in the fol-
lowing concise and oft-repeated phrase : " A smooth
road and a sharp trot ! " There may be nobler ideals ;
pvirsuits might perhaps be thought of which combine
pleasure with intellectual improvement to a greater
degree ; and certainly it must be admitted that a
young or even a middle-aged man should always be
provided with an excuse for driving instead of riding,
such as that he is lame, or has already taken an equiva-
lent amount of exercise in some other form, or desires
to be accompanied by his wife. But, these difficulties
surmounted, (or shall we say disregarded?) the com-
bination of " a smooth road and a sharp trot " will

114 KOAD, TRAQK, AND STABLE.

supply no small amusemeut. Only the horse lover,
indeed, can enjoy it to the full, — subtly communi-
cating through rein and bit with his steed, appre-
ciating the significant play of his ears, and rightly
interpreting that lively, measured ring of his feet upon
the road which indicates a sound and active stepper.
But there are some incidental delights, such as the
quick conveyance through fresh air and a passing
glimpse of the scenery, which everybody enjoys. My
old acquaintance would have thought but meanly of
the man who gave a wish to view the country as his
reason for driving ; but then the Ed Hulbert standard
cannot always be maintained, and something must be
pardoned to the weakness of human nature.

In a sense, every horse driven by the owner for
pleasure is a road horse. The fast trotter who speeds
up and down the Brighton or the Harlem road, draw-
ing a single man in a gossamer wagon; the round,
short-legged cob; the big, respectable, phlegmatic
Goddard-buggy animal, who may be seen in Boston
any fine afternoon hauling a master very much like
himself out over Beacon Street; the pretty, high-
stepping pair in front of a mail phaeton; — all these
are road horses, but none of them, excepting some-
times the trotter, is a roadster in the strict sense.
The road horse pai' excellence is a beast of medium
size, who can draw a light carriage at the rate of
seven miles an hour all day without tiring himself or
his driver. He should be able to travel at least ten
miles in an hour, twenty miles in two hours, sixty
miles in a day ; and by this is meant that he should
do it comfortably and "handily," as the term is, and
feel none the worse for the exertion. Such roadsters

ROAD HORSES. 116

are rare, — much more so now, in proportion to the to-
tal number of our horses, than they were twenty-five
years ago, or before the war ; the reason being that
the craze for fast trotters has thrown the roadster into
the shade. Of course, almost any sound horse can be
urged and whipped over the ground, " driven off his
feed," perhaps, and so travel these distances in the
time mentioned. Nothing is more common than for
some broken-down animal to be pointed out by his
cruel and mendacious master as one for whom ten or
twelve miles an hour is only a sort of exercising gait;
the poor beast having very likely been ruined in the
effort to accomplish some such feat which was beyond
his capacity. The mere fact that a horse has gone a
long way in a short time tells little about his powers ;
the more important inquiry is, What was his condi-
tion afterward ? A liveryman in Vermont declared
not long ago, that at one time and another he had lost
twelve hundred dollars' worth of horseflesh through
the ignorant and murderous driving of customers
who had endeavored to keep up with a certain gray
mare, of extraordinary endurance, that was owned in
his vicinity for several years.

A horse that will step off cheerfully and readily
eight miles an hour, a pace so moderate that one never
sees it mentioned in an advertisement, is much better
than the average ; one that will do ten miles in that
time and in the same way is an exceptionally good
roadster; and the horse that goes twelve miles an
hour with ease is extremely rare. A stable-keeper in
Boston, of long experience, tells me that he has known
but two horses that would travel at this last-men-
tioned rate with comfort to themselves and the driver,

116 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

though he has seen mauy others, pulling, crazy crea-
tures, that Avould keep up a pace as fast, or even
faster, till they dropped. Of these two pleasant
roadsters, capable of covering twelve miles iu sixty
minutes, one trotted all the way, up and down hill,
whereas the other walked up the steep ascents, and
went so much the faster where the grade was favor-
able. The latter method is easier and better for
most horses.

The capabilities of a roadster having now been indi-
cated in a general way, the first and most obvious in-
quiry is, What will be the conformation aud appear-
ance of a horse likely to possess them ? Upon this
subject it is dangerous to dogmatize. For example, a
flat-sided, thin-waisted animal is apt to be wanting in
endurance, and yet there have been some notable ex-
ceptions to this rule. A leading quality of the road
horse is shortness ; that is, his back should be short,
and, it may be added, straight. The same is true of
his legs, especially as regards the cannon-bone. A
short cannon-bone is perhaps the most nearly indispen-
sable characteristic of a roadster. The knees should
be large, the hocks well let down, and the hind quar-
ters closely coupled to the back. The belly should be
of good size, and round. George Borrow, a thorough
horseman, makes the old hostler in " Lavengro " say :
" Never buy a horse at any price that has not plenty of
belly. No horse that has not plenty of belly is ever a
good feeder, and a horse that an't a good feeder can-
not be a good horse." He should have great depth of
lung and a moderately broad chest. Good, sound feet
of medium size, and pastern joints neither straight
nor oblique, are essential. It is no harm if his neck

ROAD HORSES. 117

be thick, but it is absolutely necessary that he should
have a hue head and clear, intelligent eyes, with a
good space between and above them. An English
authority declares, " There was never yet a first-class
race horse that had a mean head," and I believe
this is equally true of roadsters. The ears also
are an important point; they should be set neither
close together nor wide apart, and it is of the utmost
consequence how they are carried. A lively, sensible
horse, one who has the true roadster disposition, will
continually move his ears, pointing them forward and
backward, and even sideways, thus showing that he is
attentive and curious as to what takes place about
him, and interested to observe what may be coming.
A beast with a coarse head, narrow forehead, dull,
timorous eyes, and ears that tend to incline away
from each other when held upright, and which are
apt to be pointed backward, — such a horse is one
to avoid as certainly deficient in mind, and prob-
ably in courage and in good temper as well. Many
lazy, sluggish animals of this sort are considered
eminently safe for women to drive ; and so they are
until the harness breaks or something else fright-
ens them, when they become panic-stricken and tear
everything to pieces. On the other hand, a high-
strung but intelligent horse will quickly recover from
a sudden alarm, when he finds that after all he has
not been hurt. The manner rather than the fact of
shying is the thing to be considered.

When we come to inquire how good roadsters are
bred, the answer can be given with more confidence,
for the source of their endurance and courage is always
found either in Arabian or in thoroughbred blood.

118 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

These two terms were at one time more nearly synony-
mous than they are now. A thoroughbred (as we have
seen, and as the instructed reader will scorn to be
told) is one whose pedigree is registered in the English
Stud Book, the first volume of which was published in
1808. A preliminary volume, called " An Introduction
to a General Stud Book," issued in 1791, contained
the names of the chief mares and stallions of racing
stock then living. These are the "foundation" horses
from which the present thoroughbreds, English and
American, have sprung. They were almost entirely
of Oriental descent. Arabs were imported to Eng-
land at a very early period, but not in such numbers
as to effect any decided improvement in the native
breed until the reign of James I. This monarch es-
tablished a racing stable, and installed therein some
fine Arabian stallions. Charles I. continued the same
policy, and the royal stud which he left at Tutbury
consisted chiefly of Arab-bred horses. Soon after his
execution, it was seized by order of Parliament ; but,
happily, the change in dynasty did not interfere with
the conduct of the stud. Cromwell, as is well known,
had a sharp eye for a horse, and the best of the King's
lot were soon " chosen " for the Lord Protector.

Charles II., again, had no less a passion for horses,
and almost the first order that he issued, after land-
ing in England, was one to the effect that the Tutbury
nags should be returned to the royal stables. This
monarch imported some Arabian stallions, and a col-
lection of mares called Royal Mares, purchased on
the Continent. Their breeding is not entirely known,
but many of them were Arabs or Barbs. Tlie Pvoyal
Mares figure in the first volume of the Stud Book.

ROAD HORSES. 119

Many private breeders also added to the Arabian stock
in England ; but it was not until the first half of the
eighteenth century that the three horses were im-
ported who have exercised the greatest influence upon
the race of English thoroughbreds. These were the
Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian, and especially the
Godolphin Arabian, or Barb, — probably the latter.
The last named was a dark bay horse about fifteen
hands high (Arab horses seldom exceed 14 J hands),
with a white off heel behind. He is said to have been
stolen from his owner in Paris, where he was em-
ployed in the menial task of drawing a water-cart, and
his pedigree was never ascertained. It is the fashion
of English writers to decry the A rabian blood ; and it
is true that the present thoroughbred, owing to many
years of good food and severe training, is a bigger,
stronger, swifter animal than the Arab ; ^ but the
latest and perhaps the highest authority on this sub-
ject, William Day, makes the significant admission,
that all the best thoroughbreds now on the English
turf trace back to one or more of the three Arab
horses whose names have just been mentioned.

The chief reason why a good roadster must have

1 Some years ago, Haleem Pacha, of Egypt, who had inherited
from his father, Abbass Pacha, a stud of Arabs estimated to have
cost about $5,000,000, made a match with certain merchants at Cairo
to run an eight-mile race for £400 a side. The Cairo merchants
sent to England and bought Fair Nell, an Irish mare, thorough-
bred, or nearly so, that had been used by one of the Tattersalls as
a park and covert hack. She was a beautiful bright bay mare,
with black legs, standing about 15 hands 1| inches. The match
took place within two weeks after Fair Nell landed iu Egypt, and
she won with ridiculous ease, beating the Pacha's best Arab by a
full mile. She did the eight miles in 18^ minutes, and palled up
fresh.

120 . ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

thorouglibred or Arab blood ni his veins is, that from
no other source can he derive the necessary nervous
energy. This is even more important than the supe-
rior bony structure of tlie tliorouglibred or Arabian.
Exactly what nervous energy is, nobody, I presume,
can tell ; but it is something that, in horses at least,
develops the physical system early, makes it capable
of great exertion, and enables it to recover quickly
from fatigue. The same, or, more correctly, a similar
capacity, is remarked in mankind. Readers of Arctic
travels, for example, must often have been struck by
the fact that it is almost invariably the men, and not
the officers, who succumb to the labor and exposure
of a sledge journey. Loosely speaking, it may be that
in the educated man, especially in the man whose
ancestors also have been educated, the inind has ac-
quired a degree of control over the body which can-
not otherwise be attained. So also with horses. A
thoroughbred is one whose progenitors for many gen-
erations have been called upon to exert themselves to
the utmost ; they have run hard and long, and strug-
gled to beat their competitors. Moreover, they have
had an abundance of the food best adapted to develop
bone and muscle. Then, again, the care, the groom-
ing, the warm housing and blanketing, which they
have received, tend to make the skin delicate, the
hair fine, the mane silky, the Avhole organization more
sensitive to impressions, and consequently the nervous
system more active and controlling.

This same nervous energy usually prevents the road-
ster from being what is known as a family horse, for
he lacks the repose, the placidity and phlegm, of that
useful but commonplace animal ; he is apt to jump

ROAD HORSES. 121

like a cat, and to dance or run a little now and then
in exuberance of spirits and superfluity of strength.
Occasionally, to be sure, a horse is found who has
i^reat courage and endurance, and at the same time
a perfectly temperate disposition. Such was- Justin
Morgan, head of the great roadster family, whose ori-
gin I have described in a previous chapter.

If the partisans of this family are not quite so
fanatical as those of the Arab, it is because they are
more numerous than the latter, and consequently the
less driven to back themselves up by extravagant
assertion. But they are not wanting in enthusiasm.^

As to Justin Morgan, the immortal soul, his history
is a matter of profound indifference. Nobody cares
whether his mother was a Jones from Connecticut, or
a Smith from Massachusetts. But Justin Morgan, the
little bay colt which the schoolmaster took in payment
for a bad debt, has kept the name bright for more
than a century. This is sad indeed, and yet greater
men than Justin Morgan have suffered a similar fate.
How many horsemen are aware that Ethan Allen was
preceded by a biped of the same name, a brave officer
of the Kevolution, who commanded our forces at the
taking of Ticonderoga ?

The case of General Knox is even worse. He was
one who cut a wide swath in his day, — a leader in the
Revolution, a brave soldier, a counsellor much relied
upon by ■ Washington, a man of wealth, of birth and

1 " The Perfect Horse," a work by the Rev. W. H. H. Murray,
is devoted to the praise of this family. A good illustrated history
of Justin Morgan and his descendants, by Linsley, is now, I believe,
out of print, and a more elaborate account of the family is in
preparation by Mr. Joseph Battell, of Middlebury, Vermont.

122 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

breeding, — altogether, a personage of great impor-
tance. And yet not long ago, when a certain rustic
youth reared in Vermont paid his first visit to St.
Albans in that State, in company with his mother,
he stood aghast before a bronze statue there which
represented a two-legged animal, clad in human clothes,
and having apparently the attributes of a man. Un-
derneath m large letters were inscribed the words,
•' G-eneral Knox." '' By gosh, mother," exclaimed the
astounded youth, "I always thought General Knox
was a horse!" And so he was, and a very good one
too, as we shall presently see.

The gait of the Morgan horse is highly characteristic.
Thougli sure-footed, he is apt to carry his fore feet
close to the ground, taking short elastic steps, which,
even when quickened to a rapid trot, seem to cost him
the least possible effort. There is no swaying of the
hips, no shaking of the whole frame, no pounding
with the fore feet or high lifting of the hocks, but a
smooth, easy, gliding motion. The Morgan both trots
and gallops with his limbs well under him.

A longer, wider gait is commonly associated with
the trotting horse. In fact, until within the past few
years it was thought that the ideal trotter carried his
hind feet so wide as to plant them outside of the track
left by his fore feet. Many, perhaps most, fast horses
do travel in this way ; but, as a rule, the very fastest
step no wider behind th;in in front. A long stride is
however nearly, if not quite, essential to extreme
speed; and many Morgan horses, when moving at
their best pace, lengthen their gait very much, and go
perceptibly nearer to the ground. The Morgan action
in front is, as a rule, not big enough for superlatively

ROAD HORSES. 123-

fast trotting, which is best performed by a peculiar
and very graceful round motion of the fore legs. Some
fast trotters have positively high action in front, — so
high as to seem like a waste of power. This is es-
pecially true of Allerton, a Wilkes-Mambrino ratchen
stallion whose record is 2.09^. This excessive action
is also found in some Morgan strains, especially
among Sherman Morgan's descendants.

Country doctors are great adherents of the Morgan
horse. '' The Morgan," writes one of this class, " will
trot all day, except when ascending a hill. As he ap-
proaches it, he will raise his head higher and higher.
First, one pointed ear, then the other, will snap back-
ward, then forward, as if he were asking permission
to gallop; and then, if the driver does not object,
he will lay both ears flat to his head and skim the rise
like a bird, always striking into the same tireless
trot when he reaches the summit."

It was from a country doctor — and I trust a vera-
cious one, for he was my grandfather — that I heard,
long years ago, the following story. He was driving
late one very dark night in autumn over a strange
road. A violent I'ain had fallen during the preceding
twenty-four hours, so that the highway was badly
washed. Presently his horse, a Vermont Morgan,
made a leap, and crashed through what seemed to be
the upper branches of a tree, taking the gig after him
very neatly. This was a little unusual, but still no
harm had been done. Half a mile or so farther on.
the horse made another jump : then came a crash and
a shiver as before, and the gig reeled over another
tree, as it appeared, poised for a moment on one
wheel, and righted itself as the horse resumed his
trot.

124 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

By this time the Doctor knew that he must bo near
a considerable river, with high banks, which flowed
through those parts, and very soon he heard the
waters roaring on the rocks below. But now his
horse came to a dead stop, refusing to cross the
bridge. The Doctor urged him forward, and he took
a few steps, but then moved back in his tracks. This
was repeated twice. Finally, vexed at such unusual
obstinacy in an animal long accustomed to rough and
nocturnal travelling, the Doctor struck him with the
whip. The horse squealed with disgust at this treat-
ment, shook his head, advanced as before, and then
backed again, and cast an inquiring glance behind him
at his master. Now at last, the Doctor, dismount-
ing, went forward to reconnoitre. And this is what
he saw. The flooring of the bridge had been swept
away completely by a flood ; nothing was left but the
sleepers running from bank to bank, and it was on one
of these sleepers that the horse had walked out so far
as he could with safety to the gig and its occupant.
The obstructions half a mile and a mile back, which
the roadster had jumped, were brush fences put up
to stop travel on the highway until the bridge could
be repaired.

Now that we are in the vein, I trust that the read-
er will pardon me if I relate another anecdote of a
Morgan roadster. This was a chestnut mare belong-
ing to an old and highly respected '' Vet." ^ One very
dark night the Doctor was driving toward home at a
fast trot on a level road, and in his proper place on
the right hand side of it. Presently he heard, though
he could not see, a wagon approaching at a rapid rate

1 Dr. Flagg, of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

ROAD HORSES, 125

in the opposite direction ; but as liis lights were burn-
ing brightly, and the highway was a broad one, he
thought nothing of it. Suddenly, however, before he
could stop her, his steed made a violent jump to the
left, crossing the road, and barely had she done so,
when the approaching wagon, driven, as it appeared,
by a drunken man, dashed by in the track which the
Doctor's buggy had just left. The intelligent mare
had waited till the last moment, thinking that the
vehicle which she heard, would keep to the right, as
it should have done; and then, foreseeing that a
collision was otherwise inevitable, she had sprung out
of the path of danger.

I have sketched in a preceding chapter the most
speedy and highly finished branch of the Morgan
stock, which is that of the Lamberts, descended,
through Ethan Allen, from Vermont Blackhawk.
Vermont Blackhawk had also a son called Vermont
Hero, and Vermont Hero was the sire of General
Knox ^ (whose name I have mentioned), a famous
trotting stallion, and the founder of a subsidiary
roadster family. This animal had every excellence
except that of beauty. He was a stout, short-legged
black horse, about fifteen hands high, with a good
plain head. The Knox horses bear a wonderful fam-
ily resemblance, and they are noted for their courage,
endurance, docility, and intelligence. No branch of
the Morgan family is more serviceable or more ami-
able than this one, and, with the possible exception
of the Lamberts, none is more speedy.

^ His dam was by Searcher, a half-bred horse descended from
Diomed , and his second dam was also of Diomed blood. Searcher's
dam was a Morgan. Genei-al Knox was tlierefore a combination of
Morgan and thoroughbred.

126 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

The Lamberts aud the Knoxes are, as I have said,
deeendants of Sherman, the handsome little chestnut
son of Justin Morgan.

There are also two families of fine roadsters and
trotters descended from Bulrush, another son of Jus
tin Morgan. These are the Fearnaughts and the Win-
throp Morrills. Both of these families are inbred to
Justin Morgan, and they show a great deal of quality
and of spirit, notwithstanding the fact that Bulrush
was a coarse horse, with a very heavy mane and tail,
suggestive of Canadian blood on his dam's side. This
fact goes far to prove that Justin Morgan was well
bred on both sides. For if his dam had been — as
some writers assert — a coarse-bred Canadian mare,
like the dam of Bulrush, then inbreeding among the
descendants of Justin Morgan, especially in the Bul-
rush line, could hardly have produced horses so fine
and bloodlike as are many of the Fearnaughts and of
the Morrills. The Fearnaughts are usually chestnut
horses ; much resembling the Lamberts, but somewhat
larger, and perhaps a little more fiery.

Another excellent family of roadsters is that of the
Drews. The original Drew, a Maine horse, was foaled
in 1842, his sire, it is said, being a pure thoroughbred,
a bay horse sixteen hands high. Drew was a dark
bay or brown, standing fifteen and a quarter hands, and
weighing about a thousand ]iounds. He had good
shoulders and a fine neck 'Might at the head, deep
at the body," and well arched. His body was small :
his hips were long and beautifvdly turned. He had
stout legs, long pasterns a thin mane, and a nice
short coat. His dam also was very well bred, being
by Sir Henry, a son of American Eclipse, out of a

ROAD HORSES. 127

mare by Winthrop Messenger. Her name was Boston
Girl. The Drews, as might be presumed from this
origin, are fine, spirited, hardy horses, with much
style and dash, and very intelligent. One of them, a
handsome bay stallion called Dirigo (whose dam Avas
nearly thoroughbred), used to be driven without bit or
rein through the town where his owner lived. Guided
by the voice and wdiip of his driver, the horse would
speed down the main street at a 2.40 gait, stop, turn
around, and do whatever was required of him.

One of the best roadsters ever known in New Eng-
land is Bay Fearnaught, whose sire was a Fearnaught
and whose dam was a Drew, so that in him these two
hardy and courageous strains are united. His owner,
Mr. David Nevins, once drove Bay Fearnaught from
South Framingham to the Somerset Club in Beacon
street, Boston, a distance of twenty-two miles or more,
in one hour and twenty-eight minutes. The horse
was driven to a sleigh containing two men, and the
going was very good. Beckoning the distance at
twenty-two miles exactly, he maintained a speed of
just fifteen miles an hour. Bay Fearnaught has
trotted a mile to road wagon in 2.35, and two miles
to a road wagon (wagon and driver weighing three
hundred pounds) in 5.16. This horse is now twenty-
three years old, and his owner reports him as being
"sound as a bullet, and still able and willing to go
fast."

Given a roadster such as I have described, and a
light, open wagon fitted with a stout spring, with
lamps, and possibly with a small break ; given also a
sympathetic companion and a mackintosh, — and, if
you like, we will throw in a dog : thus provided, and

128 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

with all Xew England stretching out before you, what
more delightful than to take the road at any time be-
tween April and November ! It is pleasant to start in
the freshness of a summer morning, with the prospect
of seeing a new country, and with the comfortable
assurance that it is a matter of no consequence if
you become lost in traversing unknown paths. Your
horse, I assume, has rested well, there is a cheerful
air of anticipation about his ears, and the wheels turn
smoothly and lightly on the newly oiled axles. Tt is
pleasant to stop at noon in a patch of woods, beside
some mountain stream or at the edge of a lake, where
better quarters can be had than any tavern or summer
hotel affords. The roadster is taken out, the dog lies
down at the foot of a tree, stretching himself with a
sigh of content, and a sort of gypsy camp springs up
on the instant. After a half-hour's rest comes lun-
cheon for man and beast ; the steed taking his oats
out of a pail or nose-bag, the dog sharing lamb-saud-
Aviches with the two other carnivorous members of the
party. This meal concluded, — and there is no law
against lighting a small fire in order to have a cup of
hot tea or cocoa, — time remains for a nap, or for read-
ing a novel, or, better yet, for reclining at ease and
absorbing impressions from nature. A fresh start is
made about two o'clock, or later if the weather be
very hot, the Houyhnhnm having first been made to
look spick and span, and able for his task. It is pleas-
ant then to drive past green fields and groves of pine
in the pensive light of late afternoon, and to watch the
shadows lengthening on the mountains ; it is pleasant
as the cows are coming homo, ;is the sun is setting,
and as the frogs begin their niglitly chorus, to ap-

ROAD HORSES. 129

proach your destination, looking forward to supper
and a bed, and leaving behind a day long to be remem-
bered. Even the mishaps that befall the adventurous
traveller, such as losing the road on a dark night
when a thunder-storm is raging, and finding himself
on a disused path through the woods instead of the
highway, — even experiences of this kind are delight-
ful in the retrospect.

The evening may be less enjoyable. New England
taverns have a bad name, and they deserve it. Still,
there is occasionally a good one, and there are others
that possess some collateral attraction. The best,
perhaps, are usually found in county towns where tra-
dition lingers. I remember one such, well situated
on a New Hampshire hill. The village was very
small, containing three or four shops, a court-house, a
miniature jail, and the tavern, a rambling structure
with low ceilings. The rooms were but tolerable, the
cooking was scarcely that, and yet the place had an
air, a flavor, an attraction, which at first I was unable
to resolve. At last I discovered that it consisted
chiefly in this : the proprietor, a full-bearded, high-
colored man of the old school, invariably and con-
stantly wore a tall silk hat ; the only one, in all proba-
bility, for ten miles around. Unthinking persons may
perceive no significance in this ; but, rightly consid-
ered, the high hat indicated a certain sense of self-
respect, as well as a certain feeling for form and
ceremony. If the hat had been assumed only when
the wearer went outside, then it would have been
simply a protection from the elements, or at best a
matter of display for the villagers ; but being worn
constantly indoors, without regard to times or sea-

1-30 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

SOUS, it ceased to be a hat and became a badge. There
was another good feature of this hotel ; the office, a
loug, low room, had a big open fireplace, where logs
of wood burned cheerfully on a frosty night in au-
tumn. The hostler, moreover, was an excellent one.
True, he fairly reeked of chloroform (Xew Hampshire
is a prohibition State), and his memory was not of the
best, being unable to carry " four quarts of oats "
more than fifteen minutes, or to distinguish it at the
distance of half an hour from a bran mash; but he
was gentle with his horses, and groomed them well.

If the roadster is to be kept in good condition, and
to come out fresh every morning, his master must be
liberal with fees and vigilant in his oversight. Hos-
tlers, — I say it with reluctance, — especially in large
stables, are, generally speaking, worthless, drunken
creatures ; and here and there a tavern-keeper is found
base enough to cheat a horse out of his oats. " But,"
some self-indulgent reader may exclaim, " one might
as well stay at home as to go off on a journey and be
bothered with a horse." This would be distinctly the
argument of a Yahoo, and if any one is in danger of
being deceived by it I would refer him to what the
famous Captain Dugald Dalgetty said upon the sub-
ject : •'' ' It is my custom, my friends, to see Gustavus
(for so I have called him, after my invincible master)
accommodated myself; we are old friends and fellow
travellers, and as I often need the use of his legs, I
always lend him in my turn the service of my tongue
to call for whatever he has occasion for ; ' and accord-
ingly he strode into the stable after his steed without
further apology."

Horses often fall ill or break down on a journey, and

ROAD HORSES. 131

this usually bappeus uot from overdriving, but from
allowing tbem to get cold, from watering them when
they are hot, from feeding them when they are tired,
and from general neglect. A tired roadster seldom
gets a bed as deep and soft as he ought to have. The
famous Mr. Splan remarks upon this point as follows :
"What horses want is plenty of fj-esh air, to be com-
fortably clothed, and to have a good bed at all times.
No matter how well you feed or care for a man, if you
put him in a bad bed at night he will be very apt to
find fault in the morning, and I think it is the same
with a horse." The feet of a road horse also need at-
tention, and his shoes are all-important. Most country
blacksmiths do their work like butchers, paring and
burning the foot to fit the shoe, instead of adapting
the iron to the hoof. Still, within a radius of five or
ten miles it is usually possible to discover a single
good workman in this regard, and the traveller can get
upon his track by inquiring of horsy men in the vicin-
ity. Every village in New England contains at least
one enthusiastic person who is raising colts with the
confident expectation of turning out a $20,000 trotter.
This man will know who is the good blacksmith of
the neighborhood.

A word or two may be permitted here concerning
the harness of a road or driving horse. With a light
carriage, and where the country is level, breeching can
be dispensed with, and a well made horse commonly
looks better without it. Blinders, again, or winkers,
are usually superfluous. An intelligent horse once
accustomed to an open bridle is apt to shy less thus
harnessed, for he can look about more freely. Besides,
in the case of a skittish horse, it is an advantage for the

132 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

driver to be able to watch his eye, as well as his ear.
Some pulling horses go better with blinders, and some
nervous horses may be safer with them. It is a
matter for experiment in the particular case.

The question of check reins is not disposed of so
easily, although many good people have convinced
themselves that check reins under all circumstances
are cruel and unnecessary. I know of one person
whose great object in life, apart from the earning of
his daily bread, is to do away wdth this part of the
harness. The check rein, as all horsemen know, is
often essential to the safety of human life and limb.
People who write tracts or letters to the newspapers
condemning it hi tuto have no knowledge of horseflesh
beyond what they derive from an acquaintance with
some sedate family nag of mature years. If they had
a stableful of young horses to exercise in harness
in winter weather, they would change their minds on
this point. Many gay horses can be driven in per-
fect safety provided they wear check reins, especially
if they wear the over-draw check ; whereas the same
horses without checks would be likely at any moment
to put their heads down and run away, or, if they had
a touch of deviltry, to kick up behind. It should not
be forgotten that the use of the check rein makes it
possible to use an easy bit, where without the check
a severe bit would have to be employed; and any
horse in his senses would prefer a check to a se-
vere bit.

But apart from these cases, which, after all, are few
in number compared with the great mass of horses in
the service of man, the check has another function,
which is to steady the horse, and to make it easier

ROAD HORSES. 133

for liim to perform his work ; but if the check be too
tight, it becomes a hindrance and a vexation, instead
of a help.

Charles Marvin relates an experience with a year-
ling which shows the very great importance of not
checking a horse too high : —

" There was a certain colt at Palo Alto that showed
remarkably well in the paddock, but after we got him
in harness we found that he could not exhibit a trace
of respectable speed. I drove him one day, and found
that he could not trot a three-minute gait. . . . After
vain and discouraging work I gave him up for that
day, thinking that perhaps he was out of humor, and
sulky, and a little bit tired. The next day I tried him
again, but with no better results. ... So I unhitched
him and turned him loose on the miniature track, and
away he went as well as ever. A little study showed
how he carried his head and how he balanced himself.
I changed the check, harnessed him again, let his
head free so that he could carry himself in his own
way, and that same day he showed me a quarter in
better than forty seconds." ^

It is natural for some horses to carry their heads
low, for others to carry them at a medium height, and
for a few to hold them high. But the check rein as
commonly used disregards these natural differences,
and pulls up the head of the unfortunate animal to a
point which suits the whim or vanity of his owner.
Even horsemen of great experience frequently err in
this matter. The owner of Lady De Jarnette, a beau-
tiful Kentucky mare, a noted prize-winner, always
drove her with a particularly short, over-draw check,

^ Training the Trotting Horse, page 218.

134 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

which he thought necessary. Her record was 2.29-^.
One day, at his request, John Splan drove the mare,
and by the simple device of letting out the check rein
a few holes, Mr. Splan reduced her record to 2.24^.

" Any one," he says, " could have driven the mare
the same niile, as she was very steady, and it required
no particular skill to manage her, She simply wanted
to be properly harnessed. It is just as easy to choke
a horse by checking him too high, and forcing the
tongue back into the entrance of the throat, as it
would be in any other way. I have seen one or two
horses die in harness that I am sure were choked to
death." ^

The horse should never be checked on the driving
bit, for this practice tends to spoil his mouth. Even
when a side check is used, it should be attached to a
small rubber or leather-covered flexible bit, not con-
nected in any way with the driving bit. This ar-
rangement is an uncommon one, but I have tested
it thoroughly, and am convinced of its superiority.

Of course, when a horse has the weight of a carriage
to draw, the discomfort of a check rein too short is
greatly increased. Splan says : " I think that, as a
rule, road horses are checked entirely too high. To
place a horse's head in that position, and then ask him
to pull five hundred pounds of weight at a high rate
of speed, is wrong. The horse is not oidy uncomfort-

1 I quote from the instructive work "Life with the Trotters," to
which I have referred in a previous chapter. Mr. Splan is a hor.se-
nian of great acuteness, and as a driver cool, resolute, and full of
resource. A man of much experience on the track once remarked,
" If a horse were going to trot for my life I should like to have him
conditioned by Hudd Dohle and driven by Joliii Rj)lan."

ROAD HORSES. 135

able, but at a great disadvantage. I notice that iu
drawing weiglit must horses hold their heads iu a
uiedium position."

As to the over-draw check, useful as it is in some
cases, I am free to say that I wish it had never been
invented, so grossly is it abused. How often do we
see some wretched victim of man's cruelty straining
up hill with his neck in an abnormal position, or
standing still and denied the poor privilege of hang-
ing his despondent and weary head. Nevertheless it
is extremely probable that the same horse, if erj^uipped
with a moderate side check, would perform a journey
more comfortably than if he Avore no check. If his
head were free, he would be apt to carry it somewhere
between his fore legs, going more carelessly as he be-
came tired, stumbling, and perhaps falling before he
reached his destination ; whereas a moderate check
would hold him together, and sustain his morale.
The driver who gets out at the foot of every steep
hill and unchecks his horse is, generally speaking,
more humane than the man who dispenses with it
altogether; and upon a journey, or upon a long after-
noon's drive in the family carriage, this amount of
trouble ought not to be begrudged. Besides, the exer-
tion of hopping in and out (in addition, of course, to
walking up all the steep pitches) will tend to ward
off that stiffness which is likely to attack the legs of a
lazy passenger.

In a word, then, the check rein is sometimes neces-
sary to the proper control of the horse, and more often
it is an advantage to the horse himself; but Avhen
drawn too tight, especially if it be an over-draw check,
it is a hindrance and a vexation, and frequently an

136 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

instrument of torture. I like to drive a horse with-
out check, martingale, blinders, or whip.

One great point in all-day tlriving is to make the
noonday stop before the roadster begins to tire. Every
horse has his distance, which is easily ascertained by
experience, though allowance must of course be made
for the state of the weather and of the roads. To this
extent he will go along cheerfully, with ears and tail
in their normal position; but drive a little farther,
and he begins to lag, his curiosity is gone, his ears
lose their vivacity, his tail droops, and he wants to
stop. It is well to make the noonday halt before this
point is reached, even though half the journey be not
completed.

When it comes to undertaking a really great dis-
tance, such as sixty or seventy miles in a day, or fifty
miles for two or three days consecutively, then in-
telligent driving and the best of care are indispensable.
Every foot of the road must be watched, advantage
taken of all the good going and slight declivities, the
bad spots avoided as much as possible, and the move-
ment and condition of the roadster kept under vigi-
lant observation from morning till night. Unless the
driver can sympathize with the horse, so as to know
exactly what his frame of mind and bodily condition
are all the way along, he is incomi:)etent to handle
him to anything like the best advantage. When a
day's work of extraordinary length is attempted, the
best plan is to stop for half an hour or so in the mid-
dle of the morning, and also in the middle of the after-
noon, in order to give the roadster a short rest and
a luncheon of oats, making a longer halt, of course,
at noontime. The recent Badminton work on driv-

ROAD HORSES. 137

ing states the old Eugiish custom in this regard as
follows : —

"Before the advent of railways, fifty miles in a
day was not considered too much for a pair of horses
to do, and that in a lumbering travelling carriage.
The rules laid down for such a journey were, to go
ten miles and bait for fifteen minutes, giving each
horse an opportunity to wash out his mouth, and a
wisp of hay ; then to travel another six miles and stop
half an hour, taking off the harness, rubbing the horses
well dow^n, and giving to each half a peck of corn.
After travelling a further ten miles, hay and water
were given as at first, when another six miles might
be traversed; and then a bait of at least two hours
was considered necessary, and the horses were given
hay and a feed of corn. After journeying another ten
miles, hay and water, as before, were administered, and
the rest of the journey might be accomplished without
a further stop, when the horses were provided with a
mash for their night meal, and if the weather were
cold and wet some beans were thrown in. This calcu-
lates a pace averaging six or seven miles an hour."

I am acquainted .with a Morgan filly, five years old,
that, without any special preparation, travelled last
fall from the White Mountains to Boston, one hundred
and forty-seven miles, in exactly three days, with per-
fect ease. The first day she went but thirty-five
miles, the second fifty-four, the third fifty-eight. Her
owner furnishes me with the following account of the
last day : —

''I started from Portsmouth at eight a. m., drove
fifteen miles, and stopped for three quarters of an
hour, taking the mare out, rubbing her legs well, and

138 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

giving her two q'-^^i-i'ts of oats. I then drove twelve
miles, aud stojjped agaiu in a patch of woods for two
hours. The mare had some hay, procured of a neigh-
boring farmer, with three quarts of oats, and was well
groomed. Starting agaiu at about four o'clock, I drove
to Salem, arriving there soon after six, the distance
being about fifteen or sixteen miles. The horse
seemed perfectly fresh, but as my three days would
not be up till eleven p. m. (inasmuch as I started at
eleven a. m. on the first day), I concluded to stop for
dinner. The mare was put into a stable and rubbed
down. Her legs were bandaged, and she was pro-
vided with some hay and two or three quarts of oats,
which she ate greedily. At seven thirty she was har-
nessed again, aud came up to Boston as readily as if
she were out for the first time that day. Her eye was
perfectly bright when I arrived, she exhibited no
sign of fatigue, and would doubtless have been good
for twenty miles more."

This was a creditable performance to have been
done so easily, especially as the road from Portsmouth
is flat and sandy. A moderately hilly road is much
less fatiguing. The same filly, it may be added, when
but three years old, made sevent}^ miles in a day of
twelve hours, drawing a skeleton wagon. Such a
journey would have ruined most young horses, but
the next morning, when turned out to pasture, she
threw up her heels, as sound and lively as any colt
in the lot.

Another Morgan mare,^ of similar appearance, being
black, and "a compactly built, nervy, wiry animal of
the steel and whalebone sort," is credited with going

^ The property of Mr. Farnnm, of 'WaltlinTTi, M.assachusctts.

ROAD HORSES. 139

eight miles iu thirty-seven minutes, returning over the
same ground in thirty-six minutes. On another occa-
sion she accomplished forty-three miles in three hours
and twenty-five minutes. This is great roading.

Vermont Champion, a son of Sherman Morgan and
grandson of Justin Morgan, was once driven by his
owner, Mr. Knights, from Concord, Vermont, to Port-
land, Maine, with a load of pork. The trip down,
presumably in a sleigh, took three or four days, the
distance being very nearly, if not quite, one hundred
and ten miles. On arriving at Portland, Mr. Knights
found a letter that had been sent by stage, informing
him of illness in his family ; and the next morning he
started for home, which he reached about eight o'clock
in the evening of the same day. "Old men are now
alive," says my informant, " who saw Champion the
next day, and who state that he looked fit to repeat
the exploit."

But perhaps the most remarkable horse of which I
have been able to obtain a trustworthy account is Joe
Renock, a blood bay inbred IMorgan stallion of great
style and beauty, kept for many years at Sherbrooke
in the Province of Quebec. He stood about 15.1
and weighed about eleven hundred pounds. A for-
mer owner thus describes him : " He had the hand-
somest head I ever saw on a horse. His neck was
perfect ; so was his body. He had the most beautiful
long mane and tail that ever graced a horse. In
passing your finger through them, the hair felt as soft
as silk. He had as perfect a set of legs and feet as
ever was seen. His legs were of the flinty kind, as
clean and smooth as those of a deer." Like Justin
Morgan, Joe Renock was excellent under saddle,

1-10 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

especially as a cliarger. Colonel Lovelace, an English
officer, a veteran of the Crimea, who rode Joe E-enock
on one occasion, declared him to be the most perfect
saddle horse that he had ever seen. But it is for his
roadster qualities chiefly that I cite him here. ISlv.
John Harkness, an old horseman, and, as I am in-
formed on good authority, a truthful man gives the
following account. ^

" On one occasion I drove this stallion ninety miles
in one day, under adverse circumstances,«which I will
relate. I started with him on a journey of a hundred
and fifty miles. It was on the first day of August,
1869. Joe Renock carried about one hundred pounds
of surplus flesh, and was hitched to a phaeton top
buggy, holding my wife and myself. I calculated to
make the journey in three days. I left home at six
o'clock in the morning and drove to Drummondville,
a distance of about fifty miles. I landed in Drum-
mondville at noon of the same day. I am wrong in
saying that I drove him. I should say he pulled me
every inch of the way. He would not pull to fight
his driver, but he would go right up on the bit, and
keep his driver busy all the time.
• " I put him up, intending to stop for the night at
Drummondville. After he cooled off, I took him out
and groomed him. After I got through with my job,
I led him out by the halter, and he played around me
like a squirrel. My wife stood on the veranda and
remarked, ' He feels well after his drive.' I told her
to get ready, and we would drive to a place called Mos-
cow, about twenty-five miles farther, as I did not like
to stay at Drummondville.

^ In the Amoricau Horse Breeder of April 22, 1892.

ROAD HORSES. 141

" The day was hot, and it was a sandy country,
which made it hard wheeling. I left Drummondville
at two o'clock, and he pulled me by the bit all the way
to Moscow. When I got there the sun was quite high.
I then reined him for Sorrell, fifteen miles beyond,
and the last three miles were through a sandy pine
wood. Here he commenced to rave so much that I
was obliged to get out of the buggy at two different
times, and hold him by the bit until I rested my arms.
So much for Joe Renock, after driving him ninety
miles.

" I rubbed him dry, and he was in the stable before
sunset. I hitched him up the next morning, and he
went up to the bit every rod of the sixty miles, the
balance of my journey, and did his last with as much
ease as any mile in the trip." ^

Like most other great horses, Joe Eenock derived
his energy and strength largely from his dam, who is
thus described by the Vermont farmer who owned
her : " She was a block}^ fifteen-hand dark brown or
black mare with white strip and one white hind foot,
full of pluck and nerve. Xo better mare ever trod
the green hills of Vermont. I have driven her for
hundreds of miles, and followed her for days on the
farm. I have known her to be taken up from the
pasture and driven seventy miles in a day, and it did
not take her all day to do it." Joe Renock, foaled
at Poultney, Vermont, about the year 1857, was this
mare's last colt, she being then twenty years of age.

The shortest time for one hundred miles is that
made by Conqueror, harnessed to a sulky, at Centre-
ville, Long Island, in 1853, which was eight hours.
1 See also page 200 for an instance of good roading.

142 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

fifty-five minutes, aud titty-three seconds. Several
other horses have done this distance in less than ten
hours. Fifty miles were trotted at Providence, Khode
Island, in 1835, by a horse called Black Joker, in
three hours and tifty-seven minutes. Several liorses
have trotted twenty miles within an hour, the first to
do it being Trustee, a half-bred horse. One of the
few defeats that Flora Temple ever suffered was in a
match to trot twenty miles within an hour, harnessed
to a skeleton wagon; "that kind of going on in a
treadmill sort of way," as Hiram Woodruff remarks,
" not being her strong point."

An American trotting horse, called Tom Thumb,
said to resemble a Canadian pony, and owned by Mr.
Osbaldestone, in England, covered one hiindred miles
in ten hours and seven minutes, the vehicle weighing
nearly or quite one hundred pounds. An English-
bred mare was afterward matched to accomplish the
same task. " She was," according to Youatt, " one of
those animals rare to be met with, that could do al-
most anything as a hack, a hunter, or in harness. On
one occasion, after having, in following the hounds
and travelling to and from cover, gone through at
least sixty miles of country, she fairly ran away with
her rider over several ploughed fields. She accom-
plished the match in ten hours and fourteen minutes.
. . . She was a little tired, and, being turned into a
loose box, lost no time in taking her rest. On the
following day she was as full of life and spirit as
ever. This is a match," Mr. Youatt continues, "which
it is pleasant to record; for the owner had given
positive orders to the driver to stop at once on her
showing decided symptoms of distress, as he valued

ROAD HORSES.

143

her more than anything he could gain by her enduring
actual suffering."

No sensible person will care to drive fifteen miles
in an hour or seventy in a day, except as a feat ; but
if you wish to travel forty or fifty miles, it is a great
thing to have a roadster who is capable of going
seventy or eighty. To ride behind a tired horse is
fatiguing and depressing in the extreme, whereas
there is a sense of exhilaration in covering a long
distance which is yet well within the known powers
of your steed. In fact, a good roadster is something
like a satisfactory bank account, — your pleasure in
his capacity is great almost in proportion as the drafts
which you make upon it are small.

VI.

SADDLE HOESES.

WHAT are the marks of a good saddle horse ?
Perhaps the most important one is the pos-
session of " riding shoulders," — i. e. long, sloping
shoulders, terminating in rather high, thin withers.
Such shoulders are indispensable for a good jumper, as
a horse always lands on his fore feet, and they make
the animal easy to sit. It was said of Fair Nell, the
Irish mare who beat Haleem Pacha's best Arab in
an eight-mile race,^ that " she had such beautiful
shoulders, with so much before you, and with such
an elastic stride, that it was easy, even delightful,
to sit on her, although her temper was hot, and at
times she plunged violently."

' See page 119.

SADDLE HORSES. 145

A saddle horse should have a rather short back,
the least bit curved, which is the true Arab forma-
tion. Mr, S. W. Parlin has indicated this shape in
the following description of Flying Eaton, a noted
Maine horse: "While he had a strong, broad loin
and excellent coupling, there was a graceful down-
ward curvature of the spine in front of the coupling
which gave him in some degree the appearance of
being slightly sway -backed, — a conformation often
found among the descendants of Sherman Morgan." ^
"Just the curve," writes Mr. Palgrave, describing
the Arab horses in the Emir's stables at Hail, " which
indicates springiness without any weakness."

But it must be admitted that the rule as to short
backs is fairly riddled with exceptions. Very speedy
horses, as distinguished from weight-carriers and
"stayers," commonly have backs of medium or even
greater length ; and Whyte-Melville states that the
best three weight-carriers he ever knew all had the
fault of being overlong in the back.

Other marks of a good saddle horse are short
cannon bones, strong quarters and hocks, — it is an
old stable aphorism, " No 'ocks, no 'unter," — a neck
rather long, so that his wind may be good, feet
rather small, so that he may step lightly, and
pasterns somewhat oblique and yielding. A short,
straight pastern makes a hard gait, and is apt to
break down, and a pastern too long or too oblique
is an even greater indication of weakness. The pas-
tern of a saddle horse is next in importance to
the shoulder. Upon it depends his elasticity, and
to a considerable extent his jumping power, and

1 See page 197.
10

14G ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

it is at this point tluit race horses most frequently

give out.

A good saddle horse, like a good horse for any
other purpose, should be well "ribbed up." A con-
siderable space between the last rib and the hip
bone almost invariably indicates a want of toughness.
Animals thus built usually require more grain, and
are capable of less work, than " close-ribbed " horses.
A thin waist also commonly shows a want of strength^
but, as I have remarked with reference to harness
horses, this is by no means an unfailing sign. The
famous steeple-chaser, Emblem, a beautiful bay mare
with wonderful shoulders, had no ''middle piece,"
and yet she was a noted stayer. Hempstead, an
American gelding remarkable as a jumper, was an-
other instance of a wasp-waisted but strong horse.
It may be doubted, however, if in these and in other
like cases the want of strength is not supplied by
extraordinary courage and resolution. A coarse-bred
horse that was also thin-waisted would probably
show, as well as feel, a lack of endurance.

A horse with low withers is, generally speaking,
uniit for the saddle, especially if he stands higher
behind than in front, — a conformation apt to be
found both in fast runners and in fast trotters.
When such horses have good legs and feet, they can
carry a light man without danger of becoming knee-
sprung, but weight-carrying is not their forte, and
I am inclined to think that they will never trot so
fast under saddle as they will in harness ; whereas,
as a rule, a trotter is estimated to be about three
seconds (per mile) faster under saddle than in har-
ness. During one whole winter I rode a horse of

SADDLE HORSES. 147

this shape, never aliowing him to gallop, but often
urging him to a fast trot; and yet in all that time
only once did he strike the long, rapid gait of which
he was capable, and which he would invariably show
when harnessed to a light vehicle. This motion,
the extended trot of a really fast horse, is very
peculiar, and usually not very comfortable to the
rider, the hind legs being well brought up under the
animal at every stride, and also, in many cases, going
wider than the fore feet, so that the man in the
saddle feels as if he might be thrown over his horse's
head. And yet some trotters step so smoothly that
they can be sat close at a 2.30 gait.

If your object in riding is mainly that of exercise,
almost any sound, active horse that does not stumble
will answer the purpose. If his trot be hard, the
more exercise you will get, and the better practice
you will have. The worst horses to ride are those
cold-blooded, nerveless animals, which, tiring after
a few miles, let themselves go, and actually tumble
down, unless kept up to the mark, rather than take
the trouble to remain on their legs. Many coarse-
bred cobs are of this character. They wear a decep-
tive appearance of strength, have stout limbs and
broad chests, but lack nervous energy and courage.

I remember taking a faint-hearted cob, the property
of another, from the town in which I lived to the city
where he was to be sold at auction on the following
day, a distance of fifteen or twenty miles. Before we
had accomplished one quarter of the journey, while
cantering down a very slight decline, the cob fell. It
is no joke to break the knees of a friend's horse, and
the sympathetic reader will easily imagine — as I shall

148 EOAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

uever forget — tlie feeliug of horrid auticipation with
which I glanced at his legs. But fortuuatel}*, the
ground being soft, the hair had not been taken off, so
that the cob's selling value remained as it had been.
1 remounted, and " carrying his head in my hand,"
rode the rest of the way, divided between the fear of
being late for an important engagement and of spoil-
ing the horse, to say nothing of my own neck. But
when your mount arrives at this condition, Avhen he
feels like a block of wood beneath you, all his elas-
ticity being gone, and especially if he begins to stum-
ble, the better plan is to get oft' and walk. The most
skilful riding cannot with any certainty keep him on
his legs. However, if your journey be a matter of
life and death, or if you prefer to take the gambler's
chance of finishing it without an accident, your only
course is to maintain a firm hold of the bit, — not a
dead pull, but a " sensational," enlivening pull, and at
the same time to touch up the faltering nag with whip
or spur. If he is allowed when tired to drop into
his natural lethargic condition, he will quickly be
down in the dust.

Stumbling horses will sometimes fall even when
going at a walk-, they do so most frequently at a jog
trot, and the likeliest spot for such an accident is near
the bottom of a hill, where the ground still declines,
but, the steepness of the descent being past, the horse
relaxes his attention. " It is not at a desperate 'hiv-
erman' pace, and over very bad roads, that a horse
tumbles and smashes his knees, but on your par-
ticularly nice road, when the horse is going gently
and lazily, and is half asleep, like the gemman on
his back."

SADDLE HORSES. 149

It is usually thought that high-stepping horses are
less likely to fall than low steppers or "daisy-cut-
ters," but this I believe to be an error. Some horses
occasionally fall, but otherwise never stumble, whereas
a low-stepping horse may stumble frequently, but
never come down, always saving himself with the
other leg. It is a matter chiefly of legs and feet, and
of courage ; but a nag who puts his toe down first is
almost sure to be a stumbler.

I need not say that the saddle horse, above all
others, being necessarily an intimate companion of his
master, should possess intelligence and good temper ;
he should have fine, well-bred ears, a large, expressive
eye, a tapering nose, and nicely cut, expansive nos-
trils. To bestride a lop-eared, coarse-headed bea§t
would give little satisfaction to a person of proper
equine susceptibilities. But it is astonishing what
small importance professional horsemen commonly
attach to this vital matter of intelligence, the reason
perhaps being that they take the purely mechanical
view of the horse, considering him merely as a crea-
ture who is able, or unable, as the case may be, to get
over the ground and to carry a weight. I have known
many instances where jockeys or dealers, being em-
ployed to buy a horse for a customer, have picked
out an animal which had all the requisites except the
saving one of good sense.

I remember one case in particular where a keen
judge of horseflesh was sent to Kentucky for a saddle
horse. The man paid a large price and came back
with an admirable beast, young, sound, thoroughly
taught, good in harness as well as under saddle, fast,
and, except for the shape of his head, very handsome.

150 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

But the head was ill-shaped, and the eye had the un-
easy, glassy, indescribable, but easily recognized look
of a stupid and dangerous animal. Such he proved to
be ; and after being half starved to " keep him down,"
and then " fed up " to make him look fat again, he
brought matters to a crisis by running away. Where-
upon he was sold at auction for about one twentieth
of the sum that he had cost.

Only the other day, a trainer of many years' expe-
rience assured me that there was nothing in the ex-
pression of a horse's eye, — nothing at all; the only
significance was in the shape of the head. Now the
shape of the head is significant, but not more so than
the eye.

The horse that I have described as suitable for the
saddle is, as the reader will doubtless have perceived,
most apt to be found among half-bred animals, — mean-
ing those that have some fraction, it may be a very
large or a very small one, of thorough-bred blood, —
and the nearer thoroughbred, the better.

Good carriage horses are often described as hunters
of a large pattern ; the Cleveland Bays were part-bred
horses ; the Yorkshire Coach Horse Society counts a
thoroughbred out cross ("two in and one out") as
not disqualifying the animal thus bred for recording
in its book ; and in general it may be said that good
horses for riding and driving are half-breds.

But, as no horseman needs to be told, the half-bred
is often a very poor animal, combining the defects of
both strains and this is especially the case when all
the hot blood is on one side, and all the cold blood on
the other. The produce of a thorougbred horse and
a cart mare is sometimes a grand beast, with the spirit

SADDLE HORSES. 151

of its sire and the strengtli of its dam ; but more often
animals tlius bred are leggy, slab-sided, and nerveless.

The same result is likely to follow when two horses
of about equal breeding, but of very antagonistic
qualities, are mated. General Knox and Lady Thorne
were nearly, if not quite, the best trotting horse and
mare of their day. Lady Thorne was out of a thor-
oughbred mare by a horse bred in the same way.
The dam of General Knox was also by a thoroughbred.
But General Knox was a coarse, stout-limbed, rather
heavy-headed horse, whereas Lady Thorne had the
quality of a thoroughbred, and, as might have been
expected, their foal, General Washington, proved to
be a rangy, weedy beast, far inferior to his sire and
dam. However, some of General Washington's colts
are very line animals, the inherited excellence which
w^as latent in him having appeared, as often happens
in similar cases, in the second generation.

When it comes to racing, or steeple-chasing, and
even to fox-hunting in the fast counties of England,
something different is required. Of late years the
best steeple-chasers have commonly been thorough-
bred ; and it is said that no horse with the slightest
taint of cold blood in his pedigree can now live in
" the first flight " of the Quorn hunt.

It is a fact of some interest, that during the past
forty years or so both fox-hunting and prize-fighting
have undergone a similar change, in each case a long,
slow process having been replaced by a short, quick
one. The neivly invented " hurricane rushes " cor-
respond to the tremendous bursts of speed with which
the Leicestershire riders now chase the fox ; and the
loser's fate in a modern prize-fight is commonly de-

152 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

cided in about the same time that it takes to kill the
speedy Reynard of the present day.

The time may come when the universal horse for
harness or for saddle will be a thoroughbred. " Thor-
oughbreds," says one writer in the Badminton volume
on Racing, " are the best for all kinds of work, except
of course that of heavy draught horses," and thorough-
bred mares have been used for ploughing on at least
one farm in England. The thoroughbred horse is not
necessarily a long-legged greyhound kind of beast.
Even at this day, though not so commonly as when
the process of developing a racing machine from
Eastern stock began, thoroughbreds are found with
comparatively short legs, Avell rounded bodies, necks
inclined to arch, and in general not devoid of those
graceful curves which, in the modern racer, have
mainly been supplanted by straight lines. Such a
thoroughbred is Mr. Burdett-Coutts's hunter sire, True-
fit ; such also is the well known American horse, Duke
of Magenta ; and such was Glencoe, one of the most
beautiful horses ever imported to this country.^

In this neighborhood most men wdio ride own but
one saddle horse, and commonly their stud begins and
ends ■with him. He should be, therefore, an all-round
horse, fit to carry his master from a suburban home to
the city, and to do this day after day on hard roads.
He should also be ready at all times for a spin across
country, — a fast trotter, a fairly good jumper, and,

1 Glencoe was foaled in 18.31, and imported in 1837. He was
by Sultan: dam, Trampoline by Tramp; second dam, Web by
Waxey. Many trotters, including Jay-Eye-See with a record of
2.10, trace to Glencoe through their dams. His thoroughbred son^
Rifleman, is the siro of Colonel Lewis, whose record is 2.18|.

SADDLE HORSES. 153

above all, an intelligent, docile, sound, tough horse.
But we see very few such. Some men ride pretty, fat
cobs, that have little " go " and no endurance ; others
are mounted on tall, bony, blood-like animals, good
for hunting, but not suited to a daily journey over
macadamized roads and pavements. Others again
ride long-legged, coarse-jointed, coarse-haired char-
gers that have no indication of good breeding except
the quite unnecessary amount of daylight which is
visible beneath them.

What is wanted is a compact, elastic, rather small
horse, with legs and feet of iron. Such pre-eminently
is the Arab, and it cannot be doubted that, if Arabs of
pure lineage could be bred in this country, they would
furnish a useful and popular breed of saddle horses.
Their inferiority to thoroughbreds as racers is incon-
testable, but beside the point.

In India, imported English and Australian horses
give the Arabs, three stone, country-breds two stone,
and Capes fourteen pounds. ''These country -bred
horses," says an English officer, "having a strong
dash of thoroughbred English blood, are generally
faster than Arabs, for say six furlongs, but do not
stay as well." The same authority, after speaking of
the comparative slowness of Arabs, continues : " Yet,
for all that, there is a great deal to be said in their
favor as high-mettled racers. They are, as a rule,
game, honest, and grand stayers ; so sound that an
inexperienced owner may take all sorts of liberties
with them in their training without breaking them
down ; docile and easy to ride." Another peculiarity
of Arab horses, which shows the homogeneousness
and fixed character of the breed, is the fact that they
can all run about equally fast.

154 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

The endurance of tlie Arab is probably greater than
that of any other living horse. A match against time
was won in 1840 by an Arab horse at Bungalore, in
the presidency of Madras, who travelled four hundred
miles in four consecutive days. Mr. Frazer, in his
'' Tartar Journeys," relates that an Arab carried him
five hundred and twenty-two miles in six days, rested
three, went back in five, rested nine, and returned in
seven. What thoroughbred could do as much ? But
I am bound to add, some authorities think that the
thoroughbred horse can outstrip and outlast the Arab
over any distance. Mr. S. Sidney, for example, a
very high authority, believes this to have been true
of Fair Nell, the Irish mare already mentioned.

The following description of Leopard, one of the
two Arabian horses presented to General Grant by the
Sultan in 1876, indicates so clearly certain points of a
good horse, and especially of a good saddle horse, that
I cannot forbear quoting it in full.^

" In front of the stables (at Ash Hill, near Washing-
ton), upon a beautiful table-land overlooking acres of
meadow pasturage with scattered barns and hay-ricks,
was a level spot of close fine turf, splendid to show
horses upon. Upon this the colored groom Addison
led out the Arab, Leopard. He was a beautiful
dapple-gray, fourteen and three quarters hands high ;
his symmetry and perfectness making him appear
much taller. As he stood looking loftily over the
meadows below, I thought him the most beautiful
horse I had ever seen. With nostrils distended and
eyes full of fire, I could imagine he longed for a run

1 It is taken from Mr. Randolph Huntington's interesting bool<,
"General Grant's Arabian TTorses."

SADDLE HORSES. 155

in his desert home. Addison gave him play at the
halter, and he showed movements no liorse in the
world can equal but the pure-bred Arabian. He
needed no quarter-boots, shin-boots, ankle-boots, scalp-
ing-boots, or protections of any kind; and yet the
same movements this Arabian went through would
have blemished every leg and joint upon an American
trotting horse, even though he had been able to at-
tempt the impossible activity.

" He was now brought to a stand-still that I might
examine him ; not cocked on one leg, pointed in an-
other, or straddled, as our horses would be after such
violent exercise, but bold and erect on all fours, as
when first led out.

" I began at his head. The ear was very small and
fine, much as it was in old Henry Clay. The muzzle
was small and fine, the mouth handsome and lips very
thin, as were the nostrils. Between the eyes he was
full and broad, while the eyes themselves were large,
brilliant, and of the speaking kind. I lifted the lids,
and they too were thin and delicate, not coarse and
heavy, as in our big-mouthed, thick-lipped, long,
heavy-eared American horse. The jowls were very
deep, but wide between (the peculiarity so much con-
demned in Henry Clay). The windpipe was large
and free, running low into the breast. The neck was
beautifully arched, giving the impression of a thin
crest, which I expected to find from numerous writers'
reports. Imagine my surprise when, upon running
my hand from between the ears down, I found a
big, thick, hard crest,^ as if a three or even four inch
new cable rope were inside. This was exactly such a

1 This is a characteristic of the Barb, but not of the Arab.

156 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

crest as was in old Henry Clay, — it lopped over like
a bag of meal with old age ; and I remembered having
an old Messenger stallion, years before, with exactly
such a crest, which, falling over m the same way with
age, was a great torment to my pride.

*' The fetlocks could not be found ; there were none.
The warts at point of ankle were wanting, and the
osselets were very small. Large coarse osselets show
cold, mongrel blood. . . . The mane was very fine and
silky, falling over so as to cause one to believe the
crest was a knife-blade, with blade up. for thinness.
. . . Xow for his gaits. I had Addison lead him on
the walk to and from me, say a distance of two or
three hundred feet, that I might see the position of
his feet in walking. There was no twisting behind,
nor paddle in front, but straight, clean, elastic step-
ping. I now had him pass me at the side, that I
might see his knee, and his hock and stifle action.
From the walk I had him moved upon the trot, and at
either walk or trot every movement was perfect. The
knee action was beautiful ; not too much, as in our
toe-weighted horses, nor stiff and staky, as in the
English race horse, but graceful and elastic, beauti-
fullv balanced by movement in the hock and stifle."

It cannot be doubted, 1 think, that the Arab horse
has no superior for what might he called miscella-
neous saddle use, and in particular for polo. Many
of the best polo ponies in England are pure Arabs,
and others are partly of Arab blood. The English
polo players state, moreover, that the Arab bred
ponies are instructed in the game more easily and
quickly than any otliers.

In this country the first breed of saddle horses was

SADDLE HORSES. 157

that of the Narragausett pacers. These horses appear
to have resembled very closely the palfrey of the Mid-
dle Ages, and they were developed for the same pur-
pose, namely, as a means of easy locomotion at a time
when roads were bad and vehicles vmcomfortable.
The Narragansett pacers were in their heyday about
the middle of the eighteenth century, and they origi-
nated, as the name implies, in Khode Island, not far
from Newport. "They carried," said a writer in
the North American lleview many years ago, "fair
equestrians from one to another of the many hospi-
table dwellings scattered over the fields of ancient
Aquidneck in Bishop Berkeley's time."

How these horses were bred cannot now be discov-
ered. There is a tradition, which Frank Forester
seems to accept, that they were of Spanish origin ;
and there is reason to think that the place of their
breeding was that long neck of land on Xarragausett
Bay known as Point Judith, — the scene of many a
shipwreck. In the latter part of the seventeenth cen-
tury there flourished one John Hull, a rich and pious
merchant of Boston, at one time Treasurer of the Col-
ony. In a letter written in 1677 to one who owned
the tract just mentioned jointly with himself, Mr. Hull
proposed to shut it off from the mainland by a stone
wall, " that no mongrel breed might get thereon," and
in the enclosure thus made to rear "a very choice
breed for coach horses, some for the saddle, some
for draught."

Mr. Hull, it thus appears, contemplated the rearing
of harness as well as saddle horses, and it is a fact,
gathered from the custom-house records, that carriage
horses as well as pacers were afterward numerously

158 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

exported from Rhode Island, The only evidence,
however, that I can find, tending to show that Mr.
Hull's project was carried out is the following in-
dignant and righteous letter written by him some
years later to one William Heffernan : " I am in-
formed that you are so shameless that you offered
to sell some of my horses. I would have you know
that they are by God's good providence mine. Do
you bring me in some good security for my money
that is justly owing, and I shall be willing to give
you some horses, that you shall not need to offer to
steal any."

At all events, the Narragansett pacers had a wide
reputation, and were sold in great numbers. In an
account of the American Colonies, published at Dub-
lin in 1753, and written by a clergyman of the English
Church, we find the following : " The produce of
this Colony [Rhode Island] is principally butter and
cheese, fat cattle, wool, and fine horses, that are ex-
ported to all parts of the English Americas. They
are remarkable for fleetness and swift pacing; and
I have seen some of them pace a mile in little more
than two minutes, a good deal less than three."
This last statement is doubtless exaggerated, but not
more so than is to be expected even from a clergyman
writing about horses.

Since the Narragansett pacers became extinct, we
have had no family of horses in New England bred
especially for riding, although the Morgans, of whom
I have spoken so often in the course of this book, are
excellent for that purpose. The trot of the best and
lightest Morgan families is peculiarly fit for the
saddle, being short, smooth, and, above all, extremely
elastic.

SADDLE HORSES. 159

This quality of springiness or elasticity is almost,
if not quite, the most important one that a saddle
horse can possess. Certainly as regards road riding,
an elastic trot, whether long or short, is the best gait
for pleasure or for exercise, or for accomplishing a
distance. No attention whatever has been paid dur-
ing the past fifty years to the production of a Mor-
gan saddle horse, but the breed still contains the
material for a quick-stepping, tough, and showy ani-
mal very well adapted for city and suburban use, —
what is called in England a " hack." Riding in the
rural districts of New England — and this is true in
almost equal degree of the Middle, and perhaps also
of the Northwestern States — is nearly a lost art.
There are whole townships where it would be hard to
find a saddle, unless it were some antiquated, moth-
eaten contrivance, covered with cobwebs and stowed
away in a hay -loft.

The equine interests of New England, Boston ex-
cepted, all centre in the trotter. But this was not so
formerly. Wherever ten men of Anglo-Saxon blood
are gathered together, there Avill be found two at least
who love horses, and to whom trials of speed between
horses soon become a necessity. The passion for
trotters set in early in the present century, but before
that horse racing was common in the Eastern States,
as elsewhere ; and well-bred horses from Canada were
often imported for riding and racing purposes. To
this fact, indeed, is due much of the best roadster
blood in New England. The Drew family thus arose,
and some of the swiftest, handsomest branches of the
Morgan family derive, on the maternal side, from
well bred mares of English stock brought from Canada
and the Provinces.

160 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

The sport was to be sure severely condemned by all
serious people, and no cliurcli-member could attend a
horse race with impunity. Nevertheless horse racing
sometimes claimed its victims among the very elect.
There is a true story on this head recorded of one
Deacon K.., of Bennington, Vermont. The Deacon
liked a good horse, and always had in his barn two
or three animals that answered this description. In
particular, about the year 1818, he owned one that
was known to be a very fast runner; and so, when
some wicked sporting men from New York came up
to Bennington with a race horse which they offered
to match against anything that could be produced in
the town, the wicked Bennington boys bethought
themselves of the Deacon's horse. A match was
made, to be run off secretly, in the dead of night, and
one Martin Scott (who afterward became a gallant
officer in the United States Army) was selected to
borrow and ride Deacon K.'s runner. Accordingly,
Martin Scott burglariously entered the stable at mid-
night, muffled the animal's feet, and quietly brought
him out and rode him to the track.

The race was over a mile course, and all went well
till the home stretch was reached ; then the Benning-
ton horse fell back, and it looked as if the strangers
would win. But at that moment the Deacon him-
self, or his ghost, rose up behind the fence, and
screamed aloud, " Put the whip to him, Martin ; put
the whip to him, I tell you." Martin, though seized
with a great fear, retained sufficient presence of mind
to follow these providential directions. He put the
whip to his mount vigorously, and won the race by a
head. Thereupon Deacon R. appeared on the track.

SADDLE HORSES. 161

wavmg his hat and shouting with triumph ; but pres-
ently, recollecting himself and his deaconship, he
went up to the successful jockey and exclaimed, with
every indication of anger, " Martin Scott, you young
reprobate, you have stolen my horse, and if you do
not immediately return him to the stable, and give
him a good rubbing down I shall report you to your
father." And thus the Deacon won a horse race, and
still preserved his standing m the Church. Never-
theless, although riding steadily declined from this
time on, jSTew England furnished some excellent cav-
alry in the Civil War, mounted chiefly on Morgan
horses which out-travelled and outlasted the larger
but less enduring animals ridden by the cavalry regi-
ments of the West.

The Narragansett pacer being extinct, and tlie Mor-
gan trotter undeveloped as a saddler, the only riding
horse born and bred in the United States is now to
be found in Kentucky. Kentucky, from the very
beginning of her history, has been noted for well-bred
horses, especially in the "Blue Grass" district. A
scientific person of reputation who made a study of
that region tells us that there are certain products of
the land which indicate infallibly the geological forma-
tion. Whenever, he relates, he met a tall, handsome
girl, with a good color in her cheeks, he knew that
he had struck the Blue Grass belt, witli its lime-
impregnated soil, and there was no need to pound
the rocks with his hammer, or curiously to inspect
the earth. The girl was sufficient evidence of lati-
tude and longitude ; and with her went rolling fields
of rich pasture, substantial barns, and paddocks full
of high-born colts and brood mares. The State was

11

1G2 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

settled in 1775, and so early as the year 1802 a
Frenchman named Michaux, travelling in this coun-
try on a behest from his government, reported of
Kentucky that " almost all the inhabitants employ
themselves in training and meliorating the breed of
horses." And he describes these horses as being
" elegantly formed, having slim legs and well-]jropor-
tioned heads."

Another old traveller, writing in the year 1818,
declares : " The horse, ' noble and generous,' is the
favorite animal of the Kentuckian, by whom he is
pampered with unceasing attention. Every person
of wealth has from ten to thirty of good size and
condition, upon which he lavishes his corn with a
wasteful profusion."

Within the past few months a society has been
organized and a stud-book established in the interest
of the Kentucky saddle horse, a dozen stallions being
named as foundation horses.^ About half of these
stallions were thoroughbred, the other half being pa-
cers of mixed breeding; and this fact indicates the
origin of the Kentucky saddler, namely, that he is a
cross between the pacer and the thoroughbred. Most
of these Kentucky pacers were of Canadian stock,
and they are described as " a hardy, substantial race."
It was from this same stock that old ]-)acing Pilot,
whose son Pilot Jr. has attained reputation as a pro-
genitor of trotters, was descended. There is a close

' Their names are here put down: — Denmark, hy imported
Hedfi^eford ; Hrinker's Drennan. by Davy Crockett ; Sam Hooker,
by Uoyd Me Nary ; Jolin Dillard, by Indian Chief; Tom Hal;
Coleman's Eureka ; John Waxey, by Vanmeter's Waxey , Cabell's
Lexington, by Blood's Hlaek Ilawk; Copperl)ottom ; Stump the
Dealer; Texas, by Comanche; and Prince Albert, by Frank
Wolford

SADDLE HORSES. 163

relationship iu some cases between Kentucky trotters
and saddlers. Thus the thoroughbred John Dillard
has sired the dams of many trotters ; and not a few
trace to Denmark. Deumark, also a thoroughbred,
was a black horse of great style and substance, and
his descendants, as a rule, take after him in a marked
degree. Denmark founded the chief saddle strain
in Kentucky. Tom Hal, the saddle stallion, is of
the same family as Tom Hal, Brown Hal, and Hal
Pointer,^ pacers of celebrity on the track.

The old-time Kentucky pacer afforded the chief
means of locomotion in that State, the highways being
scarcely fit for wheeled vehicles. Only a few years
ago, it was proposed to build a good turnpike from a
certain " back " county to the nearest railroad ; and
a provident farmer of the old school was called upon
to assist the project with a contribution. But he re-
fused. The intention was to build a " twelve-foot "
pike ; and the farmer rebelled at such extravagance.
A three-foot track was wide enough, he declared, for
his horse, and anything more was superfluous. " The
old saddler," writes a modern Kentuckian, "shuffled
along the path where it was level, and went a half
trot over the hills. He suited the country folk well
in that day, but would be out of place now." The
word " shufiiing " aptly describes the pace, which is
an awkward, inelegant gait. It was the same in the
old Kentucky pacers that it is in the modern pacer of
the race course, but when the Kentucky half-bred sad-
dler came into being this ugly gait was supplemented
by one smoother and more graceful.

1 Since this chapter was put in type, Hal Pointer has paced a
mile in 2.05J.

164 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

The modern Kentucky saddle horses are tauglit the
following gaits : — (1.) The flat-footed wallv, or ordi-
nary walk. (2.) The running walk. (3.) The amble.
(4.) The rack or single foot. (5.) The trot. (G.) The
canter. (7.) The gallop.

The running walk is simply the ordinary Avalk ac-
celerated. An ambitious colt ridden toward home,
kept back from a faster gait, but urged to walk more
speedily, wull gradually fall into it. The action is
more springy and pronounced than that of the ordi-
nary walk, but mechanically it is the same. The
sensation it transmits to the saddle is a very slight
up and down motion. A Kentucky horse will run-
ning-walk at the rate of five or five and a half miles
an hour, and keep it up all day without fatigue to
himself or to the rider.

The amble is a slow pace, both near feet leaving
the ground and returning to it simultaneously, fol-
lowed by both off feet also moving together. The
amble is a gait of about four and a half miles j^er
hour, and it communicates to the saddle a slight
rocking motion.

In the rack or single foot the feet follow each other
at equal intervals (or half-intervals), there being twice
as many hoof-beats as there would be at a trot or pace
of the same speed. In other words, the two near feet
do not strike the ground together, as in a pace, but at
regular intervals. The sound of the footfalls is one,
two, three, four, instead of one, two, as it would be in
the same period of time at a pace. This is the smooth-
est of all gaits. ''You are sitting in an arm-chair,"
remarks Colonel T. A. Dodge, to whom I am indebted
for these particulars, " at a speed of from seven to fif-

SADDLE HORSES. 165

teen miles an hour." And he adds : " I once owned a
racker who could do a full mile in three minutes un-
der the saddle, and you could carry a tumbler full of
water in your hand without spilling a drop of it."

The trot requires no description. In this gait the
off fore foot and the near hind foot strike and leave
the ground exactly together, followed by the near
fore and off hind foot.

The canter is not considered perfect in a Kentucky
horse until he can perform it at a rate no faster than
a fast walk. To " canter all day in the shade of an
apple tree," is a well known saying. On this head
an old trainer informs me, " I have taught horses
to canter around a pole which I held in my hand
with one end planted in the ground." A well-broken
Kentucky horse will of course change lead in the
canter, and start with either foot leading, at the will
of the rider.

The gallop is an inartificial gait, and belongs rather
to hunters and to polo ponies than to the saddle horse
proper. " It may be used occasionally," states a high
school enthusiast, " but no one goes galloping along
the road except a Sunday rider."

Of course it is no advantage to have a horse with
all these gaits unless the rider is skilful enough to
keep them separate. If the man is less instructed
than the horse, a sad confusion of paces is apt to
obtain. On the whole, a well-bitted, well-suppled
horse, with a good trot and a good canter, would be
more useful to the ordinary rider than would one of
these highly accomplished saddlers.^

1 The readiness with which Kentnckians accommodate them-
selves to the New York market may be gathered from the follow-

166 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

The Kentucky horses are haudsome and docile, and
they jump welh Some of them are up to a great
weight. I have seen one in particular that weighed
about twelve hundred pounds, a smoothly turned,
round built horse, of proud and lofty carriage, fit to
carry a commander-in-chief ; instructed in the move-
ments of the haute ecole, and so thoroughly disciplined
that his owner as he sat in the saddle was able to
crack an enormous whip over the horse's head with-
out causing him to budge an inch. I have another in
my stable at this moment, a coal-black fellow, standing
about 16.1, and weighing at least twelve hundred
pounds, with a powerful, sloping shoulder, high
withers, and a short back, capable of sustaining the
heaviest rider. This horse has a long, curved neck,
finely cut ears, powerful hind quarters, and a gentleness
and intelligence that I have never seen surpassed.

Another type of the Kentucky saddle horse is ex-
hibited in a beautiful little bay mare, called Pea
Vine, bred by Colonel T. A. Dodge. She is a tough,

hig humorous remarks, which I quote from a newspaper published
in the heart of the Blue Grass region : —

" A new kind of saddler has come into fashion of late, known as
the Parker, or New York sad<ller. A class of business men in
the East want something to pit up their livers and give them a
deal of exercise on a short road or in the parks. The gait can
scarcely be described, and should be seen to be appreciated. It
requires a high degree of intelligence in the horse to enable him
to acquire it. He must cross his feet, take short, high stejis, and
come down hard ; he must go backward as well as forward, side-
wise, and obliquely. lie must cut up all sorts of didos. The
combination of a business man who docs n't know anything about
riding, a plug hat, and a trained ' Parker ' would draw in any
Kentucky town almost like a circus. But then we have them.
Our horsemen can put up anything in their line that the trade
demands."

SADDLE HORSES. 167

wiry, nervous creature, always dancing about on her
small feet, and arching her thin neck, but perfectly
tractable. Pea Vine, like the other two horses just
mentioned, goes well in harness.

We have one more breed, if not of saddle horses, at
least of saddle ponies, namely, the broncos. The
bronco, a rat of a horse, with ewe neck, a hatnmer
head, a short hip, and an easy, loping gait, is sup-
posed to have descended chiefly from Spanish horses
brought to this continent in the seventeenth century.
Privation and cold have reduced him in size, stripped
him of all purely ornamental parts and qualities,
and developed his capacity for endurance.

"The toughness and strength of the bronco," writes
Colonel T. A. Dodge in an interesting paper,' " can
scarcely be exaggerated. He will live through a win-
ter that will kill the hardiest cattle. He worries
through the long months when the snow has covered
up the bunch grass, on a diet of cottonwood boughs,
which the Indian cuts down for him ; and in the
spring it takes but a few weeks for him to scour out
into splendid condition."

Another writer. Colonel E. I. Dodge, relates that a
pony carried the mail three hundred miles in three
consecutive nights, and back over the same road the
next week, and kept this up for six months without
loss of condition.

" The absence of crest in the pony," Colonel T. A.
Dodge continues, "suggests the curious query what
has become of the proud, arching neck of Iiis ancestor,
the Barb. There are two ways of accounting for this.
The Indian's gag-bit, invariably applied with a jerk,

1 Harper's Magazine for May, 1891.

168 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

throws up the pony's head, instead of bringing it
down, as tlie slow and light application of the school
curb Avill do, and this tends to develop the ewe neck.
Or a more sufficient reason may be found in the fact
that the starvation which the pony annually under-
goes in the winter months tends to deplete him of
every superfluous ounce of flesh. The crest in the
horse is mostly meat, and its annual depletion has
finally brought down the pony's neck nearer to the
outline of the skeleton." The latter is doubtless the
true explanation.

It is astonishing what effect cold and privation
have in stunting the growth of horses, and, conversely,
how quickly warm housing and abundant food will in-
crease the size of a small breed. Some interesting
experiments of this nature have recently been tried
with broncos. It was found that colts by a thorough-
bred sire and out of a bronco dam grew no bigger than
the ordinary bronco when they were subjected to a
like degree of exposure and of comparative starvation ;
whereas colts bred in the same way, but housed and
fed in the winter season, grew very much larger. It
is a question, however, whether these more delicately
nurtured horses will prove as strong and tough as
the others.

It is difficult to say w^hat is the relative speed of the
bronco. Like any i^on}^, he gets into his stride so
quickly that he miglit for a short distance, as a quar-
ter of a mile, beat a larger horse, even a thoroughbred.
But for a mile or more the thoroughbred would be the
faster, and when it comes to longer distances, the re-
sult would probably be the same. Still, there is some
evidence to show that it would take more than an

SADDLE HORSES. 169

average thoroughbred to beat a good bronco for ten or
twenty miles. Many years ago, an army officer on
the plains offered to match his charger, a Kentucky
thoroughbred, with the swiftest pony owned by a cer-
tain Comanche tribe. The Comanches, it should be
added, are the best horsemen of their race, being the
only Indians who show any fondness, or even mercy,
for their steeds, or any. skill in breeding them. Their
favorite color is the piebald. The chief accepted the
offer on one condition, namely, that the race should
be for a distance of not less than fourteen miles.
This match never came off, but the terms made by
the chief are significant of his opinion as to wherein
lay the superiority of the bronco.

In another case the trial was actually made. Some
Kickapoo Indians, who, like almost all red men, are
desperate gamblers, bought a race horse of a white
man in Missouri, and took him out on the plains, a
journey of many hundred miles, for the purpose of
matching him against a certain Comanche pony.
They used great care with the horse, carrying with
them the grain and hay to which he was accustomed,
and they were perfectly conhdent of success. In fact,
they proposed to bet everything that they owned on
the result. Each man wore his entire wardrobe on his
back, — an Indian, like Lever's Irishman, puts on all
his finery at once, — and they converted the rest of
their property into a drove of ordinary horses, which
they took along to wager with the Comanches. But
the Comanche pony won, and the Kickapoo Indians
returned on foot, and nearly naked.

In many parts of the West, broncos are driven as
well as ridden, and a pair of them harnessed to a light

170 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

carriage make an excellent team for loug journeys.
]n the early days of California, the fast stage-coaches,
famous for tearing down mountain roads and skirting
the edges of a precipice, were horsed chiefly, if not en-
tirely, by broncos. But the endurance of this animal
as a roadster has been exaggerated. The truth is that
broncos are ridden and driven great distances in a day,
not so much, because they can accomplish the task
with impunity, as because they are cheap, and their
owners are cruel. If a bronco is ruined by a long
drive, it is easy to replace him.

Broncos are commonly intelligent, but they are also
apt to be vicious. In fact, the breaking which they
undergo, and which has been practised upon many
generations of their ancestors, could hardly fail to
leave them otherwise than vicious. " Buffalo Bill "
has made the buck-jumping of a bronco familiar to
the people of two continents. Nor is it easy to make
them go safely in harness. A neighbor of mine once
hitched to a light road-cart a jjony that had been rid-
den for some years. He took many precautions in
the way of straps and ropes, so that kicking was ren-
dered impossible. Finally, when all was ready, he
mounted the cart and drove quietly out of the yard.
I watched him as far down the road as I could see,
and no old horse could have gone more steadily or
better than this bronco. But, as it soon appeared,
he was only biding his opportunity. When he came
to a bridge over a river, which he had often crossed
before, the pony without the least warning, jumped
the rail, taking man and cart along with him, and
dropped the whole establishment in the flood. It was
in the spring, and ice was running, but with some

SADDLE HORSES. 171

difficulty the horse, as well as the man, was rescued ;
and this was his last as well as his first appearance in
harness.

The best polo ponies bred in America are broncos
crossed with thoroughbred stallions, and they are
raised chiefly in Texas. I am aware that some horse-
men believe the pure bronco, in his best form, to be
equal in capacity, and even in " quality," to these
half-bred ponies, — a fact which they explain by his
descent from Spanish horses or Barbs. So far as
speed is concerned, this may be true. Pale-Face, an
unmitigated bronco from Wyoming, won a race at
Boston in 1891 ; but I doubt the existence of bron-
cos having the quality and docility of the bronco-
thoroughbred.

Some of the most charming pieces of horseflesh
that I have ever known were half-bred polo ponies.
Schoolmaster,^ winner of all the prizes for which he
was eligible at the Boston Horse Show of 1890, is an
example. Schoolmaster, a medium-sized brown pony
with a plain but good head and an intelligent eye,
has the strength of a little cart horse and the speed of
a deer. He weighs seven hundred and fifty pounds.
His legs and feet are perfect ; cannon bones short ;
hind quarters well let down ; and, above all, he satis-
fies the supreme test that used to be applied by a
famous judge of race horses in England, for " he
stands pretty. ^^ Schoolmaster is "up " to a weight of
two hundred pounds, and has carried it for several
seasons without sustaining puff or splint. There are
few ponies, however, of which so much can be said.
Their short, strong backs, and great courage enable
1 The property of S. D. Warren, Esquire.

172 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

tliein to carry heavy men, but the work iujares them.
Splints and strained cords, especially, of course, in the
fore-legs, tell the tale at the end of a season.

A good part of Schoolmaster's power — and in a
less degree this is true of polo ponies generally — lies
in the muscles of his back. These are so powerful,
that when he shies, or even meditates doing so, the
rider feels as if there were a group of radiating steel
springs beneath the saddle, which, if their full power
were expended, might shoot him off into space.
Schoolmaster, however, is a very tractable animal ; he
has been known to run away out of high spirits, but
by a good rider he is easily controlled with a snaffle,
or even with a straight bit. In fact, the tempers and
dispositions of these half-bred polo ponies are almost
invariably good. They are high-strung, nervous, and
extremely sensitive, requiring very gentle treatment.
I have known one that would tremble if a horse
sneezed in the box next to her. Indeed, so far as
mental qualities go, the thoroughbred element seems
completely to predominate in their composition. But
they are not so tough as might be expected, being
poor eaters of hay, and rather sensitive to cold. I
have sometimes thought that their manner of life at
the East does not suit them. In their colthood, at
the West, they live outdoors the year round, wear
no blankets, and get little if any grain. It may be
that the change, often a sudden one, to the housing,
blanketing, and high feeding which they receive here,
tends to impair their stoutness.

Broken to harness, these American polo ponies go
well and steadily, and their short, easy trot, closely
resembling that of the Morgan horse, carries them

SADDLE HORSES. 178

over the ground at a rate which few larger horses
can equal for a long distance. As a rule, they are
not, of course, fast trotters, but I know of one, a
half-bred roan pony, with a beautiful blood-like head
and sloping rump, that has the big, wide gait of a
true trotter. This pony, I have no doubt, could trot a
mile in three minutes or better, and he is also a fast
runner and a good jumper. Occasionally, one finds
among these half-bred ponies one with a longer back,
lower-carried head, and longer neck than are common,
looking exactly like a diminutive race horse. I have
ridden one such, a chestnut mare, extremely nervous,
thin-waisted, long and low, a sort of toy thorough-
bred, highly intelligent and capable of being tamed
and taught like a pet dog. But this pony is nearly
clean bred.

A writer in the recent Badminton volume on Eid-
ing states that in selecting a polo pony the object
should be to get one resembling as closely as possible
a race horse in petto. It is dangerous to differ in
any degree from so high an authority, but I should
have thought that the ideal polo pony, though in
other respects resembling a thoroughbred race horse,
is shorter in the back. Certainly the work is so dif-
ferent that some difference in construction might be
presumed to exist. The polo pony must be a weight-
carrier. It is notable, also, that the portraits of su-
XJerior polo ponies given in the Badminton volume
represent, most commonly, short-backed animals ; and,
finally, such is the shape of the Arab and of the Barb,
— both of which breeds furnish excellent polo ponies.

The training of saddle horses is a matter with
which I shall not attempt to deal, inasmuch as it has

174 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

recently been treated by more thau one good writer
and thorough horseman.^ American horses are as a
rule so intelligent and well disposed that they are
easily taught to carry a man, though to educate any
horse in the niceties of the art requires a master
hand. The chief difficulty, especially if the animal
be at all nervous, is to teach him to stand still while
being mounted ; and this should be a long, cautious
process. Mount him first in the stable, with the
groom holding him by the head. After a time, let
him stand free while you mount ; and, later on, let
the man hold him outside, near the stable and facing
it, while you get on. And so by degrees accustom
him to be mounted in the open.

It is a great mistake to try experiments in this
or in any other matter with a green horse. I re-
member that many years ago, riding a young un-
trained horse alone at night, it occurred to me that, if
I got off, it might be difficult to get on again. From
this obvious reflection, it was but a step, in my own
mind, to a well-grounded suspicion that I was afraid
to try. And this being settled, — in that awful forum
which we all carry about within us,- — it appeared
absolutely necessary that I should dismount then and
there ; and so off I jumped. Getting back was, as
I anticipated, no easy task, but after much backing,
shifting, and circling about the road on the part of
the horse, I put foot in stirrup and was in the act of
throwing my right leg over the saddle. Just then,

1 The reader is referred to the Badminton volume on Riding
and Polo; to "Patroclus and Penelope," l)y Colonel T. A. Dodge;
to " Modern Horsemansliip," by E. L. Anderson ; and to " Horse-
manship for Women," by T. H. Mead.

SADDLE HORSES. 175

however, most inconvenieutly, tlie beast started ou
a dead run, and I found myself clinging to his neck.
This was bad, but worse followed, for the animal
kicked up behind, and shot me off so that I turned
a somersault, and fell on my back in the highway.
However, I pulled myself together, walked homeward
a mile, the horse having preceded me, found him
grazing, and, leading him up to a convenient hen
house, got on, to my surprise, very easily. That
same night I mounted the same horse again, first in
the stable, then in the yard, and finally, with some
difficulty, in the street ; but for months, if not for
years afterward, he was apt to resist my ascent to
the saddle.

This misadventure taught me two lessons, both of
which I commend to the youthful reader. The first
is, that, in mounting a horse disposed to be fractious
or restive, the main thing is to have a good hold on
the reins, and to be prepared to keep him in check
if he shows any disposition to bolt. I do not mean
by this that you should hang on to the bit and
drag yourself into the saddle by means of the reins.
Nothing could irritate the horse more than that, or
tend more to spoil his mouth. But you should have
a short, firm hold of the reins, and be ready, men-
tally, to pull him up if he should start. In mount-
ing such horses, it is important to move quickly
and quietly ; any delay or clumsiness, or irresolution,
might easily convince the horse that you were his
inferior at the game.

The second and more general lesson, already indi-
cated, that I learned from my nocturnal experience
is the folly of forcing matters with young horses,

176 ROAD. TRACK, AND STABLE.

or of attempting feats out of mere bravado, though
one's self be the only spectator. The true rule is
neither to go out of your way to meet danger, nor
to decline the opportunity when it comes. Anybody
who is much in the saddle will sooner or later find
an occasion to test his mettle ; and if one have the
happiness to play polo, or, more especially, to ride
to hounds, such occasions will be frequent. Of all
the manly arts, horsemanship is the one where mere
strength and size count the least, and skill and cour-
age the most.

A small, weak man with " hands " can manage a
beast which a big, strong man without them cannot
keep from running away. On the other hand, muscle
and endurance have full scope in the saddle. Asshe-
ton Smith used to tumble his hunters over fences too
high to be jumped ; for nearly fifty years he averaged
about fifty falls a season, and yet he never received
more than one serious injury. Assheton Smith was
a born fox-hunter ; but other men, handicapped by
nature, have shown their prowess in the saddle. To
think of Anthony Trollope, riding " straight, " though
old and half blind, and sounding, as he humorously
said, the depths of every ditch in Essex, — to re-
member such achievements is to raise one's standard
of human courage and pertinacity.

The late R. H. Dana used to say that every man
ought at least once in his life to face death. For the
modern man, sport must commonly supply, if not
a proximity to death, at least a certain hardness of
experience which in former ages war, or travel, or
tournaments, or duels afforded. There is a keen joy
which civilization seems to whet, rather than to

SADDLE HORSES.

177

deaden, in physical exertion, even in physical fatigue,
still more in the agony of a contest. It is good and
pleasant to put on the gloves and face an antagonist
some ten pounds heavier than yourself, who would
not hesitate to send in a stinging straight counter on
the nose, if you gave him the opportunity ; the sensa-
tion of being thrown absolutely on your own resources
under these circumstances is exhilarating and whole-
some; it is good, also, to handle a shell in rough
water, with the consciousness that the least mistake
or flurry on your part would serve to capsize or
swamp your frail craft ; and good is it — nay,
best of all — to bestride a young and fiery horse,
whose safety as a vehicle depends upon your power
to grip him with leg and knee, and to guide and
restrain him with a firm, light hand.

VII.

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS.

A SCIENTIFIC person once declared — and Mr.
Ruskin scornfully rebuked liim for the asser-
tion— that the amount of coal consumed in any given
country will measure the degree of civilization to
which it has attained. The same remark has been
made in regard to sulphuric acid, and doubtless it
could be applied to many other commodities witli
that mixture of truth which is sufficient for an epi-
gram. Of carriage horses, for example, it might bo
said that their quality (if not their quantity) is an
index of civilization ; for the carriage horse changes
his character from century to century, almost from
year to year, as wealth and skill augment, as high-
ways improve, as vehicles become lighter, as railroads
are brought into play, as people use their steeds for

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 179

pleasure and for show rather than for long and ne-
cessary journeys. When Horace Walpole paid an
electioneering visit to the country in 1761, after an
absence of fifteen years or so, he found that a great
improvement had taken place, and he explained it
as follows : —

" To do the folks justice, they are sensible and rea-
sonable and civilized ; their very language is polished
since 1 lived among them. I attribute this to their
more frequent intercourse with the world and the
capital by the help of good roads and post chaises,
which, if they have abridged the King's dominions,
have at least tamed his subjects."

The primitive carriage horse was a pony, unac-
quainted with grooming, ignorant even of the taste of
oats ; and the vehicle that he drew required no roads,
a path through the forest sufficing for its progress.
And yet, oddly enough, this ancient vehicle is still em-
ployed in this country. Within a few months of the
present writing, I have seen it conveying a squaw and
a papoose around the circus ring; and the red men
have constructed it in that identical form for centu-
ries, and still use it in some of the Western reserva-
tions. This woodland carriage is made, as doubtless
the reader knows, by taking a couple of long poles,
and affixing them to the horse's neck in such a man-
ner that they drag on the ground behind his heels,
the load being fastened on the end of the poles.

Next to these tepee poles, as the Indians call them,
or trainaux in the French Canadian- tongue, came, in
this country, the sledge of the Appalachians. There
are old men still living in the mountains of Kentucky
and of Tennessee who have never even seen a wheeled

180 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

vehicle. They use, all the year round, a fledge made
of bent saplings fastened with wooden pins and raw-
hide thongs.

The ijivention of the solid disk-wheel was a stroke
of genius which should have immortalized the name
of its author, and yet history records neither that
nor his nationality. It is certain, however, that he
lived thousands of years before the Christian era.
The disk-wheel being in use, ingenious men gradu-
ally punched holes in it to reduce the weight, until at
last they arrived at the modern spoked wheel. Cen-
turies more elapsed before anything that can be dig-
nified with the name of carriage was built. It was
about the beginning of the thirteenth century that
carriages were first used by the nobility in England ;
and the roads were so bad and the vehicles so heavy
that they were of little service until toward the end
of the sixteenth century. A contemporary account
of the city of London, written in 1550, speaks of the
streets as being even then "very foul, full of pits
and sloughs, very perilous and noxious." Fifty years
later, coaches had become so numerous that a bill was
introduced m Parliament to restrain their use, one
argument in its favor being that the watermen were
losing custom because people travelled by the road
instead of by river. This bill was rejected, but in
1C60 Parliament reduced the number of coaches in
London from two thousand to four hundred. About
the same time, the present custom of driving for
pleasure and for show in Hyde Park was established.

But until the end of the seventeenth century
coaches and chariots must have afforded very rough
riding ; for springs were not invented till about 1G65,

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 181

and in their first form they appear to ]jave mitigated
but sliglitly the jolting of the vehicle to which they
were applied. Pepys speaks of riding in a carriage
thus equipped belonging to Colonel Edward Blount,
which Pepys found " pretty well, but not so easy as
he pretends."

How far from easy the seventeenth century car-
riages must have been is shown by the numerous
crude inventions that were made from time to time
witli the view of improving them. Evelyn, for exam-
ple, in the year 1665, records the following in his
Diary : —

" Sir Richard Bulkeley described to us a model of
a chariot which he had contrived, which it was not
possible to overthrow in whatever uneven way it was
drawn, giving us a wonderful relation of what it had
performed in that kind, for ease, expedition, and
safety ; there were some inconveniences yet to be
remedied : it would not contain more than one per-
son, was ready to take fire every ten miles, and, being
placed and playing on no fewer than ten rollers, it
made a most prodigious noise, almost intolerable. A
remedy was to be sought for these inconveniences."

If this astonishing vehicle was really considered
wonderful for ''ease and expedition," — and Mr.
Evelyn was not given to irony, — it may be imagined
what were the qualities of the ordinary chariot, upon
which it was supposed to be an improvement.

But Avhatever the ancient carriage lacked in com-
fort, it made up in splendor. It was richly deco-
rated, painted in gay colors, emblazoned with pictures,
and fitted with hangings and cushions of silk and
velvet.

182 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

On May-day, in particular, it was the custom for
everybody who owned a coach to go abroad in it with
such display as his means and taste would permit.
The first time when Pepys took part in this fashion-
able amusement was in the year 1669. Shortly be-
fore, he had purchased a fine coach, and had it painted
in yellow and silver, and he had also paid a visit to
the horse-market at Smithfield of which he wrote, —
and there is nothing archaic in the remark, — " Here
do I see instances of a piece of craft and cunning that
I never dreamed of concerning the buying and choos-
ing of horses."

Pepys had defended himself against the wiles of
the jockeys by taking along one Mr. ISTed Pickering,
a gentleman whose counterpart might easily be found
at the present day. Mr. I'ickering, younger son of
Sir Gilbert Pickering, was bred to the law, but seems
never to have followed that or any other profession,
having picked up a living in devious ways. Roger
Xorth speaks of him as "a subtle fellow," — the very
description of a successful Jock. And this subtlety
appears to have grown upon Mr. Pickering with years,
— perhaps by reason of too frequent visits to Smith-
field, — for toward the close of his life he tampered
with a will made by Sir John Cutts, and, being
detected, narrowly escaped imprisonment for the
offence.

By advice of this connoisseur, Pepys bought a pair
of fine black horses at a cost of £50, and the bargain
seems to have been a good one, for the Diary there-
after records nothing but satisfaction with the steeds,
and in due course Pepys made Mr. Pickering a slight
present in recognition of his services.

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 183

Tlie new coach-owner thus describes his first May-
day parade : " And so anon we went along through
the town, with our new liveries of serge, and the
horses' manes and tails tied with red ribbons, and the
standards gilt with varnish, and all clean, and green
reines, that people did mightily look upon us ; and
the truth is I did not see any coach more pretty,
though more gay than ours, all the day." But this
was not his first appearance in Hyde Park in his own
coach. That occurred a few weeks before, and Pepys
has described it thus : " Thence to Hyde Park, the
first time we were there this year, or ever in our own
coach, where, with mighty pride, rode up and down,
and many coaches there ; and I thought our horses
and coach as pretty as any there, and observed so
to be by others."

Later still, toward the middle of the eighteenth
century, began that very great and rapid improve-
ment— noted, as we have seen, by Horace Walpole —
in highways, vehicles, and horses, which increased
the rate of travel from four or five to twelve miles
an hour, and culminated with the introduction of
railways.

The carriage horse, it need scarcely be said, became
lighter and more active according as the weight that
he had to draw, and more especially the friction of
the roadways, diminished. Originally he was simply
a beast of burden, the first English carriage horse
being of the old black cart or shire horse strain, a
huge, ungainly animal, with a big head and shaggy
fetlocks. Contemporary with the cart horse coachers
were the '* running footmen," with their Avands of
office. The chariots which they attended progressed

184 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

SO slowly that these functionaries could easily go
ahead, when necessary, and engage apartments and
refreshments at the next inn where a stop was to be
made. They were also extremely useful in putting
their shoulders to the wheel, when, as often hap-
pened, the vehicle stuck in a rut or in some "■ peril-
ous slough." Later, in the seventeeth century, many
Flemish mares were imported to England for carriage
horses. They had more style and quality, but lacked
endurance, as Gervase Markham pointed out in his
well known work. The cream-colored coach horses,
which are still bred in the Queen's stables, though
they have seldom been used since the death of Prince
Albert, are descended from the same strain. In
France, the Norman breed fvirnislied the carriage
horses of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
and one writer speaks of the " richly mottled grays "
that drew the coach of Richelieu.

It is an apt illustration of the conservatism which
prevails in, or perhaps more correctly is an essential
part of, forms and ceremonies, that the state carriage
horse of England has always been a century or so
behind the times. Siiire horses were used to draw
Queen Anne's coach, though they had been given up
by private persons for many years before she came to
the throne ; and in the same way, during the present
reign, the Hanoverian horse has held a place in the
royal stables to which he is entitled only on the
score of antiquity. Another similar exami)le was to
be found, until lately, in the steeds that horsed the
chariots of the Roman cardinals. These too were of
Flemish origin, " of great size, as fat as prize oxen,
proud and prancing at starting, — all action and
no cro."

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 185

As the Flemish mare succeeded the shire horse,
so the Clevehaud bay succeeded and vastly improved
upon the Flemish importation. Cleveland bays are
still bred, constituting with their cousins, the York-
shire coach horses, and with the stout fast-stepping
hackneys, the three strains of harness horse now
to be found in England. I shall have a word to say
about them all.

The Cleveland bays originated, as the name imports,
in Cleveland, a district of the East Riding of York-
shire, and they date from about the middle of the
eighteenth century. Remotely, they sprang from a
cross between the native black cart horse, already
mentioned, and the thoroughbred; but the type be-
came a fixed one, and is thus described by Frank
Forester : —

"The Cleveland bay, in its natural and unmixed
form, is a tall, powerfully built, bony animal, aver-
aging, I should say, 15 hands 3 inches in height, rarely
falling short of 151-, or exceeding 16i hands. The
crest and withers are almost invariably good; the
head bony, lean, and well set on. Ewe necks are
probably rarer in this family than in any other, unless
it be the dray horse, in which it is never seen. The
faults of shape to which the Cleveland bay is most
liable are narrowness of chest, undue length of body,
and thinness of the cannon and shank bones. Their
color is invariably bay, rather on the yellow bay than
on the blood bay color, with black manes, tails, and
legs. They are sound, active, powerful horses, with
excellent capabilities for draught, and good endurance
so long as they are not pushed beyond their sjjeed,
which may be estimated at from six to eight miles an

186 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

hour on a trot, or from ten to twelve — the latter
quite the maximum — on a gallop, under almost any
weight."

But the Cleveland bay did not long continue in his
original form ; there were more and greater infusions
of thoroughbred blood, so that he became ''finer,"
more speedy, a little longer of limb, and in all re-
spects a superior animal for the coach and the saddle.
The country gentlemen were great breeders and users
of Cleveland bays. " A squire," it is said, " of two or
three thousand a year, in the midland or northern
counties, did not consider his stable furnished with-
out five or six full-sized, well-bred coach horses " ;
and if he went a journey of fifty or seventy-five
miles, he would be conveyed not only in his own
carriage, but by his' own steeds. Noblemen counted
their carriage horses by the score ; for in those
days they travelled in some state. Six-in-hand for
gala or ceremonious occasions, and four for every-day
purposes, were the usual number. But times have
changed. "The old duke always journeyed to Lon-
don with six post chaises and four, attended by out-
riders. The present man comes up in a first-class
carriage with half a dozen bagmen, and sneaks away
from the station in a brougham, smoking a cigar."
The reader will remember that even Sir Pitt Crawley,
most penurious of men, was met by a coach and four
at his park gates, where he and his companion Becky
Sharp had been set down by the stage.

County running races also contributed very largely,
though indirectly, to the improvement of carriage
horses. Local magnates liked to be represented at
these races by horses of their own breeding, and con-

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 187

sequently there was a wide diffusion of thoroughbred
sires. Under these influences, the improved or half-
bred Cleveland bays lost their distinctive color in a
large degree, chestnuts, iron-grays, roans, and dark
browns becoming frequent among them. Still, there
are in existence even at the present time many Cleve-
land bays of the correct color, with legs black from
the knee down, and with that "list," or strip of black,
running from the withers to the root of the tail, which
is considered to establish beyond a doubt the purity
of their blood. A dark brown coat with a cinnamon
muzzle was supposed to indicate a tough and hardy
beast, and animals thus marked are seen occasionally
nowadays. Blacks were the least common, this color
being avoided, as suggestive of a cart horse origin, un-
less it could be traced directly to a thoroughbred sire.
Particular colors came to be associated with particular
districts. Th\is, in one neighborhood it would be the
ambition of every carriage owner to have a gray Sir
William or a brown Sir Peter, as the case might be ;
whereas in another district a black this or a chestnut
that would be considered an indispensable inmate of
a gentleman's stable.

The most potent influence in developing the car-
riage horse was, however, that mania for fast trav-
elling in coaches and post chaises which could be
satisfied with nothing less than ten and even twelve
miles an hour. Anybody who has actually driven ten
or twenty miles at this rate in a light carriage — not
simply heard or talked about it, which is a more com-
mon occurrence — can imagine what a task it was for
four horses to travel at such speed, while hauling a
load of four tons or more. Xothing but a strong dash

188 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

of thoroughbred blood, and hardly that, could supply
the requisite wind and limb.

One of the best of those colored plates that illus-
trate the road in coaching days shows both what kind
of horse was used, and what was the effect upon him
of the work. It is a picture of " The Night Team "
putting to in the frosty moonlight at a roadside inn,
while a few passengers, muffled to the eyes, shiver
on top of the stage. Three of the four horses, the
wheelers and the off leader, are bays, — broken down,
but still powerful. The ribs clearly show through
their short, nicely groomed coats ; their fine, well-bred
heads, topped by small, aristocratic ears, hang mourn-
fully down ; their knees are fearfully sprung ; their
hind legs are twisted and swollen. Altogether, they
give the impression of having accomplished some
tremendous feats, and of being still able to perform
the like when well warmed to their work. The
fourth horse, the nigh leader, is a gray, young and
sound, but vicious. He wears a broad bandage over
his eyes, to prevent shying at " objects," and two or
three hostlers are struggling to get him within the
traces, while he plunges about with head and tail
high in the air. The fast mail coaches broke down
many good horses before their time ; and if anybody
had upon his hands an unmanageable brute, such as
the English system of breaking was eminently fitted
to produce, he doubtless put him into one of those
horse-taming and horse-killing machines.

During the past fifty years many of the best Cleve-
land bays have been exported, — so many that the
deficiency in the London market has been supplied in
part by carriage horses brought over from Germany.

CAREIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 189

Not long ago, an an English agricultural journal in-
quired, with much feeling and with less attention to
grammar, " When royalty or nobility wants a pair of
upstanding London carriage horses, where goes the
thousand guineas that hardly fetches them ? " "Not,"
answering its own question, "to the struggling Eng-
lish occupier, but to the broad expanses of the Conti-
nent." Even the great job-masters of London (two
of whom supply no less than five hundred pairs of
carriage horses each to their customers, not counting
single brougham and victoria horses) had recourse at
one time to the Flemish horses. They were cheap
and good-looking, but so washy and soft, so deficient
in bone and endurance, so defective in those very
points which Gervase Markham condemned in them
two hundred years before, that, after a few years'
trial, they were commonly given up by the job-
masters.

Closely allied to the Cleveland bays are the York-
shire coach horses. Separate stud-books are main-
tained in England for these families, although in
many instances the same animal is recorded in both
books, whereas in this country one compilation of
pedigrees does service for both strains. The differ-
ences between them are thus stated by Mr. Burdett-
Coutts : —

"The Cleveland bays, in what I may call their
aboriginal form, are agricultural horses, with plenty
of grand points in their frame, but with no elegance
of 'turning,' and without any action, and therefore
totally unfitted to produce from themselves alone the
big carriage horse. The Yorkshire coach horses have
both the qualities above referred to, but they, again,

190 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

if kept to themselves, will in a very short time be-
come high on the leg and light of bone, and con-
sequently equally unfitted to draw the weight of a
big barouche or a state coach." What is wanted, he
goes on to say, is "the big harness horse, standing
from 16 hands to 16.2 in height, with the bone and
shortness of leg, the depth and grandeur of frame,
which are in the Cleveland, and are not in the York-
shire coach horse ; with the quality, elegance, and
action which are in the Yorkshire coach horse, and
not in the Cleveland ; and with the ' long, elegant
top line,' which is only produced by a combination of
both."

Both the Cleveland bays and the Yorkshire coach
horses are moderately high steppers, and usually
incapable of a really fast trot.

A third family of carriage horses is that of the
hackneys, whose stud-book, like the others just men-
tioned, is a very modern one, dating from 1882. Their
origin is remotely the same as that of the Cleveland
hajs and the Yorkshire coach horses, — a mixture
of thoroughbred and cart horse ; but in the hackney
family there is an intermediate strain, namely, that
of the old Norfolk trotter, a fast-trotting, plain, ser-
viceable, moderate-sized beast, that had a great repu-
tation in his day, and from which, in part, many of
our own trotters are descended. The best hackneys
now extant trace back almost invariably to one partic-
ular horse, called Marshland Shales, who was foaled
in 1802, He stood 14.3, was of a dun color, and is
said to have descended from the great race horse
Eclipse. George Borrow, in a passage of "Lavengro,"
which I venture to quote here, although it is a familiar

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 191

one, tells how lie saw Marshland Shales at a fair in
Norwich, when he was a boy, and the horse was old : —

"Nothing very remarkable about that creature, un-
less in being smaller than the rest, and gentle, which
they are not. He is almost dun, and over ■ one eye a
thick film has gathered. But stay, there is something
remarkable about that horse ; there is something in
his action in which he differs from all the ■ rest. As
he advances, the clamor is hushed, all eyes are turned
upon him. What looks of interest, — of respect !
And what is this ? People are taking off their hats ;
surely not to that steed ! Yes, verily, men, especially
old men, are taking off their hats to that one-eyed
steed, and I hear more than one deep-drawn Ah !
' What horse is that ? ' I said to one very old fel-
low, dressed in a white frock. ' The best in Mother
England,' said the very old man, taking a knobbed
stick from his mouth, and looking me in the face,
at first carelessly, but presently with something like
interest. 'He is old, like myself, but can still trot
his twenty miles an hour. You won't live long, my
swain, — tall and overgroAvn ones like thee never
does ; yet if you should chance to reach my years,
you may boast to thy great-grandboys that thou hast
seen Marshland Shales.'"

The hackney is almost too plain to be called a car-
riage horse, and yet he has some style, a great deal of
strength, and much more speed than the larger and
more elegant sort. Many hackneys, indeed, have
showy and beautiful action. Moreover, having been
bred in something very like its present form for a
hundred and fifty years, the type is more likely to be
reproduced than is that of the Cleveland bay or York-

192 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

sliire coach horse. Au American horseman of national
repntation, the importer and owner of some excellent
hackneyS; writes to me as follows : '' The Norfolk and
Yorkshire hackneys are a distinct breed of horses;
with some thoroughbred and other crosses, of course,
but still a distinct breed. They stamp their charac-
teristics on their progeny in a very marked and de-
cided manner, — more marked than any other breed
of horses that I know of." And he goes on to describe
them: "The Norfolk and Yorkshire hackneys are
from 14 hands to 15.3, or even 16 hands high. The
average is perhaps lo.l|. A good hackney is a horse
of considerable substance, Avith plenty of bone, fine
quality, good length, on short legs, and with riding
shoulders. He is a fast and good walker, and his
trot is bold, straight, and true, and fast enough for
him to go ten to fourteen miles an hour. INIany
Norfolk and Yorkshire hackneys have trotted better
than a mile in three minutes. The fine weight-carry-
ing hacks one sees in Rotten Row, and the splendid
teams that are paraded at the meets of the coaching
and four-in-hand clubs in Hyde Park, are nearly all
hackneys."

Of late years there have been imported to this
country many representatives of all these families,
tlie Cleveland bay, the Yorkshire coach horse, and the
hackney, — some of them fine specimens, and some of
them hardly Avorth their passage money. In fact,
many of the animals exhibited at our horse shows, and
sometimes actually winning ])rizes, as English car-
riage horses and coaching stallions, have been coarse,
clumsy brutes, but a slight dista,iice removed from the
cart horse, and frequently n<;t even sound.

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 193

The next type of carriage horse to be considered
is the French coach horse. A great antiquity is com-
monly set up for this family by its admirers, but I
have never been able to find any evidence in support
of their assertions. Moreover, it is difficult to dis-
cover exactly what was the origin of the French coach
horse. It is commonly said to have been a cross be-
tween the English thoroughbred and the Arab. It is
certain that the English thoroughbred figures largely
in the pedigree, and there may have been infusions of
Arab blood ; but the French coach horse has a bulki-
ness of form and a mildness of temper that indicate
some other element, and it is probaly that of the an-
cient and admirable Percheron family. The French
coachers are large, handsome horses, usually chestnut,
sometimes bay, and occasionally black in color. They
have very fine, intelligent heads, rather short necks,
broad chests, good sloping shoulders, and the best of
legs and feet.

In one respect, that of speed, they are far superior
to any strain of English coach horses. In order to
satisfy the government test in France, a coaching
stallion must trot two miles and two fifths at the rate
of a mile in three minutes, and this on a turf track.
They are also, as a rule, more gentle and docile than
the English carriage horses, but a little inferior to the
latter in point of " quality," and not possessed of so
proud a carriage. Very few French coach horses have
been imported to the Eastern States, but there are
many in the West.

The action of a carriage horse should be bold and
free ; but excessively high action, being incompatible
with speed or endurance, is a fault in the true coacher.

13

194 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

High-steppers, or park or seiisatiou liorses, as tliey
are sometimes called, stand by themselves, — in a
small and very expensive class. Their gait is not
merely, or even chiefly, a means of locomotion, — it is
an end in itself ; and very pretty is the effect of their
peculiar up-and-down step, especially when they are
driven at a slow trot, with all the accessories of a fine
equipage. They travel as if they had springs in their
hoofs, their knees at the upward stroke seeming al-
most to touch the musical, well burnished pole chains
with which they are often and most suitably har-
nessed. The high-stepper expresses, so far as a horse
can do it, the insolence of wealth. In his prime he
would furnish a good text for a sermon, and in his
decay he might point the moral of a pathetic tale.

These horses are distinctly for show, not for use.
" You may drive your steppers," one autliority re-
marks, " very slowly for the most part, and fast a
short distance, if they shine in a fast trot, for two
hours or so every day; but if you want to go ten
miles out of town and back, you must fall back on a
useful pair, or hire post horses."

The best of our sensation horses come from INIaine,
perhaps because its stony pastures tend to make the
horses tliat run in them step high. The deep snows
which prevail during the long winter in that latitude
probably have a similar effect. A man wading through
snow steps uncommonly high, and it is the same with
a horse. Ten years ago a really higli-stepping carriage
horse was almost unknown in this country, but we
raise many of them now ; the demand partly causing
the supply to exist, and partly calling it forth from
its hiding place where it existed before. A " Down

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 195

East" fanner raises a colt or two from good stock,
which, being turned out for several years on a rocky
hillside, and having also, it may be, a tendency in
that direction, acquire the habit of lifting their feet
particularly high when they trot. The owner looks
upon this action as a defect rather than a merit, but
fashionable people in New York and Boston think
otherwise : it soon becomes known that the dealers
who go from farm to farm will pay a good price for
horses with excessively high action, and accordingly
such horses are bred.

But is there no family of American coachers ?
Good horses having been raised in this country for at
least one hundred and fifty years, is it possible that
in all that time we have not produced a typical car-
riage horse of our own ? Alas ! no, although we have
ample material for the purpose. One of the most
brilliant performers that appeared on the trotting
course during the season of 1890 was Pamlico, a five-
year-old stallion, owned in North Carolina, but bred
in Vermont. Pamlico won many races, obtained a
record of 2.16| in a fourth heat, and proved himself
to be a very enduring and speedy trotter. But, be-
sides being a trotter, Pamlico, except for some want
of height, is almost an ideal coach horse. He is of a
rich bay color, with black points ; his back is short,
his shape round and smooth, with neither the angu-
larities nor the high rump that are associated with
the trotting model ; his neck inclines to arch ; he has
a handsome head, with fine ears, large eyes, widely
separated ; and, race horse though he is, Pamlico pos-
sesses the. bold, proud action of a coaching stallion.
Now Pamlico, though an unusual, is not an excep-

196 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

tioual type, and the same element from which he
derives his coaching appearance is found in a kirge
proportion of our trotting stock. Pamlico's grandsire
and our most famous trotting stallion was Kysdyck's
Hambletonian, who died about fourteen years ago.
As I have mentioned in an earlier chapter, he was de-
scended in the paternal line from Mauibrino, one of
the best and stoutest thoroughbreds that ever ran in
England ; but his dam was by Bellfouuder, and Bell-
founder was a Norfolk trotter of the purest stamp.
Here, then, we have the same element upon which the
English hackney is based.

The Hambletonian family possesses a wonderful
aptitude for retaining its own and assimilating other
good qualities ; and when united with strains possess-
ing the nervous energy and the ''quality" in which
it is deficient, it rises to a high degree of excellence,
as in the Volunteers, the Almonts, and many others.
The Hambletonian carriage horse is an easy poten-
tiality.^ Other trotting families, notably the Mam-
brino Patchens and some of the Clays, contain similar
material.

Carriage horses thus bred would have unusual speed.
They would be a race of trotting coachers, and those
that lacked the fineness of a carriage horse would
nevertheless be strong, serviceable animals, easily sold
at a fair price ; whereas the strictly trotting-bred
horse, like the strictly running-bred horse, is apt to
prove good for nothing if not good for racing.

In speaking of Pamlico, T mentioned his bold, high
action. This he does not inhci'it from his Hamble-

^ It has been realized to a considerable extent at tlie Payne
Stock Farm in Hinsdale, Massachusetts.

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 197

tonian sire. The Hambletoiiiaii gait is a loug, wide,
distinctly trotting gait. But Pamlico's dam was a
Morgan, of the Lambert family, and he derives his
showy action from her. Some of the best carriage
horses and cobs in the world have been bred in much
the same Avay that Pamlico is bred.

I will state some examples. Fifty years ago there
was a big horse in Franklin County, Maine, called the
Eaton horse. ^ He was a sorrel, and he weighed 1,450
pounds. Like Rysdick's Hambletonian, he was a
long-striding, lumbering beast, and most of his de-
scendants resembled him in these respects : they
were fast, but sluggish, and poor roadsters. How-
ever, crossed with small, high-stepping Morgan mares,
the Eaton horse produced no less than three fine
families of carriage horses, cobs, and roadsters, one
of which attained distinction on two continents and
in three countries.

The first of these families was that of Flying Eaton,
a handsome bay horse standing about 15| hands, and
weighing about 975 pounds. Flying Eaton inherited
the high action of his dam. He had a beautiful
arched neck, a heavy but fine mane, a tail well carried,
a short back, with that slight graceful downward
curvature of the spine which is a feature of the Arab
formation. Despite his excessive knee action, his
motions were easy and elastic; and he was a cour-
ageous, tireless roadster. Flying Eaton had great
intelligence and one intellectual quality which is
frequent in the dog, but less conimoia in the horse,
namely, a sense of humor.

1 He was sired by the Avery horse, and he by Bucephalus, a big
chestnut horse supposed to be a grandson of Messenger. The dam
of the Eaton horse was also said to be a Messenger.

198 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

'' If a stranger entered his stall," relates a former
owner, " he would act as if he was going to kill him,
and yet he was perfectly kind. It was only his fun.
Whenever a woman entered the stall, he would be
extremely gentle. I used to let him loose in the
stable, and he would come rushing, stamping up,
showing his teeth and acting as if he meant to
slaughter me on the spot. But when he reached me
he would poke his nose in my face as pleasant as
could be, and invite me to stroke him."

Altogether, Flying Eaton was a perfect cob, with
speed and endurance such as very few cobs indeed
possess.

Within a few miles of the small town where Fly-
ing Eaton was foaled, a stout little Morgan mare very
much like the dam of Flying Eaton used to be driven
by a farmer's boy. She also was a high stepper, and
so courageous and ambitious that she never could
be persuaded or compelled to walk while in harness.
The hills are very steep and long in that neighbor-
hood, but she invariably surmounted them at a lively
trot ; and on the one or two occasions when a serious
attempt was made to moderate her impetuosity, she re-
sisted so strongly as to upset the vehicle in a ditch.
This little mare became the mother of a very hand-
some, high-stepping chestnut colt (his sire being the
Eaton horse) which, though weighted with the name
of Shepherd F. Knapp, made a reputation in this coun-
try, in France, and in England. Mr. Burdett-Coutts
speaks of him as being " unsurpassed for pace and
action," and he conjectures that this horse derived his
gait and style from the Norfolk trotter blood of Bell-
founder. But this is a mistake ; Knajjp, as we have
seen, had not a drop of that blood.

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 199

Shepherd F. Kiiapp was larger than his half-brother,
Flying Eaton, but much like him in action and in
character. He was exported to England in 1864.
Afterward he was sent to France, where he trotted a
race of two and a half miles and defeated another
American-bred horse. The time was 6.14, or a little
better than at the rate of a mile in 2.30. Shepherd
F. Knapp sired Capucine, the fastest, gamiest trotter
ever bred on the Continent, and it is said that his
blood has also improved the breed of French coach
horses. It is certain that in England, whither Shep-
herd F. Knapp was soon returned, his descendants
and those of his son Washington are among the best
hackneys ever raised there, being noted for their
beauty and quality, as well as for their speed. It is
not unlikely that among the very hackneys recently
imported to this country are some that have descended
from the little gray mare that used to trot so gallantly
over the steep hills of Franklin County, Maine.

The last of the three families which I have men-
tioned as descending from the old Eaton horse, crossed
with Morgan mares, is that of Troublesome. i This
horse never attained more than a local reputation, and
his colts had the common defect, inherited from him,
of hitting their fore legs ; but his roading qualities
•were such as to entitle him to mention along with
Flying Eaton and Shepherd F. Knapp. Troublesome
was a handsome, round-bodied bay horse, of great
style and spirit. He weighed about eleven hundred
pounds, and was very speedy. His knee action, like

1 Troublesome was sired by the Norton horse, and he by the
Eaton horse, out of a Morgan mare. The Norton horse was one
of the handsomest horses ever rai,sed in Maine.

200 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

that of Flyiug Eaton and of Shepherd F. Knapp, was
extremely high.

Troublesome belonged for many years to " Squire "
Abner Toothaker, a prominent man in the little village
of Rangeley, at the head of Rangeley Lake, in the
backwoods. In those days Rangeley was at least fifty
miles from the railroad, and, as the Squire's business
often took him far from home, it was necessary that
he should have good roadsters. More than once he
drove from Bangor to Phillips (a village twenty-one
miles " out " from the lake) in one day, although the
distance is ninety miles ; and there was a standing
offer on his part to drive Troublesome one hundred
miles between sunrise and sundown, for a bet of one
thousand dollars.

Squire Toothaker was a hard-visaged old gentleman,
who always sat a little sideways in his carriage, and
clucked viciously to his horse out of the corner of
his mouth. Once he drove Troublesome to a sleigh
seventy-six miles in one short day, besides racing him
three or four additional miles against horses which he
encountered at a village en route. On another occa-
sion he drove from Greenvale to Phillips, a distance
of eighteen miles, in one hour. I have traversed this
road several times : it is rough and hilly, and, though
it descends for perhaps two thirds of the way, there
are several long, steep hills to ascend. I know that it
takes a good horse to cover this road without distress
in two hours. But Troublesome did it in one hour.

Troublesome had a son called Wild Tiger, who also
was out of a Morgan dam. The name is an ambitious
one, but the horse seems to have deserved it. He
too was a bay horse, with four white feet, and a dash

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 201

of white in las face. His knee action was excessively
high; he carried his head high, and, altogether, he
showed so much dash and power and spirit, and
seemed to go so fast, — he could in fact trot a 2.40
gait, — that he presented a very formidable appear-
ance. It is said that nobody ever looked behind and
saw Wild Tiger approaching, without turning aside
and giving him the road. Xevertheless, at a gait of
six or seven miles an hour, Wild Tiger was temperate
enough to be driven by a woman ; but when his blood
was up, it took a strong man to control him. One
winter day, Squire Toothaker drove this horse from
Phillips to Augusta, fifty-two miles, in five and one
half hours. The snow-drifts near Phillips were so
deep that it took him one hour to go the first five
miles, so that he drove the remaining forty-seven
miles in four hours and a half. Wild Tiger pulled
all the way, and came out fresh the next morning.

Now these successes in breeding were not acciden-
tal, for, as we have seen, in three separate cases, a
family of extraordinary merit sprang from the union
of the Eaton horse with a quick and high-stepping
Morgan mare. So, also, as I have stated, a similar
cross between the Hambletonian stock and Morgan
uia^es has resulted equally well. Why, then, do we
not continue to raise such incomparable hackneys as
Shepherd F. Knapp, and such tough, speedy, and
beautiful cobs as the Flying Batons ? The answer
must be that our farmers are absorbed in the pur-
suit of that ignis fatims, as it commonly proves, the
remunerative trotter.

I have spoken of the Flying Eatons as cobs, but per-
haps incorrectly. What is a cob ? The term is so

202 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

ambiguous that many stanch horsemen exclude it
from their categories. Generally speaking, any small-
ish, chunky horse, especially if his tail be cut short, is
a cob. The modern hackney usually stands a little
too high to be called a cob. The old Morgan horse
— of the small type — was a perfect cob, powerful,
speedy, docile, enduring, and possessed of great style.
He was a saddle as well as a harness cob. The Mor-
gan race has lately been revived, largely with the
object of using it as a trotting cross. This purpose
is a laudable one, and yet the Morgan cob should also
be preserved.

iSTot long since, in a small iSTew England village, I
came by chance upon a perfect specimen of this
variety. It was a little bay mare, with a ratlier long
body and round barrel. She stood on short legs, and
must have been less than fifteen hands high, but she
had the strength, in all the moving parts, of a sixteen-
hand horse. Her neck was thick but not coarse, her
head small and Arabian in shape, with fine, aristo-
cratic, intelligent ears, and an eye fiashing with spirit
and courage. She was nineteen years old when I saw
her, and hollow-backed, but still so spirited as to re-
quire a man's hand upon the reins. A cob of this
kind is capable of an immense amount of work, and
will perform it upon half the food required by a big
horse.

The ordinary cob is fat and faint-hearted, well fitted
to draw a village cart gently about a village, but likely
to go to pieces if jiut to any severe task. He has the
bulkiness of a small cart horse, but lacks the nervous
energy needed to make him a good roadster or a good
saddle horse. He shines at liorse shows, his brnad

CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 203

back being admirably adapted for the display of trap-
pings and caparisons ; and lie is a source of wealth to
fashionable dealers. A small " blocky " horse with a
rather pretty head, weak legs perhaps, and no speed,
will go a-begging in the country for $125 or $150;
but in the hands of the city dealer, clipped, docked,
and hogged, he easily brings $250 or $300. He is
no longer a "little horse," but a "cob."

The modern fashion of using cobs and small horses
generally for carriage purposes is an improvement in
several ways, and chiefly because it is more humane^
the wear and tear of their feet upon the pavements
being considerably less than it is in the case of a large
horse. Formerly the London job-masters had no
horses in their stables under sixteen hands high ; now
they have many, chiefly for single brougham use, from
fifteen hands upward, and the same tendency prevails
in this country. In fact, the use of small carriage
horses followed the introduction of those less bulky
and lighter vehicles that are due chiefly to the skill and
originality of American builders ; but it is doubtful if
heavy carriages, even, are not drawn more easily, as a
rule, by horses that weigh from nine hundred to ten
hundred than by those that weigh from ten hundred
to twelve hundred pounds. Such, I have found, is the
common opinion of American horsemen, and such
seems to be the experience of English coach drivers.

" In these days," writes the Duke of Beaufort,
" when the road coaches only carry passengers, and no
luggage to speak of, even if there is any at all, we
should prefer, for all sorts of roads, short-stepping
and small, though thick horses. They are infinitely
pleasanter to drive. Anybody who has had the ex-

204 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

perience of taking off a big, lollopi-ug team of rather
under-bred horses, who are very tired, and have been
hanging on the coachman's hands for the last two
or three miles of the stage, will understand what a
pleasure and relief it is to feel the quick, sharp trot
of a little team of fresh horses."

When, however, it is a question of hauling a heavy
load, such as an omnibus, at a jog trot on level ground,
then the big horse is required. There must be a good
weight to throw into the collar. Moreover, when
horses are well bred and well shaped, neither beefy
nor leggy, but bony and muscular, they can hardly be
too big. " A pair of fifteen-hand horses," an English
authority writes, "will always have to be pulling at
an ordinary phaeton ; whereas the same carriage seems
to roll after a pair of 15.2^'s of its own motion, leav-
ing them light in hand, well collected, and with full
play for their action."

This statement, however, is not, as might be thought,
inconsistent with the opinion just expressed concern-
ing the superiority of small horses as fast weight-
pullers. They are better for this purpose, not because
they are small, but because they usually have the rel-
ative shortness of limb and of stride which are me-
chanically adapted for pulling a moderate load at a
brisk pace. When these characteristics are found in
larger horses, as, for example, they often are in the
Percheron family, you have animals that are capable
of great tasks. A span of Percherons are said to have
drawn an omnibus around a mile track in four min-
utes; and the gray Norman-Percheron stallions that
drew the diligence from Calais to Paris in pre-railway
days trotted and galloped at the rate of eleven miles

CARRIArxE HORSES AND COBS.

205

an hour, equalling the speed of their better bred Eng-
lish contemporaries, but not, it is true, keeping it up
so long ; their stages being but five miles in length,
whereas the English stages were ten miles.

But whatever the size of the carriage horse, and
whatever the use for which he is intended, — whether
he is to be a big, prancing coacher, or a fast-stepping
barouche horse, or a useful, medium-sized animal, or a
stout one for a brougham, or a showy one for a phae-
ton, or an all-day nag for a comparatively light car-
riage and long drives, — whether he is to be a horse, a
cob, or a pony, — let him have the inward energy and
the outward grace that only a dash of thoroughbred
or Arab blood can supply. Half-bred horses are not
only the most useful, but the most beautiful, the
world over.

VIII.

CART HORSES.

EVERYBODY who cares for the beautiful or the
picturesque, whether or not he be touched by
the true hippie passion, must take an interest in cart
horses. They are attractive and pleasant to look
upon merely as animals, quite apart from the fact
that you can put bits in their mouths, and cause
them to expend their strength at the will and in
the service of man. The generic difference in this
respect between cart horses and racers is well indi-
cated by Mr. Hamerton.

" The race horse," he says, " has the charms of a
tail coat, of a trained pear tree, of all such superfine
results of human ingenuity, but he has lost the glory
of nature. Look at his straight neck, at the way
he holds his head, at his eager, anxious eye, often

CART HORSES. 207

irritable and vicious ! Breeders for the turf liave
succeeded in substituting the straiglit line for the
curve, as the dominant expressional line, a sure
and scientific manner of eradicating the elements of
beauty. No real artist would ever paint race horses
from choice. Good artists have occasionally painted
them for money. The meagre limbs, straight lines,
and shiny coat have slight charm for an artist, who
generally chooses either what is beautiful or what is
picturesque, and the race horse is neither picturesque
nor beautiful."

Certainly there is some exaggeration here. Many
thoroughbred horses are good-tempered and affection-
ate, and not unduly nervous. In the recent Badmin-
ton volume on Driving, there is an account of a
young thoroughbred mare, that, having never been
in harness before, was attached one day to a dog-cart,
and driven thirty miles up and down hill, without
showing the least fear or resistance. A thoroughbred
of this character commonly has large, luminous eyes,
more beautiful than those possessed by any other
dumb animal. The delicately cut ear, the round,
thin, quivering nostril, and even the smooth and
shining coat, — these, again, are surely forms of the
beautiful, though not of the picturesque. It must
be remembered, also, that among thoroughbred horses
there is a great variety of structure and disposition.
Many of them are comparatively short in leg, with
round body and curved neck. Such was the old
type of thoroughbred when the Arab blood from
which the present race has chiefly been derived was
'•closer up," as horsemen say.

In the main, however, Mr. Hamerton's remarks on

208 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

this point are just, and the typical thoroughbred
especially the typical English thoroughbred, is the
nervous, irritable, inartistic animal that he describes.

The cart horse, on the other hand, is a common
and appropriate figure in painting.

Among the minor pictures by Turner in the Na-
tional Gallery at London, not the least interesting is
one which represents a stout gray farm or cart horse,
taking his ease in the stable, and eating hay from a
well filled rack above his head. He stands in a wide
stall, heaped with yellow straw and flooded with sun-
shine, so that the scene is one of equine pleasure
and repose, delightful to the human eye on that ac-
count, as well as for its harmonious and beautiful
coloring.

There is another homespun sight which English
artists never tire of representing. It is that of a
string of farm horses, whose day's work is finished,
at nightfall. With the harness still upon their backs,
they have been ridden or led to drink at a cool, elm-
shaded stream, wliere they stand, fetlock deep, some
slowly and luxuriously slaking their thirst, while
others gaze idly about, their heads half raised above
the surface of the water. This is one of those fa-
miliar though foreign sights, as to which an agreeable
confusion is apt to arise in the mind of an American;
for he does not always clearly remember whether he
has seen them in reality or in a pict\ire, or read
about them in a novel, the truth often being that
his knowledge has been derived in each of these
ways. Of all equine pictures, none, I suppose, is
better known than Rosa Bonheur's Horse Fair. Her
noble Percherons, drawn with fond fidelity, are per-

CART HORSES. 209

haps the most ideal represeutatiou of cart horses in
the world, and yet no exaggeration of the reality.

Almost all the accessories of the cart horse, his
trappings, the uses to which he is put, the place in
which he is kept, the loads that he pulls, are pictu-
resque. Most often one thinks of him as an agricul-
tural character, a true son of tlie soil, who slowly
draws home a huge pile of hay, or is found at the
plough, turning up long, glistening lines of rich
earth. There is nothing spick and span about his
stable, but, on the contrary, it is marked by pictu-
resque disorder, — plenty of straw about, the stalls,
mangers, and roof tinted a rich brown by the long
lapse of time, cobwebs hanging luxuriantly overhead,
deep mows of hay, and capacious grain-chests within
easy reach to hold his provender.

Nor does the cart horse fail to harmonize with
his surroundings in the city, where he receives more
grain and more grooming than are obtainable on the
farm. His shape, though still round, is here more
elegant, his neck takes a prouder curve, and his
coat becomes smooth and glossy : fit servant of com-
merce; solid and substantial as the Bank of Eng-
land; conscious of his strength, like a merchant of
indisputable credit ; able to transport the wealth of
the Indies from wharves to warehouses, or to draw
towering piles of wool from the railroad to the fac-
tory. Smaller animals may clatter over the massive
pavements of the city, but the cart horse, with his
slow, majestic step and proudly bent head, is its
proper denizen of the equine race.

Long established and wealthy firms do not hesitate
to borrow splendor from the excellence of their cart

14

210 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

horses. Those of the Loudou brewers especially —
the twelve Beer Kings, as they used to be called —
have a world-wide reputation. Formerly, each brewer
had an equ^ine color of his own ; and they were " as
particular," says a recent writer, " about the colors
and matchings of their dray horses as of their own
four-in-hands, or the court chariot pairs of their titled
wives. One was celebrated for a black, the original
dray horse color ; another, for a brown, a roan, a gray,
or chestnut team. But at present, such is the de-
mand for horses of this class that they are compelled
to be content with any color, and to moderate the
old standard of height." The brewers' horses, it
may be remarked parenthetically, are fond of beer,
but they are allowed to have it only when recovering
from illness ; at such times it is of service as a tonic.
Horses take naturally to intoxicating liquors , beer,
spirits, and more frequently wine, are often adminis-
tered to trotters in a long-drawn contest, and with
excellent results. Champagne and soda-water, as I
have stated in a previous chapter, is the pleasant
draught Avhich one famous driver employs on these
occasions.

The " city horses " of Boston, used to carry off
ashes and garbage, have long enjoyed a high repu-
tation for strength and beauty, and the excellent con-
dition which they almost invariably show testifies to
the horsemanship of the official, whoever he may be,
having them in charge. There is in the same city a
noted patent-medicine house, whose stalwart four-in-
hands may be supposed to symbolize the strength of
their drugs. Twenty years ago there used to be a
cigar and candy pedler traversing the mountainous

CART HORSES. 211

region m the northwestern part of Massachusetts,
who had a large, gayly painted wagon, drawn by four
stout, handsome gray horses, in which he took a
proper pride ; but one night the whole establishment
perished m the flames, the stable where the pedler
put up having taken fire, and the team was never
reproduced.

Between the cart horse and his driver there usu-
ally exists, in one respect at least, the ideal relation,
that is, the driver serves also as groom. Man and
horse labor together, and when the day's work is
done it is the driver who gives the hungry and tired
beast his sujjper, his bed, and perchance his rubbing
down. Thus the horse associates with the man the
pleasures as well as the toils of equine life. I con-
fess that often, vexed by legal problems, I have looked
out of my office window and envied the teamsters in
the street. To be in charge of a good, sleek, fat pair
of cart horses, to live in the open air, to digest any-
thing that you may see fit to impose upon your stom-
ach, to have a face beautifully colored by the elements
and by whiskey, thoroughly assimilated, — is not this
to be happy ? There is a certain negro teamster,
who, as it appears to me, stands at the acme of un-
intellectual existence. He drives a very fine pair
of jet-black horses, belonging to a coal merchant.
These horses have taken many premiums at horse
shows, and they bear the appropriate names of King
Cole and Chloe. Evidently the negro is wrapped up
in them. Once or twice, at least, every year, he ex-
hibits the animals at a show or fair, and on these
occasions he has nothing to do except to talk ; and I
know of no machine that runs more easily and pleas-

212 EOAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

antly than the tongue of a horseman under such cir-
cumstances. I discovered accidentally one day that
the very color of the horses is a source of pleasure
to him. It was in Avinter, and the streets were heavy
■\vitli snoAV and slush. The team pulled a big load of
coal so neatly out of the slough, that a b^'stander
was moved to express his admiration at their prow-
ess. "Huh!" exclaimed the colored man, grinning
from ear to ear, "you see, Mistah, them horses is
black r'

The arched neck of the cart horse is a thing not
only of beauty, but also of utility. Unless he arches
his neck, he cannot be " collected," so as to pull with
an economy of strength. Anybody who has ridden'
much on the front platform of a horse car must have
noticed a great difference in the action of differ-
ent teams — according to the ability of the driver —
when a heavily loaded car is to be started. Some
horses throw up their heads, and strike out wildly
with their fore feet, making a violent effort, and slip-
ping on the pavement. Others, better trained, start
more slowly, stepping shortly on their toes, their legs
well under them, their necks arched, — and this is
the true way.

Here, also, as in the case of road horses, I think
that a proper check rein may be beneficial. The
check rein of a cart horse, as commonly used, is at-
tached neither to the headstall nor to the saddle, but
is simply a bridle rein, buckling on the bit, and pass-
ing around the top of the hames. It does not pull
the horse's head up, but rather pulls it in, thus tend-
ing to arch the neck and to steady the animal. In
going up hill even this form of check would be out

CART HORSES. 213

of place, but on level ground it must, I think, be of
assistance.^

There is an affinity between the lighter kinds of
cart horse — many of whom, such as the Percheron,
are very active — and the war horse. The famous Jus-
tin Morgan, of whom I have spoken in previous chap-
ters, founder of the great road horse family, was not
only the best weight-puller of his time, besides being
a fast runner, but, though a small animal, was also
much in request for musters and other military oc-
casions, on account of his superb carriage and com-
manding appearance. A horse of this kind, but
weighing two or three hundred pounds more, would
have made an ideal charger for a knight of the Middle
Ages. The knight himself, his armor, and the armor
worn by the horse, were estimated at nearly or quite
four hundred pounds. In fact, so heavy and cumber-
some were the horseman's accoutrements that two
squires were often needed to exalt him to the saddle,
and, once overthrown, it was difficult for him to rise
without assistance. The suffocation of some hapless
contestant who had the ill luck to fall upon his
stomach was a not uncommon incident of a passage
at arms. To carry a knight in full armor required a
beast of great size and strength, and doubtless, like
the modern fire-engine horse, he was most usefully
employed at one of two gaits, a walk or a hand-gallop.
The knight did not ride him, as a rule, except when
some martial business was on hand. At other times,
his squire bestrode the war horse, the knight himself

1 Such, I find, is the opinion of an English Vet, R. S. Rey-
nolds, M. R. C. V. S. of Liverpool, who has published a little book
called " An Essay on the Breeding and Management of Draught
Horses."

214 ROAD, THACK, AND STABLE.

travelling more quickly and comfortably upou liis
jennet.

By most of the authorities the war horse of the
Middle Ages is identified with the old black cart
horse, or shire horse, of England. A recent work by
Mr. Walter Gilbey is entitled " The Old English War
Horse or Shire Horse," thus assuming that they were
one and the same ; and the late Mr. Walsh was also
of this opinion, for he wrote as follows : " From time
immemorial this countr/ has possessed a heavy and
comparatively misshapen animal, the more active of
which [sic] were formerly used as chargers or pack-
horses, while the others were devoted to the plough."
And he gives the following unflattering account of
him ; " In color almost invariably black, with a great
fiddle-case in place of a head, and feet concealed in
long masses of hair depending from misshapen legs,
he united flat sides, upright shoulders, mean and nar-
row hips, and very drooping quarters." Such was the
shire horse, — so called because he was raised almost
exclusively in the Shires or Midland counties.

Shire horses are still bred, but they have been
improved by crossing with Flemish stallions. The
London dray horses are mainly shire horses, and
since the shire horse is the only purely English cart
horse, — that is, the only one of English origin and
raised on English soil, — it is fashionable in Eng-
land to speak of " shire horses," and never of " cart
horses." Nevertheless, when a society was formed in
that country, some years ago, to improve the breed of
agricultural horses " not being Clydesdales or Suf-
folks," the name " English Cart Horse Society " was
taken. The fact is, that hunters, coachers, and race

CART HORSES. 215

horses are now raised more numerously than cart
horses in the shires, and hence the term " shire
horse " is inaccurate, as well as somewhat vague.
The old black cart horse, or shire horse, is now most
nearly represented by the black horse of Lincolnshire.
One hesitates to conclude that the beautiful, high-
mettled charger of the Middle Ages, as he has been
described by poets and romancers, was really a dull,
ugly beast, with " misshapen legs," and " a great
fiddle-case in place of a head." Was it such a steed
that carried the Disinherited Knight in h'is encounter
with Brian de Bois Guilbert ? Sir Walter Scott re-
lates, that " the trumpets had no sooner given the
signal than the champions vanished from their posts
with the speed of lightning, and closed in the centre
of the lists with the shock of a thunderbolt " ; and
the charger of the Disinherited Knight is described
as " wheeling with the agility of a hawk upon the
wing." It is possible that the English shire horse,
or war horse, was improved by crosses of Arab blood,
for Arab horses might have been brought into Eng-
land at the time of the Crusades. Isaac of York, it
will be remembered, supplied Ivanhoe with the horse
and armor which he used when he overthrew Brian
de Bois Guilbert, and awarded the crown of beauty to
Kowena; and the thrifty Jew exclaimed to Rebecca,
as they gazed upon the conflict, " Ah, the good horse
that was brought all the long way from Barbary, he
takes no more care of him than if he were a wild
ass's colt ! " In this, however, Isaac of York must
have been misreported by Sir Walter. No Barbary
horse or Eastern horse of any description was ever
big or strong enough to carry a knight in armor.

216 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

although, as I have suggested, it is possible that the
native horse of England obtained some beauty, grace,
and agility by an infusion of Eastern blood.

Mr. Gilbey, so far as I know, is the only writer
who has endeavored to prove, though others have
asserted, the identity of the war horse of the Middle
Ages with the old black cart horse of England ; and
he relies almost entirely upon the evidence of coins
and other graven representations. But in such fig-
ures much must be allowed for the taste or caprice
of the artist, and I suspect that Mr. Gilbey's series
might be impugned by others. For the period be-
ginning about the year 1500 he shows the famous
white horse of Albert Diirer, that has indeed the char-
acteristics of a cart horse. But in the College of
Arms there is preserved an illustrated roll, known
as Tournament Koll, commemorating a grand tour-
nament which took place at Westminster on February
12, 1510, m honor of Queen Katherine ; and the war
horse represented by this roll is a much finer beast
than Albert Dilrer's. He has a beautifully curved
neck, a small, well shaped head, and he is disfigured
by no long hairs at the fetlock joints. This picture
may of course be idealized, but it is as good historical
evidence as the coins produced by Mr. Gilbey. The
whole matter is one of not very profitable conjecture,
but it is worth remembering that the Middle Ages,
during which the war horse was in daily use, consti-
tuted a long period, and it is hardly credible that in
this time a true war horse should not have been de-
veloped, more active, spirited, and beautiful than the
shire horse. One writer, indeed, of a date as early
as the sixteenth century, speaks of his high action, —

CART HORSES. 217

which would be natural in such an animal as I have
imagined, but which was never seen in the shire
horses.

But, however this may be, the shire horse is a
beast of great antiquity, though much improved dur-
ing the past two centuries. In fact, there are some
living members of the breed whose pedigrees can be
traced back for at least one hundred and fifty years,
and this is more than can be said of any other exist-
ing cart horse family. One reason for the improve-
ment is a mechanical discovery as to the muscular
action of the cart horse. It used to be thought that
he did his work by perpetually tumbling against his
collar, as it were, thus bringing his weight to bear,
and consequently that his fore quarters ought to be as
heavy as possible ; it was no harm if his shoulder
bone were straight, and as for his hind quarters it
did not matter much what they were. But this notion
has been exploded, and it is now perceived that a
cart horse pulls by muscle rather than by weight, and
more by the muscles of his hind quarters and legs
than by those of his fore quarters. The structure of
a cart horse should therefore bear a general resem-
blance to that of a racer or trotter, except that his
legs should be shorter, his shoulder less oblique, and
his rump not higher than the withers.

The Saturday Eeview once made some excellent
observations on this subject, as follows : " There are
many points, indeed, which good horses of nearly all
breeds share in common. For instance, the following
descriptions, taken at random from different news-
papers : he is ' thick, level, and strong ' ; he ' stands
on short, well formed limbs, and, like several good

218 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

horses, he sports curls of hair on his fetlocks ' ; 'he
is of good substauce, deep-bodied, and set off by those
powerful yet sloping shoulders,' etc. ; ' he has also a
deep body, with great muscidar development in his
rump, quarters, thighs, and gaskins,' — although they
might equally apply to certain cart horses, were one
and all written of race horses. . . . An excellent
judge, again, once wrote that horses ' with strong
backs and loins, wide hips, and great muscular quar-
ters, with sound and well shaped hocks, generally
win,' — not prizes at agricultural shows, as cart stal-
lions, but races at Ascot."

Another English breed of cart horses, or, in this
case, more properly farm horses, was the Suffolk
Punch, which once became almost extinct, but has
lately been revived in a somewhat different form.
These were sorrel horses, smaller and more active
than the shire horse, and noted for their docility.
They stood low in front, and were disfigured by very
upright shoulders ; but they were round and stout,
and had good heads. Readers of " Sandford and Mer-
ton" will recall the delight of Harry when his father.
Farmer Sandford, received the present of a span
of Suffolk Punches from Mr. Merton, father of the
wicked but repentant Tommy. Harry rushes into
the house to announce the arrival of two strange and
beautiful horses, whereupon, says the tale, the elder
Sandford, who in all other respects is represented as
a sedate and even phlegmatic person, "started up,
overset the liquor and the table, and, making a hasty
apology to Mr. Merton, ran out to see these wonderful
animals. Presently he returned in equal admiration
with his son. ' Master Merton,' said he, ' I did not

CART HORSES. 219

thiuk you had been so good a judge of a horse.
I suppose they are a new purchase which you want
to have my opinion upon, and I can assure you they
are the true Suffolk sorrels, the first breed of working
horses in the kingdom ; and these are some of the
best of their kind.' " Being undeceived, he at first
refused the gift, but was finally persuaded to accept
it, to the great content of both Harry and Tommy.

The stanchness of the Suffolk Punches was prover-
bial, and they would have been called in the language
of the modern sale stable, " dead-down, true pullers."
This quality was often displayed at pulling matches,
where the competing teams would fall upon their
knees at a given signal (the ground being strewed
with straw or sand), and in that position move a
great weight. The only account I have ever seen of
the origin of this breed states that it was formed
by crossing Norman stallions with the Suffolk cart
mare.

Perhaps the most popular breed of cart horses
now used in England is the Clydesdale. This, as
the name implies, is a Scotch family, but its origin
is obscure, though tradition ascribes it to a cross
made by an unascertained Duke of Hamilton be-
tween the draught mares of the country and some
Dutch stallions. Clydesdales, with the exception of
the Percherons, have more " quality " — that is, finer
characteristics and a better bred appearance — than
any other cart horses. Their coat is more silky, their
ears are smaller, their heads and necks more beauti-
ful, and the whole body is more finely turned. Their
faults are a tendency to be too long in the leg, some-
what light-waisted, and, occasionally, a little hot in

220 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

temper. Their color is bay, brown, or black. Some
of these horses are very beautiful, and very large also.
In Cassell's Book of the Horse, there is an excellent
colored illustration of Prince Albert, a magnificent
Clydesdale stallion, seventeen hands high.

The only peer of the Clydesdale is the Percheron.
This horse, as everybody knows, is usually gray in
color, though sometimes black, and less frequently
chestnut or bay. The Percheron stands on some-
what shorter legs than the Clydesdale, and is more
compactly built, his head and ears being as fine as
those of his rival, and commonly even smaller. He
carries a long, thick mane, but wears less hair
than the latter on his fetlock joints. In England
hairy fetlocks are considered a mark of beauty ;
but they retain both dirt and moisture, and conse-
quently, unless carefully cleaned and dried, produce
" scratches."

Nothing is certainly known as to the origin of the
Percheron, though some writers assert that he is de-
scended in part, at least, from Arab stock. There is
no positive proof of this, and the assumption rests
chiefly upon an undoubted resemblance between the
Arab and the Percheron, notwithstanding the great
difference between them in size and weight. The Per-
cheron has the same intelligent and gentle disposi-
tion as the Arab, and, like him, a compact body, an
arched neck, large eyes, and a tail well set on. There
seems also to be a tendency in the breed to revert to
a smaller type ; some very fine Percheron stallions
stand no more than 15 hands, and the best of them
rarely exceed 16^ hands. This tendency would in-
dicate a derivation from smaller ancestors ; and it

CART HORSES. 221

renders the Percherou a more desirable cross than the
Clydesdale, when the object is to obtain a road horse
or a light cart horse. The Percheron's trot also is
faster than that of the Clydesdale, which consti-
tutes another reason for his superiority in this di-
rection. The Clydesdale, on the other hand, being a
more rapid walker than the Percheron, and being un-
likely to breed smaller animals than himself, makes
the better cross when the object is to produce a
heavy cart horse.

Many stories are told of feats performed by Per-
cherons, some of which I have mentioned in the pre-
ceding chapter.

M. du Hays, equerry to Napoleon III., relates the
following : " In 1845, a gray mare accomplished this
match. Harnessed to a travelling tilbury, she started
from Bernay at the same time as the mail carrier
from Rouen to Bordeaux, and arrived before him at
AlenQon; having made fifty-five and three fifths
miles, over a hilly and difficult road, in four hours
and twenty-four minutes."

Another case vouched for by M. du Hays is thus
reported: "A gray mare, seven years old, in 1864,
harnessed to a tilbury, travelled fifty-eight miles and
back on two consecutive days, going at a trot and
without being touched by the whip. The following
time was made : the first day, the distance was
trotted in four hours, one minute, and thirty-five
seconds ; the second day, . in four hours, one minute,
and thirty seconds. The last thirteen and tliree
quarters miles were made in one hour, although at
about the forty-first mile the mare was obliged to
pass her stable to finish the distance."

222 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

The finest Percheroii that I ever saw was a coal-
black stallion, not of great size, high-headed, com-
pactly built, with flowing mane and tail. This fellow
had short, quick, smooth action, exactly like that of
the Morgan roadster family, and he was said — doubt-
less truly — to be capable of trotting ten miles an
hour with ease. The resemblance between the Mor-
gan and the Arabian horse has often been remarked
upon, and it was honestly come by, for the English
thoroughbred horse that sired the original Justin
Morgan was of Arab descent. In shape, also, as well
as in action, there is again a resemblance between the
Morgans and the Percherons ; and so, on the whole,
it seems not unreasonable to infer that the New Eng-
land roadster and the French cart horse have a com-
mon origin, both being descended, not wholly, but
largely, from the " primitive horse," as the Arab is
sometimes called.

No other breed, except possibly English half-bred
animals, equals the Percheron in ability to draw a
heavy load at a fast pace. The post and diligence
horses formerly used in France, as we have seen, were
Percherons. From Boulogne to Paris the pace was
ten miles an hour, although the road was paved. The
harness and reins were of rope, and the hostlers in
charge of the big gray horses that did the work were
women. The coachers, before being put to, or after
they had been taken out, would often engage in a
fight in the inn-yard, biting and kicking one another
viciously ; and on these occasions the woman hostler,
who was quite equal to the emergency, would quickly
appear upon the scene, and, with a few well directed
kicks from her wooden sabots, put an end to the com-

CART HORSES. 223

bat. The gray stallions that have for many years
drawn the omnibuses of Paris were always of Per-
cheron, or of the kindred Norman stock.

It has frequently occurred to me that a family of
superior road, and perhaps coach, horses might be
developed by crossing the Percheron with the original
Arab breed. Horses thus bred could not fail to be
sound, tough, gentle, and, I should think, handsome.
Certainly, if the Percheron is really derived from the
Arab, such a cross would give size to the latter with-
out introducing any element so foreign as to result in
a hybrid, heterogeneous sort of animal. The cross
between the thoroughbred and the cart horse does not
usually turn out well ; occasionally, to be sure, the
produce preserves the strength and size of one family
with the action and courage of the other, some noted
hunters having been bred in this way. More often,
however, the half-bred horse of this description is a
slab-sided, nerveless beast, of little good for any pur-
pose. But between the Percheron and the Arab there
is an affinity sufficient to prevent such a result from
their union. In one instance, at least, this has been
tried, Mr. Parker, of AVest Chester, Pennsylvania,
having bred a colt by the Jennifer Arabian, out of
Eosa Bonheur, an imported Percheron mare. The
horse thus bred is described as "a wiry, handsome
colt, who was sold to go to Oregon, where he
proved a valuable sire." A cross between the Mor-
gan and the Percheron ought to be equally good.

Large numbers of Clydesdales, and Percherons in
still greater abundance, have been imported to this
country, but, unfortunately, the demand, especially at
the West, has been for very big horses. The conse-

224 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

quence is that the Percherou family has been cor-
rupted on its native soil, Flemish and other inferior
blood being introduced, in order to get the immense
size wanted for the foreign, and particularly for the
American market. Many of the Fercherons win-
ning prizes at our horse shows are of this type, —
huge, overgrown, lethargic creatures, ungainly, slow,
and wanting in endurance. The smaller horses of
both the Clydesdale and Percheron breeds, the lat-
ter especially, are almost invariably the better.
M. du Hays gives the height of the trvie Percheron
stallion as ranging from 143 to 16 hands, but the
height of Percheron or so-called Percheron stallions
imported to this country varies from 15^ to 17 hands.
In Aveight they vary from 1,400 to 2,200 pounds ;
the average being about 1,700. The mares average
about 1,550 pounds in weight, and range from 15 to
16f hands in height. The size and weight of the
Clydesdale importations are about the same, whereas,
if the best and purest of both breeds were imported,
the Percherons would be the smaller.

Fashion and caprice, instead of knowledge and judg-
ment, are apt to determine the characteristics even
of a cart horse. In the West, as I have indicated,
elephantine animals are preferred ; and in NewYork
the favorite cart horse is a big, rangy, high-standing
beast. In Boston, on the other hand, shorter-legged,
broad-chested, round-bodied, short-backed, quick-mov-
ing horses are sought for ; and this type is undoubt-
edly more efficient and lasting, besides being, as I
think, a great deal more picturesque.

Most of th(! cart horses used in this country are
raised at the West, thougli many also come from

CART HORSES. 225

Pennsylvania. It is duubtiul if they could be bred
witli prolit in Xew England, but seemingly it would be
profitable for farmers at the East to buy Percheron,
or half-bred Percheron, or Clydesdale colts at the age
of two or three, work them moderately, and sell them
again at the age of five or six. Under this system,
the horses would come to the market in much liardei-,
better condition than the corn-fed animals of the
West, and consequently they would bring a better
price. Upon the farm, the colt would be able to per-
form enough labor to pay his way ; and the difference
between his value at three and his value at six years
of age would be clear profit. It is in this manner
that Percherons are brought up in France ; the farm-
ers who buy them from the breeders, farmers also,
working them moderately until they are of an age
to be sold.

The enormous shire horses that are used in London
as dray horses receive their education in the same
way. " The traveller," says an English writer, " has
probably wondered to see four of these enormous
animals m a line before a plough, on no very heavy
soil, and where two lighter horses would have been
quite sufficient. The farmer is training them for
their future destiny ; and he does right in not requir-
ing the exertion of all their strength, for their bones
are not yet perfectly formed nor their joints knit, a.nd
were he to urge them too severely he would probably
injure and deform them. By the gentle and constant
exercise of the plough he is preparing th.?m for that
continued and equable pull at the collar which is
afterwards so necessary."

In England it is customary to use heavy shire horses

15

226 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE,

on the farm, aud they are of an almost incredible
slowness i so slow are they, in fact, that William
Day ^ seems almost to be jusitied m his assertion that
agriculture in England might be revolutionized simply
by increasing the efficiency of the farm horse. In
that country, a team of horses and a man are consid-
ered to have done a fair day's work if they have
ploughed three quarters of an acre, and more than
this is seldom, if ever, accomplished. In the United
States, on the other hand, the ordinary stint is about
an acre and a half: just double what it is in England.
Day estimates that in drawing a load of a ton the
English farm horse walks at the rate of one mile and
a half an hour, whereas a coach horse, in a fast coach,
drawing exactly the same weight, (but not covering
more than nine miles in a day,) travels at the rate of
eleven miles an hour. A more exact comparison can
be made with van or furniture-wagon horses. Four
of these will travel twenty-three miles in a day, haul-
ing six tons, at the rate of three miles per hour : just
double the speed of the farm horse, that draws one
ton instead of a ton and a half, (which would be the
share of a van horse in a teaiii,) and goes fourteen
miles instead of twenty-three.

In ploughing, the cart or shire horse walks even
slower, doing but one and one fourth miles in the
hour, and this although the draught is estimated at
only three and three fourths hundredweight. '' Is it
any wonder, then," exclaims the writer whom I have
just mentioned, " that we should so often see the poor
creatures with staring coats and shivering with cold
when dawdling along against this mighty draught,
1 The Horse : how to Breed and Rear Him.

CART HORSES. 227

or tliat the ploughman, wrapped up in a top-coat that
might resist the rigors of a Siberian winter, creeps
after them, as frigid and benumbed an object as the
animals themselves ! "

He also tells the following incident, vouching for
its truth : " A farmer who lived at Longstock, near
Stockbridge, many years ago, was one day walking
about his farm with a facetious friend. They noticed
a plough, with horses and man, in the middle of a field,
and the friend suggested that it was standing still.
The farmer declared it was moving, and a dispute
arose and ran high between them as to which was the
case. To settle the question, they hit upon the ex-
pedient of getting a fold-shore, and setting it up in a
line with the horses' heads and some conspicuous ob-
ject beyond. But the ploughman now observed them,
and, suspecting what they were about, became trou-
bled in conscience, and whipped up his horses, which
then quickened their pace, so that the fact that they
were really moving became obvious ; and," says the
writer, " we may see examples of the same sluggish-
ness every day of our lives."

In the United States, in the eastern part at least,
the farm horse can hardly be called a cart horse, for
he is comparatively light in build. It is in the city
that we find the cart horse in his noblest form and
highest condition, and there he will doubtless con-
tinue, until the warehouses crumble to dust and grass
grows in the highway. The car horse is fast disap-
pearing ; and every lover of dumb animals will re-
joice that this should be so, for the electric current
that invisibly takes his place has no capacity for
suffering.

228

ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

The heaving flanks, the tortured mouth, the nervous
eye, of the car horse, — the excruciating sound of his
iron-shod hoofs slipping and chisliing over the pave-
ment in a vain attempt to start a heavy hmd, — these
will soon be things of the past ; and the animal that
was but one of a thousand, that never received a
kind word or a caress, that sweated and strained and
wore himself out in the service of a heartless and
impersonal master, will have been released by Science.
He will soon become but a memory in those very
streets where the cart horse, more fortunate and more
lovable animal, seems destined to walk for centuries
yet in proud securit}'.

IX.

FIRE HORSES.

EVERYBODY knows that a fire-eugiue horse is
a large, strongly built, handsome animal, with
a broad forehead and an intelligent eye. He wears
neither check nor blinders, and is never blanketed,
except when he stands out in the street ; but his coat
is nicely groomed, his hoofs are well oiled ; he is
usually in the pink of condition ; his social affections
and faculties are highly cultivated ; interested looks
follow him when he takes his daily exercise; and,
seen in full progress to a fire, he is an object of re-
spect and admiration, almost of terror.

His work is different from that of any other horse
in the world, and it requires a peculiar combination
of qualities. The fire steed must be able to draw an
extremely heavy load at a smart gallop ; in short, his

230 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

function is that uf a naming draft liorse. Engines,
with the men who ride on them, usually weigh about
8,000 pounds, or four tons ; some are a thousand
pounds lighter ; athers as much, or nearly as much
heavier. The chemical engines are less ponderous,
varying from 2,500 (this kind employs but one horse)
to 7,500 pounds. The hose carriages attached to the
lire engines, and drawn by one horse, are, as a rule,
about half the weight of the engines, but sometimes
much more. Two-wheel carts were formerly used
for this purpose, but they have been superseded, in
Boston and in most other cities, by four-wheel wag-
ons, which, though not so picturesque, are much easier
for the horse, inasmuch as none of the weight comes
ujDon his back.

Hook and ladder trucks, with their men, vary in
weight from 4,350 to 10,600 pounds, the trucks which
reach the last mentioned figures being hauled by three
horses, harnessed abreast. This form of "hitch"
is also coming in use for the heavier class of en-
gines, or " steamers," as they are called. The engines
usually fit the street car tracks, which is a great ad-
vantage ; whereas the hook and ladder trucks are too
broad for this, and they are so extremely long that a
large part of the weight is far from the horses, which
of course makes it more difficult to haul ; but, again,
the load is more "springy," not so dead as that of
the engine, and the two kinds of ai)paratus are, on the
whole, about equally difficult to pull. Some of the
longest ladder trucks, as most of my readers know,
are provided with a steering contrivance for the
hind wheels, so that the helmsman, who sits imme-
diately above the axle, is able to turn them sharply

FIRE HORSES. 231

in going around a corner. By this device the neces-
sity of a wide turn is avoided, and the driver is
able to " cut " the corners as closely as if be had an
ordinary length of vehicle behind him.

Sometimes a tough spiral spring, made of steel, is
inserted in the trace of a hre horse's harness, near the
whiffletree, the object being to lessen the strain at
starting. This ingenious device enables the horses
to exert their strength against a yielding connection
instead of a dead weight, — a certain momentum be-
ing acquired before the whole load moves. On the
same principle, the couplings which unite a train of
loaded cars must be somewhat loose, in order that the
locomotive may start the train. Motion is then com-
municated from the first car to the second, and so on,
as the spectator readily perceives ; whereas, if all the
couplings were tense, the whole train would have to
start at once. The spring just described might be
used with all draft horses.

In the city proper, where most of the runs are
short, the Avhole distance is usually covered at a gal-
lop, unless some hill or obstruction intervenes ; and
this performance tries the animal of whom it is re-
quired through and through, so that if there be a
weak spot in him it is soon discovered. In the first
place, he must be big and heavy. Boston fire horses
vary from 1,200 to 1,600 pounds, ■ — very few indeed
quite reaching the maximum, and most of them
weighing about 1,400 pounds, — rather less than more.
Biit the fire horse must also be active, as well as big
and strong ; he must have good feet, good wind, and,
finally, to execute his ordinary task, he must be in
hard condition. When the horses are first bought,

232 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

they are almost invariably fat and soft ; but they are
immediately assigned to a station, without any train-
ing or pl'eparation. Consequently, they must be hu-
mored, and, if need be, restrained somewhat, during
their first months of service. Should they be driven
fast at this time, they might easily become " touched
in the wind," or otherwise disabled ; and this some-
times happens through careless or unskilful driving.
The best and strongest horse in the world, if out of
condition, cannot safely be called upon for an ex-
traordinary effort. (There is a hint here, by the way,
for fat or elderly people who persist in running for
trains.)

Elsewhere, the weight of fire horses is commonly
about the same as it is in Boston. In Cambridge, in
Lynn (which has an excellent department), and in
Providence, they have none over 1,400 pounds ; in
Chicago the limit is given as 1,450 ; but in Brooklyn
comparatively light horses are used, their weight
varying from 1,150 to 1,350 pounds ; and the veteri-
nary surgeon attached to this department states that
he prefers those approaching the minimum.

As a rule, short-legged and short-backed horses are
the best for drawing engines. It is indeed a general
equine principle that " weight-pullers " should be
formed in this way : they are more nimble, take
shorter steps, and recover themselves more easily,
than longer-legged and longer-striding animals. The
trotters who make fast records to skeleton wagons
(much heavier than sulkies) are almost invariably of
such a construction. I have been told of a pair of
tough roans built thus, and weighing not much more
than 1,200 pounds, who could pull a heavy engine at

FIRE HORSES. 233

wonderful speed ; but, unfortunately, the near horse
had a habit of balking on the threshold of the engine-
house, when harnessed for a fire, which so delayed
the apparatus that his subsequent speed did not make
up for the time lost, and he was retired to private
life.

One of the best, oldest, and lightest engine horses
in Boston is also built on this model. He is a rather
plain brown fellow, weighing only about 1,175 pounds,
with a strong, short back, splendid shoulder, and stout
limbs, with big knees and short cannon-bones. His
expression is extremely gentle and intelligent. At
present he serves as the oft' horse on a chemical en-
gine, his mate being a handsome dapple gray, with
white flowing tail. The brown horse is reckoned by
the enginemen to be twenty-two years old, having
been in the service for many years. I suspect that
there is some exaggeration in this statement, but he
is certainly an old horse. His mate is ten, and con-
siderably larger, but the two step well together, and
make a fast team. Their driver assui'ed me that he
had once given the protective company a fair beat-
ing in a race to a fire.

Of the gray horse, a good, and I believe, on investi-
gation, a true story is told. In the same building
with the chemical engine is an ordinary steam-en-
gine, the two " houses " being connected by hallways.
At one time the gray horse was transferred to the
other engine, and put in one of the stalls behind it.
In the middle of the first night after this change had
been made, an alarm of fire was sounded. The steam-
enginemen tumbled out of bed, rushed down to the
engine floor, and found one horse standing in his

234 ROAD, TKACK, AND STABLE.

place by the pole, ready to have the collar fastened
about his neck ; but the gray was missing. • They
looked in his stall, but it was vacant ; " neither hide
nor hair of him " could be found, and it seemed clear
that the animal had been stolen by some bold thief.
Presently, however, a horse was heard moving about
in the adjoining house, and it proved to be one be-
longing to the chemical engine, which had already
gone to the lire. He was of course immediately put
in the place of the missing beast, and the engine
finally got under way. The fact was, that when the
alarm sounded, and the doors of the stable flew open,
the gray had gone to his old place on the chemical
engine, and pushed aside the horse already standing
there, who, finding that he was not wanted, returned
to his stall. The men, in the hurry of the moment,
harnessed such animals as offered themselves, and
were off without discovering 'the mistake.

There is a reason why ladder truck horses should
be taller than engine horses : the apparatus which
they draw is at a much higher level from the ground
than is the bulk of an engine, and consequently a
low-standing animal Avould waste part of his efforts
in pulling downward instead of pulling forward.
Some ladder truck horses are shaped in one impor-
tant respect like Maud S., Sunol, and other fast trot-
ters and runners, namely, higher at the rump than
at the withers, and with long hind legs. This is not
considered a good conformation for a cart horse ; but
it seems to answer well where, as in the case of a
ladder truck, horses are required which have height
and speed as well as strength.

Such bcinic the kind of horse needed for fire en-

PIKE HORSES, 235

gines, let us now visit a new recruit in his quarters.
The weather being warm, the doors of the house are
open, a rope being stretched across the entrance. Di-
rectly in front of us stands the engine, a polished
mass of copper and nickel, with scarlet wheels. The
driver's seat is a small box, just big enough to hold
him, and behind it, rolled up separately, are strapped
the blankets. The harness is suspended from the
ceiling in such a manner that it can be let down when
the horses stand under it. Back of the engine, and
some yards distant as a rule, a partition, composed
chiefly of doors, runs across the house. Behind this
partition are the stalls ; the horses facing the engine,
and the front of each stall being a door, with a win-
dow in it. Bridles are worn night and day, the bits
being slipped out when the animals eat their oats, but
kept in while they chew their hay. Some horses,
whose mouths are tender, are bridled, in the stable,
with the bit hanging loose.

Now, then, we will suppose that an alarm of fire
strikes, the hour being midnight. The horses are
lying down, out of sight and fast asleep ; the men
are upstairs in bed, — all save one, who dozes in a
chair beside those mysterious telegraphic instruments
grouped in a corner near the front door. The gas
burns brightly, but there is not a sign of animation
about the place. It is all so miraculously clean, so
neat, well ordered, burnished, and polished, so nearly
deserted, so absolutely quiescent, and yet so bril-
liantly lighted, that it appears rather like an illusion
than a reality. The engine might be the huge and
magnificent toy of a giant. It looks much too fine
for real use.

236 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

But, as we were just saying, au alarm sounds, and
the scene changes. In a corner of the ceiling, near
the front door, is a circular opening, through which,
rising from the floor, passes a shining brass pole.
"When the men are called out, they throw themselves
on this pole, and come down like a flash of lightning ;
the feet of the second man almost touching the head
of the first, and so on. The horses scramble on their
legs, the doors in front of them fly open, and out
they rush, their heavy iron-shod hoofs thundering
over the floor. Each horse goes to his proper place ;
the driver, from his seat, lets down the harness ; two
or three men standing at the pole snap the collars to-
gether, fasten the reins to the bits, and off they go.
There is nothing more to be done : the girths are not
used in running to a fire ; the traces are already at-
tached to the whiflletrees and the pole-straps to the
collars, so that the fastening of two collars and four
reins constitutes the harnessing. Often, perhaps com-
monly, the horses are harnessed and everything is
ready for a start before the gong has finished telling
the number of the box. Half a minute is about the
maximum time for companies in a first class depart-
ment to make ready and leave the house ; and the
ordinary time is, I believe, fifteen or twenty seconds.
The fire marshal of the Chicago department informs
me that, " on the test of a certain engine, with men
in bed and horses in stalls, the hind wheels of the
apparatus crossed the threshold in eleven seconds."
For the Brooklyn department the time is given as
" from four to eight seconds, according to distance of
horses from the engine."

To teach a green nag to come out of his stall at the

FIRE HORSES. 237

signal, and range himself alongside the pole, is not so
difficult as might be imagined. We will suppose that
a span of new horses are assigned to a certain engine,
the old pair, as is the custom, being taken away at the
same time. The surroundings are strange and more
or less terrible to them, but they are handled very
gently and carefully, and gradually lose their fears.
The schooling begins at once, the driver being as-
sisted by the other men. The ordinary signal is given,
as if for a fire ; the stall doors open ; the horses are
led out, put in position, harnessed, and in a few min-
utes led back ; and then the process is repeated per-
haps half a dozen times. Great pains are taken that
the animals shall not strike against anything, or hj
any means become frightened. The unusual spectacle
of a harness suspended in the air is apt to disturb them
at first, but they are led slowly up to it, induced to
smell of it, to inspect it on all sides, and thus to learn
that it is perfectly harmless. In the same way they
are made familiar with all the other objects about
them, being continually patted and encouraged.

The chief traits of the horse are the great strength
of his memory, especially of his faculty of association,
and his timidity. The fireman's task, therefore, is
first to convince his pupil, by gentle treatment, that
no harm threatens him, and then to establish a con-
nection in his mind between the proper signal, the
opening of the stall door, and a progress thence to his
station by the engine pole. After being led to their
positions what it is thought may prove a sufficient
number of times, the horses are allowed to come out at
the signal of their own accord, a man standing behind
to touch them up a little if they do not start promptly

238 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

when the gong sounds and the doors open. Of course
no two horses learn with equal rapidity, and the dif-
ference between them in this respect is greater than
might be supposed. Two weeks constitute about the
average period of instruction, during which time two
or three lessons a day are given : but horses have
been known to learn in one lesson; and others,
again, have been mouths in arriving at the same
proficiency.

A pair of gray horses, newly purchased for an
engine in Boston, were led out three times in the
manner just described. They were then left to them-
selves : the gong sounded, the stall doors opened, and
the pair trotted out, each going to his place alongside
the pole. They had caught the idea at once. These
horses are remarkable not only for intelligence, but
for strength and speed. They are both, and the off
one especially, of a type different from that of any
other fire horses that I have seen, being very tall (the
off one is seventeen hands), rangy, slightly wasp-
waisted, and having fine, thin necks, and small, well-
bred heads. These nags are built after the fashion
of the once famous Conestoga horses of Pennsylvania.
They are great gallopers, and the hose-wagon steed has
hard work to keep up with them ; but this too is a re-
markable animal. He is one of the oldest horses in
the department, having served ten years, and being,
naturally, a little stiff in the legs ; but his strength is
so great and his courage so good that even these pow-
erful, flying grays cannot draw away from him. He
is a big brown horse, with a great shoulder, the best
of short legs, and a noble countenance. His original
cost was the unusually large sum of f 450, but the bar-

FIRE HORSES. 239

gam has proved a good one for the city. Old as he
is, being sixteen or seventeen years at least, he is
thought to have made the best run of his life a few
weeks ago, galloping all the way to the fire, a distance
of a mile or more. A iittle blood trickled from his
nostrils when he pulled up behind the engine, but
otherwise he seemed none the worse for the immense
exertion.

Another big horse, of the greyhound type already
described, — that is, having long hind legs and stand-
ing higher at the rump than at the withers, — was
four months in learning the business. He is a gray,
with a long, rather coarse head, and small " mouse "
ears out of proportion to his size, for he weighs 1,380
pounds ; but this evidently mongrel beast is not al-
together devoid of intelligence, being steady enough
on the street to serve as a leader when three horses
are used, and on one occasion, when the whiffletree
fell on his legs, he refrained from running away.
This horse is used with a ladder truck, and his edu-
cation was finally accomplished by fencing in his
path from the stall to the pole with ladders, a method
often employed.

Sometimes it is not want of mind, but nervousness,
which makes a fire horse slow to learn the trade, just
as some nervous children have difficulty in applying
their minds. Such was the case with Peter, a well-
bred black horse, used for many years in Boston with
a ladder truck. Peter was a noble, strong, spirited
animal, and, once taught, he became as prompt and
trustworthy as any horse in the department. On one
occasion, shortly after his purchase, Peter, exasper-
ated by the schooling, broke away from his instructors,

240 ROAD. TRACK, AND STABLE.

jumped cleanly through an open window without
touching the sash, and ran down the street in search
of amusement. At another time, while waiting in
the blacksmith shop, his shoes having beeu taken off,
but not yet replaced, Peter heard the twelve o'clock
alarm strike. This he knew indicated the hour of
his dinner, and accordingly Peter made off, without
saying " By your leave " to the smith, and presently
appeared at the ladder-house door, neighing for ad-
mission.

This fine animal met with a sad fate not long ago.
While running to a fire, he came in collision with one
of the protective wagons, and his leg was broken in
two places, so that he had to be shot where he fell
in the street. Something even worse happened sev-
eral years ago to a fire-engine horse in Boston. He
was struck by the pole of another engine, which came
out of its house just as the first engine dashed by ;
the force of the blow, unknown to his driver, broke
the animal's leg, but he kept on, travelling, of course,
on three legs only, and pulling his share of the im-
mense weight behind him, till the place of the fire
was reacherl, nearly or quite one quarter of a mile
further. Then the poor beast dro])ped to the ground,
never to rise again. The fire horse is subject to ac-
cidents like these, but we must remember, that the
fireman's danger is greater yet.

It happens occasionally tliat a horse is bought who
proves to be altogether too nervous for the business :
he is in a continual state of tension, will not eat unless
taken out of his stall, and is so worried with appre-
hension of an alarm that it is impossible to use him
as a fire horse. In a few other cases, the nervousness.

FIRE HORSES. 241

though not so extreme, is sufficient to disturb the
animal's health, to impair his digestion, to prevent
his taking the needed amount of rest, so that event-
ually he too, after being doctored perhaps for an
imaginary disease, is transferred to some more peace-
ful occupation.

Now that we have seen how a fire-engine horse is
instructed, and where he lives, it might be interest-
ing to know in what manner his daily life is ordered.
He takes breakfast, in Boston, at five or half past,
in some houses as late as six o'clock, — the meal con-
sisting, as a rule, of two quarts of oats. After break-
fast, he receives a thorough grooming, and about ten
o'clock he goes out to walk for an hour, with an
occasional trot, one horse of a pair being ridden and
the other led. At half past eleven or twelve he has
dinner, — two quarts of oats again, — which also is the
allowance for supper, at half past five or six. Some
old and some delicate horses have nine quarts of oats
per day. Usually a bran mash is- given once a week,
and in some houses a little bran is fed every day. In
the afternoon the horse has another hour of exercise,
supposing that no fire has occurred. Hay is allowed
at night only, and in most of the houses it is fed from
the floor, so that the horse can eat it while lying
down. T^'or several reasons this method is far better
than feeding from a rack, especially for the fire horse,
who takes a long while to eat his hay, inasmuch as the
bit remains in his mouth. In most cities the grain
allowance is about the same as it is in Boston, al-
though in Chicago the horses are fed just twice as
much, twelve quarts per day, and in Brooklyn, as I
am informed, the allowance varies from twelve to

24- ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

eighteen quarts, which is excessive. In Chicago, it
woukl seem, the tire horses do more work than is re-
quired in Boston. Ten companies in the heart of
tliat city average thirt3'-six runs per month ; whereas
in Boston the average varies, according to the situa-
tion, from eight or ten to twenty-five runs per month.
In the suburbs many companies do not go out more
than once a week, on the average. The hour for bed-
ding down varies from half past five to eight p. m., at
the discretion of the driver. It would be better to
make this duty obligator}- at the earlier hour, and
better yet if the bedding were left under the horses
by day as well as by night, especially in the case of
those companies which do the most work. The more
a horse lies down, the longer his legs and feet are
likely to endure ; and by the supply of a soft and
perpetual couch he can often be induced to lengthen
his hours of repose.

At eight p. M.,-it is the custom all over the city to
call the horses out and harness them to the engine,
and at this time visitors are apt to drop in. Both
firemen and horses are always well known in the vi-
cinity, and many civilities pass between the neighbors
and the occupants, human and equine, of the engine-
houses. The children especially are friends with the
hoi'ses, calling them by their names, and often treat-
ing them to candy and other luxuries. In fact, when-
ever a fire-engine horse is introduced to a stranger, he
expects to receive some dainty, and will poke his nose
in the visitor's hands and pockets ; nor is he easily
discouraged by failure to find anything, being evi-
dently convinced that nobody would be quite so mean
as to enter his stable without bringing at least a lump
of sugar or the fraction of an ap])le.

FIRE HORSES. 243

There is a handsome gray horse in the Central
Station, in Boston, who has a great liking for ice, and,
when out for exercise, he can never be persuaded to
pass an ice wagon without first thrusting his head in
behind and helping himself to a small piece. It is
needless to say that the firemen make great pets of
their four-footed companions, and are a little inclined
to exaggerate their good qualities, — " the finest pair
in the department " being discovered in almost every
engine-house. There is, too, a favorite horse at each
station, — not always the strongest or handsomest, but
the most affectionate, docile, and sociable ; and the
visitor is always taken first to this animal's stall,
whose virtues are thereupon extolled with generous
enthusiasm.

From December to April every engine-house in
Boston contains an equine guest, as an extra horse for
making up a "spike team," in case the streets are
blocked with snow. Usually this horse is not owned
by the department, but is loaned by an ice company or
a contractor, — his keep being reckoned as payment
for his services. The new-comer does not serve as a
leader : one of the regular team is put in that post,
the extra horse taking the other's place at the pole.
Some of the engine horses show great intelligence
and discretion as leaders. On one occasion a spike
team was dashing through a narrow street, where
there was barely room to get between a wagon on one
side and a light carryall, with women and children in
it, on the other. The driver found that he had no
control over his leader, and feared a bad accident;
but the horse threaded his way so carefully and accu-
rately that the engine swept past the carriage without

244 ROAD, TKACK, AND STABLE.

touching it. When the engine stopped, it appeared
that the leader's bit was hanging loose, and that he
had served as his own driver.

This same animal, a big bay horse, is also cred-
ited with some clever work iu his own intei'est. Im-
mediately in the rear of his stall was a slide vvhere
the oats came down, as he had full opportunity to
observe at feeding time. But how could he get them ?
He was confined in his stall, not of course by a hal-
ter, but by a rope stretched behind him, and fastened
by an ordinary open hook. First, he discovered that,
with some difficulty, he could turn in the stall far
enough to get hold of the rope with his teeth, and
after many attempts he succeeded in unhooking it.
It was then an easy task to step across to the slide,
pull it open with his teeth, and thus set running the
reservoir of grain above. Two or three times he was
found, after achieving this feat, standing in a deluge
of oats, and industriously stowing them away in a
compartment furnished by nature. But the firemen
checkmated him by putting on the rope a snap hook,
closed by a spring ; and there it may be seen, at once
proving the occurrence and preventing its repetition.

There is another sagacious leader, called John, one
of a span of large, handsome, dark, mottled grays, used
on a ladder truck. These are among the very finest
horses in the Boston department : they are strong and
symmetrical, with small, clean-cut heads, large eyes,
and courageous but gentle expression. John, espe-
cially, is as kind as a dog, a favorite with the women
and children of the neghborhood, a groat pet of the
firemen, and quiet as a mouse in the stable, but on the
street full of life and animation, and playful enough

FIRE HORSES. 245

to have thrown, at one time and another, everybody
wlio has ridden him to exercise, except the captain.
John's sense of discipline is so strong that he draws
the line there. While used as a leader his stall is
different from the usual one; and when on one occa-
sion, having occupied it for some weeks, the third
horse was dispensed with, and John was put back in
his old quarters, tie rightly and sagaciously concluded
that his former place on the engine should also be re-
sumed, and accordingly, at the next alarm, he ran to
the pole, instead of going in front.

The finest engine horse that 1 have seen is, I think,
the near one of a dark gray team used m Boston.
This is what horsemen call " a big little "un,'' that is,
a stout animal on short legs. He is a comparatively
small horse, standing 15 hands o inches, and weighing
1,.320 pounds ; but he is big where bigness is required.
He has a broad chest, a tremendous shoulder, deep
lungs, a big barrel, a short back, and strong hind
quarters. His legs are fiat and clean, his feet of just
the right size, and he has a broad forehead and an in-
telligent eye. Possibly his shoulder is a little too
upright, and there is a suspicion of hollowness in his
back, but otherwise he seemed to me an ideal engine
horse. His mate is handsomer in some respects, and
more gentle, but a trifie too long in the back and
legs.

Beside the engine, hose-wagon, and ladder truck
horses, there are others, used to haul coal and sup-
plies, to carry men and tools for the repair of wires,
etc. These are chiefly old, partly broken down ani-
mals, no longer fit for the hard and rapid work of
running to fires. Then there are smaller nags, weigh-

246 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

iiig from 950 to 1,050 pouuds, employed by the engi-
neers in their light wagons. These horses, especially
such as are used by the chief engineer, get more
practice in running to tires than any others, and they
become very clever in picking their way through a
crowded street, breaking into a gallop whenever they
see an open space before them, and pulling up promptly
to avoid collisions. The tough, intelligent, short-
stepping INIorgan is excellently adapted for this pur-
pose, and one of that breed has been used for eight
years past by the veterinary surgeon connected with
the Boston department. Another, used by a district
engineer, is of about the same size and pattern, and of
the same gamy disposition.

The protective (insurance) wagon steeds, though
not, strictly speaking, belonging to the fire depart-
ment, should not be disregarded in this account.
They show more •' quality " than fire-engine horses,
weigh less (about 1150 pounds), stand higher m pro-
portion, and look like powerful coach horses. There
are two protective wagons m Boston : one in the heart
of the city, which weighs, with the men, about 7,800
pounds ; and the other, which is much lighter, at the
South End. One or both of these wagons respond to
every alarm of fire in the city, so that the horses
attached to them do a great deal of work. On a cer-
tain Fourth of July, one of these companies was
called out on nineteen different occasions in the
twenty-four hours; the horses not becoming cool
enough throughout that time to be fed, and being
sup])ortpd by draughts of oat meal and water.

Tli(! arrangements in the ju'otective houses differ,
for tlic wors(% from tliose of the fire department. The

FIRE HORSES. 247

stalls are in the main room where the wagon is kept,
and at the back of the building is an entrance, the
doors of which are apt to be open. The animals are
thus exposed to strong and frequent draughts, very
bad for horseflesh ; and they are also continually an-
noyed by the noise, by tlie glare of lights kept burn-
ing all night, and by the comiug and going of visitors
and officials. The object of this arrangement is, of
course, to save time ; but if the horses stood six feet
farther back, and were protected by a partition, prob-
ably only one or two seconds more would be required
to bring them to the pole. Moreover, they are so
often out at night that the suggestion already made
in regard to engine horses applies with more force to
those engaged in this service, namely, that bedding
should be left under them at all times. In the South
End house the stalls are open at both ends, so that
the horses stand in a thoroughfare for cold breezes ;
and this was formerly the case in the other station.
In the latter house there were for eight years a very
tine pair of grays, who were sold, not for unsoundness,
but because they were worn out by want of rest.
One of them also became vicious. The fact is, that,
with the possible exception of man, the horse is the
most nervous animal in the world, and the least able to
endure (iontinual and multiplied annoyances. These
grays were last seen drawing a hack, and tliey have
probably long since passed to some lower and more
painful stage of equine degradation.

Connected witli a fire department there is usually
a veterinary hospital, and in Boston this is situated
on Tremont Street; being part of the building in
which a ladder truck is stationed. It consists of a

248 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

Single box stall ami several straight stalls, but the
health of the horses is looked after so carefully that
these accommodations are sufficient. When I visited
the place it contained but two patients. One was a
fine gray engine horse, who, while running to a fire,
came in collision with a " tow " horse, and was thrown
down. His knees and hind legs were badly cut, but
none of these injuries proved serious, and he was
soon on the road to recovery. The other patient, also
an engine horse, was suffering from a bad leg, caused
partly by improper shoeing, and partly by the state
of his blood. With the exception of these two, all
the horses in the department, numbering about two
hundred, were in working order, — an excellent
showing.

Fire horses, as a rule, give out first and chiefly in
their feet. Standing so much as they do on wooden
floors, their feet have a tendency to become dry and
hard, but this is counteracted by a permanent stuffing
of tar and oakum, held in place by a leather pad.
Almost all the fire horses of Boston wear these pads,
and usually on the hind as well as on the fore feet.
In other cities, the same result is accomplished by
periodical stuffing of the feet with some one of the
many materials which horsemen use for this purpose.

Tlie worst trouble, however, arises from the con-
cussion produced in the foot by the hard paving-stones
of the city. This is bad enough for any horse. l)ut
especially bad for the fire horse, because, owing to his
great weight, his galloping speed, and his heavy load,
he pounds his feet with tremendous force. Often a
pair of engine horses whose feet have begun to give
out are transferred to a suburban station, where, the

FIRE HORSES. 249

roads being less hard and alarms less frequent, they
go on very well for some years longer. Great pains
are taken with the shoeing, which is under the direct
charge of the accomplished Vet employed by the
department. Horses used in the city proper wear
corks on all their feet, to give them a better grip on
slijipery pavements, car-tracks, etc. ; but in the suburbs
corks are dispensed with, the shoes without them
having this advantage, — that they let the foot down
lower, so that it supports the weight of the horse in a
more natural position. The frog of the foot is in-
tended by nature to lessen the concussion by receiving
part of the blow itself ; but with an ordinary shoe,
especially with one having corks, this function of the
frog is very imperfectly discharged, the frog being
kept off the ground by the shoe. What the city fire
horses (perhaps I might say, what horses in general)
need is some method of shoeing which will protect
the wall of the foot, and at the same time allow the
frog to come in contact with the ground.^

Fire horses also throw their shoes very frequently,
catching them in car-tracks and other projections. In
fact, a team can hardly go to a fire without losing at
least one shoe among them ; and the continual re-
shoeing tends, of course, to wear away the hoof. It
is desirable, therefore, to make it grow as fast as pos-
siljle, and for this purpose it is kept well oiled, Ev-

1 Posfsibly this result might be accomplished satisfactorily by
the Charlier process, which consists in channelling the wall of the
foot at its base, and inserting in the circular groove so formed a
steel shoe. By this method the walls of the foot are protected as
with the ordinary shoe, but, the foot not being raised from the
ground, the frog comes into play, just as if no shoe at all were
worn.

250 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

ery driver has his own specific, upon the peculiar and
wonderful properties of which he will descant with
much enthusiasm ; but the best of them is probably
not more efficacious than a rag tied about the coronet,
and kept well moistened with cold water.

Despite the severity of their occasional labors and
the hard usage to which their feet are subjected, fire
horses in Boston last a considerable time. They are
bought, usually, at the age of five or six years (cost-
ing about .$325), and they remain in service, on the
average, about seven or eight years. In other cities
their duration and ooKt are nearly the same. In Cam-
bridge, where few of the streets are paved, fire horses
are said to last from seven to ten years ; but in Brook-
lyn this period is put as low as six years, — about the
length of time that a car horse endures.

In Boston there are at least half a dozen veterans
of ten years' standing, and some who have served as
fire horses even longer than that. The old hose-cart
horse of whom I have spoken already has a record
of at least ten years' service. There is another sear
soned Houyhnhnm, — a dark chestnut, of the same
heavy, low-standing shape, who has seen twelve win-
ters in the business. About five years ago it was
thought that he ought to have an easier life, and ac-
cordingly he was transferred to an outlying station,
where fires seldom occur. But on the occasion of the
first alarm to which he res])onded the old fellow bolt-
ed, and made a comi)l('te wreck of the hose-cart by
dashing it agp^inst a stone wall. This was his protest
at being removed from the house to which he had
become accustomed, and from the society of his fa-
miliar friends, liumau and equine; and so he was put

FIRK HORSES. 261

back in the old place, where he still remains in full
employment. He is reckoned to be seventeen years
old, and he has a contemporary, also a hose horse,
who entered the department in the same year.

This is Grief, so named because of his melancholy
aspect. He has a way of standing with his fore legs
wide apart, his head hanging down between, and a
doleful expression of the face. A visitor, who saw
him once in this attitude, remarked that he would
make a good " image of Grief," and the name seemed
so appropriate that it was adopted by common consent.
"Grief" is duly inscribed m large letters over his
stall, and as Grief he is known through the depart-
ment and to all the neighbors. Grief is a remarkable
horse ; in color a rich mottled brown, and in shape
much resembling the other old horses already de-
scribed. He has a massive, well formed shoulder,
strong, straight fore legs, powerful hind quarters (too
long a cannon-bone, however), a good neck, slightly
arched, a rather intelligent, clean-cut head, but mulish
ears. His peculiarity is a philosophical, phlegmatic
disposition. He has a hearty appetite and a sound
digestion, but he never shows the least impatience for
his meals. Other horses paw and neigh when they
hear the premonitory rattle of the oat-box, but Grief
never betrays the least sign of curiosity or of interest.
The children of the vicinity often come to this house
to give the horses candy, and the span of bays who
draw the engine always recognize their benefactors,
and will follow them about the stable. But Grief,
though glad enough to be fed, never ta,kes the slightest
notice of any visitor beyond swallowing what is of-
fered to him. He sleeps a great deal, ruminates still

252 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

more, and allows nothing outside of business to dis-
turb or excite him ; and hence, no doubt, his excellent
state of preservation.

But Grief awakes when the alarm strikes. How-
ever long or steep the road, however fast may gallop
the stout young bays in front, he always keeps up
with the engine. The strength and nervous force
that he accumulates in the stable Grief expends lav-
ishly on the way to a fire. His eye is then full of
spirit; his expanded nostrils display the red glow
within ; his neck curves to the task ; his splendid
shoulder strains against the collar. He looks twice
the size of the horse that was dozing in his stall a few
minutes before. Arrived at the scene of action, he
draws up as close as possible to the engine. Grief
likes to get Avhere the sparks fall in showers about
him, and there he will stand, shaking his head to dis-
lodge the burning particles, pleased with the shrieks
and roar of the engine, with the shouts of the men,
with the smoke and flame of the conflagration. At a
great fire in Boston on Thanksgiving day, 1889, the
engine which he followed was burned within twenty-
five minutes after it left the house ; but Grief stood
by it, firm as a rock, till the flames came near and he
was hurried away by his driver.

The patriarch of the department is, however, not
Grief, but another horse, stationed in East Boston, and
called Old Joe. His age is varioTisly estimated, but
I gather that it is at least twenty years, and possibly
twenty-four. Joe is not so impassive as Grief; he is
more like the rest of us, being swayed by curiosity,
touched by social affections, and dependent upon so-
ciety. He has a gentle, intelligent, courageous eye,

FIRE HORSES. 253

and a good head. His great age is indicated by an
extremely hollow back, but otherwise he is still a
grand-looking horse. He, too, is a mottled bay or
brown, and not unlike Grief, except that he is even
larger. In fact, the four old hre horses whom I have
particularly described would have made, a great team
in their youth, — broad-chested, deep-lunged, low-
standing, short-backed fellows, with immense shoul-
ders, roomy stomachs, and strong hind quarters. Joe
is now an engine horse. His mate, though in com-
parison with him a mere colt, is in truth an oldish
beast ; and the tvvo agreed some time ago that they
would trot out no more from their stalls when the
alarm sounded (having as it seemed to them, done
that sort of thing quite long enough), but would pro-
ceed from the stable to the pole at a dignified walk.
This resolution has been kept. The firemen have
tried to hurry them, but without success. Rattan
rods (such as schoolboys used to be whipped with)
are hung behind their stalls, and descend automati-
cally when the alarm strikes ; but the old horses laugh
at this gentle flagellation; they refuse to hurry their
pace, and, alone among the fire horses of Boston, they
advance with slow and measured step from the staV)le
to the engine house.

The only remaining question which we have to ask
is this : What becomes of them all ? What fate is in
store for Old Joe, for Grief, for that veteran hose-
cart steed, who gallops with his heavy load till the
blood runs from his nostrils? When thoroughly
worn out, fire horses are sold, or, more commonly,
handed over to a dealer in part payment for new ani-
mals. In some cities, in Brooklyn, in New York also.

254

ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

1 believe, they are dis})ose(I of at auction ; and inas-
much as a certain distinction attaches to them even in
decrepitude, they always bring a little more than they
are worth as beasts of burden. At most, however,
they sell for a song. Bi-oken down horses are bought
b}' poor men ; they have scanty fare, little or no cloth-
ing, hard boards to lie on, and. commonly, severe toil
to endure.

The cast-off fire horse must sadi}' miss his good oats
and hay, his clean, warm stable and comfortable bed,
his elaborate grooming and gentle treatment, his com-
panions, brute and human, the caresses and sweet-
meats to which he was daily treated. Eemoved from
all these luxuries, his life broken np b}' a sudden and
painful revulsion, we may be sure that the equine
veteran, who spent his best years in helping to save
our property from destruction, must very shortly
present a spectacle of misery and despair. The
next bony animal that the reader sees pulling a
tip-cart may be a once proud and i)etted fire horse,
for whom the only possible boon is now the axe of
the knacker.

X.

ARABIAN HOKSES.

THERE is no other race in the world by whom
good birth is valued so highly as it is by the
Bedouins of Arabia. And yet in their form of gov-
ernment these nomadic clans are the most democratic
of people. Every Arab finds himself the member of
a tribe, but if he chooses to leave it, he can do so
without let or hindrance. He may take refuge with
strangers, or pitch his tent in solitude and isolation.
Even when the majority determine upon war or upon
some warlike expedition, the minority are not obliged,
either by law or by public opinion, to join with their
fellows. They stay at home, if they prefer, without
discredit. Each tribe has a leader, a sheikh, elected
by universal suffrage, but his authority is very lim-
ited, and his commands are enforceable only so far

256 EOAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

as tliey commend themselves to the popuhir judg-
ment. The sheikh is an agent rather than a ruler.
All matters of real importance are decided by vote.
The sheikh leads the tribe to new camping-grounds,
settles small disputes, transacts political business,
entertains strangers, and keeps open house at all
hours of the day and night. This last is perhaps his
chief function. The humblest shepherd addresses the
sheikh by his Christian name, and neither in dress
nor in conduct does he affect any superiorit3^ More-
over, the possession of wealth will not procure a man
distinction or respect among the Bedouins, any more
than the possession of office ; and this is remarkable,
because the Bedouins love money to the point of
avarice.

But to high birth the Arab, democrat though he be,
renders homage most sincere. There are among the
Bedouins certain families of traditional good breed-
ing. For such families a respect almost reverential is
shown ; and it is from their members that the sheikhs
are usually chosen. Xor is this high value errone-
ously attached to noble blood. Good breeding and
good birth are nearly always found together in the
desert, and the sheikhs are commonly distinguished
by the quiet elegance and dignity of their manners.
If a sheikh be deficient in this regard, he is almost
invariably a man of inferior origin, raised to com-
mand by force of his own talents and energy.

The respect which the Bedouins have for liigli
birth in their horses is, if possible, even greater,
becoming absolutely fanatical. Lady Anne B>lunt '

' Mr. Wilfrid Blunt and liis wife, Lady Anne Blunt, made two
journeys to the desert, and tlioir observations are recorded in two

ARABIAN HORSES. 257

speaks of the reports which reached her party in the
desert as to the extraordinarily iine pedigree of a par-
ticuhar horse owned by a certain old man. " ' Maneghi
Ibn Sbeyel ' [the title of the. horse's family], they kept
on repeating in a tone of tenderness, and as if tasting
the flavor of each syllable." The travellers made a
considerable detour in order to see this famous ani-
mal. When they arrived at the tent of his owner,
they found that he had gone to borrow a donkey for
the purpose of moving the family furniture to a new
camp ; for " a horse of the Maneghi's nobility could
not, of course, be used for baggage purposes." Pres-
ently, however, the old man appeared, riding his*
high-born steed, which proved to be " a meek-looking
little black pony, all mane and tail."

Mr. Blunt expresses the opinion that the Arabian
horse is degenerating through in-breeding, and more
especially because animals of the best families, though
individually inferior, are preferred to superior indi-
viduals, but members of families belonging to an
inferior rank. However this may be, it is certain
that the extraordinary excellence of the Arabian
horse in his present form could never have been de-
veloped or maintained had it not been for the ex-
treme care which the Bedouins bestow upon equine
descent.

They have no written pedigrees ; it is all an affair
of memory and of notoriety in the tribe. Certain

interesting books, written chiefly by Lady Anne. These are, " The
Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates," and " Our Pilgrimage to Nejd."
They lived among the Bedouins for some time, and what they re-
port about the Arabian horse, his qualities, his descent, and the
families in which he is grouped, agrees in all substantial respects
with the account, presently to be mentioned, given by Major Upton.

17

258 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

alleged pedigrees of Arabian horses, couched iu
romantic language, and represented as carried iu a
small bag hung by a cord around the animal's neck,
have been published ; but these are forgeries, gotten
up probably by horse-dealers, Egyptian, Syrian, or
Persian. The breeding of every horse is a matter of
common knowledge, and it would be impossible for
his owner to fabricate a pedigree so as to deceive the
natives, even if he were so inclined. The Bedouins,
it seems necessary to admit, are, in general, great
liars ; and they will lie (to a stranger) about the age,
the qualities, or the ownership of a horse ; but they
•will not lie about his pedigree, even when they can do
so with impunity. To be truthful on this subject is
almost a matter of religion, certainly a point of honor,
in the desert.

How far back do these })edigrees run, and what
was the origin of the Arabian horse ? These ques-
tions it is impossible to answer definitely. The Bed-
ouins themselves believe that Allah created the equine
genus in their soil. " The root or spring of the horse
is," they say, " in the land of the Arab " ; and again,
" It was Allah who created him, for the happiness of
believers."

This pious belief is shared by a few generous souls
in England and America, a small but devoted band,
who gallantly defend the cause of the Arabian horse
against his only rival, the modern English thorough-
bred. Chief among these faithful was the late Major
R. D. Upton, who visited the desert himself, and who
has recorded his experiences and his views.' Major

' " In Newmarket and Arabia," a small book, which was first
published in 1873 •, " Gleanings from the Desert," a later work

ARABIAN HORSES. 259

Upton concluded that the horse was found in Arabia
" not later than about one hundred years after tlie
deluge, ... if indeed he did not find his way there
immediately after the exodus from the ark, which is
by no means improbable," and this probability the
author then proceeds seriously to consider. Accord-
ing to Major Upton and a few kindred spirits, all
other breeds are mongrels, and the only way to obtain
horseflesh in its best and purest form is to go back to
the fountain head, to tiie horse of the desert.

Naturalists, I believe, have not yet determined
where the genus originated ; but they gather that
three allied animals, the tapir, the rhinoceros, and
the horse, have all descended from a common ances-
tor of the eocene period. Of these three, the tapir
and the rhinoceros certainly are found in many parts
of the world. The immediate precursor of the horse
was the small animal called Equida, Avhich was ex-
ceedingly common both in America and in Europe.
Eossil skeletons have also been found in almost every
part of America, varying but slightly from the skel-
eton of the present horse, although externally the
animals which they represent may have differed from
him as widely as does the zebra. It is possible,
therefore, tliat, contrary to the usual opinion, horses
existed on this continent in a wild state before the
coming of the Spaniards. These facts as to the wide
distribution of both the ancestors and the first-cousins,
so to say, of the primitive horse, tend to show, al-
though of course they fail to prove, that he also was

only a part of which, however, is devoted to horseflesh ; and a paper
concerning Arabian Horses, published in Fraser's Magazine for
September, 1876.

260 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

widely distributed, uot coniiued even to the salubrious
region of Arabia.

But there is one argument in favor of the Arabian
being the primitive horse, which I have chanced upon,
and which I here present to those enthusiasts who
will appreciate it. There is a conjecture of Darwin's
that the dark stripe running along the spine of some
horses, and occasionally extending to the shoulders
and legs, may indicate a " descent of all the existing
races from a single dun-colored, more or less striped
primitive stock, to which our horses occasionally re-
vert." In the Cleveland Bay family this dark stripe,
or " list," is valued as a mark of pure blood ; it is
found also in the Exmoor breed of ponies, and m some
other strains.

Now Major Upton reports an observation made by
him upon horses in the desert as follows : " A line
somewhat darker than the general color of the animal
is to be seen in colt foals, running in continuation of
the mane along the spine, and to be traced for some
way even among the long hair of the tail. I never
saw it in a lilly. ... It can be traced in old horses
and in those of a very dark color. ... It appears as
the first or primitive color of the animal, which tones
away by almost imperceptible degrees from tlie back
to the belly ; it may be seen in lines on the males of
other wild animals. At certain seasons, and as the
horse ages, and dependent also in some degree on Ins
condition, the dark color spreads over the shoulders
and upper parts of the body, ... as if shaded with
black." To be sure, Major Upton states that this phe-
nomenon is " totally different from the markings of
the zebra, quagga, or any of the hybrids " ; but never-

ARABIAN HORSES. 261

theless it. seems to lie essentially the same. Zebras
and quaggas are of the equine family ; and this pecu-
liar marking of the Arabian horse would, on Darwin's
hypothesis, indicate that, if not himself the primitive
horse, he at least stands nearer to that animal than
does any other existing equus.

However, this discussion has no practical value, nor
is it essential even for the Arabo-maniacs to prove
their case historically. This fact is sufficient, and can-
not be controverted, namely, that the Arabian horse
is the only one now extant of a fixed type. His
antiquity is such that in comparison with him all
other breeds are mongrels of yesterday. It is con-
jectured that he dates back to the time of Ishmael ;
and it is reasonably certain that the present breed
existed in the days of Mahomet.

This is antiquity enough. The English racer, as I
have stated, is a modern product, his stud-book dat-
ing from the year 1808. According to the standard
of the desert, therefore, the English horse is a par-
venu ; and although he is bigger, stronger, and faster
than the Arab, he is less sound, beautifnl, intelligent,
and gentle. Moreover, as must be the case with a
new breed, the English thoroughbred varies greatly
in size, in shape, and in many other characteristics ;
whereas the Arabian, though each family has its pe-
culiarities, is much more nearly of one type, and al-
most of one size. Pure Arabians range from 14 to
15 hands, being commonly about 14.2. Very rarely
one stands as low as 13.3, or as high as 15.1. An
English officer, speaking of Arabian horses as racers,
says, " They can all gallop about equally fast."

In estimating the Arabian horse, or in comparing

262 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

him with his English contemporary, it must be borne
in mind that an Arabian of absolutely pure breed is
an animal which few European eyes have ever looked
upon. Of all the Oriental horses imported to England
in the eighteenth century, and upon which, in great
part, the English thoroughbred is founded, only one,
the famous Darley Arabian, procured by Mr. Darley
in the latter part of Queen Aune's reign, is known
to have been of pure lineage. It is probable that
no thoroughbred Arabian horse has yet reached our
shores, except Kismet, a stallion recently brought
over, who died a few hours after landing ; and per-
haps the only Eastern mare of that degree ever in
the United States is Xaomi, a late importation from
England, to which country she was taken by Major
Upton.

There are no wild horses in Arabia, although there
is a widespread belief to the contrary. This animal,
as an old writer explains, "can live only of man's
hand in the droughty KhaJaP The pure-bred Arabian
horses are the possession, almost exclusively, of a
single great Bedouin clan, known as the Anazeh, and
of this clan a tribe called the Gomussa have the best.
Even among the Bedouins, apart from the Gomussa,
there are not many animals of the highest stamp.
" I doubt," says Mr. Blunt, " if there are two hundred
really first-class mares in the whole of Northern Ara-
bia. By this I, of course, do not mean first-class in
point of blood, for animals of the purest strains are
still fairly numerous, but first-class in quality and
appearance as well as blood."

Across Central Ai'abia extends a vast territory
called the Nejd, composed of sandy deserts and rich

ARABIAN HORSES. 263

pastures. This whole region is a plateau, and the
atmosphere is dry and bracing. It is under such
conditions that horses thrive, and here was the origi-
nal home of the Arabian horse. In Flanders, where
the air is humid, and the pastures are moist and rank,
horses grow large, but they have flat feet, inferior
sinews, lymphatic temperaments, and soft hearts.
Flemish nags have been imported largely to England
for many hundred years, being cheap, big, and showy ;
but they have always been noted for their lack of
endurance. Even among thoroughbreds unsoundness
is frequent in the British Isles, due in great part to
the moist climate. The English horse, when trans-
planted to India or to Australia, becomes much im-
proved in the quality of his feet and legs, and this
improvement is doubtless the effect chiefly of a drier

climate.

The Anazeh spend their winters iti the Nejd, mi-
grating in spring as far as the Euphrates, and it is
among the wandering tribes of this clan that the
Arabian steed in his purity must be studied. The
Anazeh, and the Bedouins in general, keep their
mares, but sell many of their horses, and it is from
the horses thus sold, crossed with inferior mares,
that the animal known in Europe and in India as
an Arab is bred. Tlie Bedouins call these half-breds
"the sons of horses," and they look upon them, as
well as upon all other breeds but their own, with
the greatest contempt, stigmatizing them as kadishes,
or mongrels. The desert is almost surrounded by
horse-growing countries, and it is touched here and
there by great horse markets. On the west and
northwest is Syria, where many of these bastard

264 KOAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

Arabs, the '' sons of liorses,"' are raised. The chief
horse market of Syria is Damascus, on the shore
of the desert. Opposite, on the eastern shore, in
almost a straight line from Damascus, is Bagdad, the
capital of Turkish Arabia, another great horse mar-
ket; and south of Bagdad, between the Euphrates
and the Tigris, there is a wide stretch of country
where many half Arabs are bred, chiefly for sale in
India.

The Arabian horses, so called, that are found in
Turkey, especially in Constantinople, in Egy2:)t, m
Syria, and in India, are not the true coursers of the
desert, but their " sons." They are commonly gray,
and hence the popular idea that gray is the normal
color of the Arabian horse. As a matter of fact, the
Bedouins prefer bay with black points, — not objecting
to three white feet, — and this is the most frequent
color among the Anazeh mares ; next comes chestnut,
then gray. Black is a rare and inferior color. White
horses are much esteemed, but seldom occur. Roans,
piebalds, duns, and yellows are never found among
pure-bred Arabs. The two Arabian stallions sent to
General Grant as a present from the Sultan of Tur-
key, in 1876, are both grays, and though they were
su])posed to be pure bred, the probability is, I can-
not help thinking, that they are kadishes, " sons of
horses," not horses themselves. ISTeither money nor
high office can command the flower of the desert,
pjven Abbass Pasha had only a few really thorough-
bred mares, and yet he spent five million dollars in
gathering his famous stud at Cairo.

This }nan ajipears to have had a notable passion
for horseflesh. ( )n one occasion he despatched a

ARABIAN HORSES. 265

special mission to Medina for tlie sole purpose of
procuring a rare work on farriery. At another time
he sent a bullock cart from Egypt all the way to
Kejd to bring home a famous mare, old and unable
to travel on foot, that he had ])urchased from the
Anazeh. A Bedouin, wlio had been sent to Cairo by
one of the chiefs of Nejd, was shown over the vice-
roy's stables, by order of that official. On being
asked his opinion of the blood, he replied frankly
that the stables did not contain a single thorough-
bred. He added an apology on the part of his ciiief
for the animals which he had just brought to the
viceroy from Arabia, declaring that neither Sultan
nor sheikh could procure colts of the best strain.

Bagdad is on the very edge of the desert, and the
Pasha of that place has unlimited resources ; but
Mr. Blunt says • " Although his Excellency's horses
were, as a lot, good of their kind, they were very
different from real Arabs ; and on comparing them
with those of the Anazeh their inferiority was con-
spicuous, and their history could easily be under-
stood. They were very nearly all gray."

In the centre of Arabia, in the district of Nejd and
on the border of the desert, is the city of Ha'il, where
for many years has existed the famous stud of the
Emir of Hail. Emissaries of this dignitary are con-
vStantly on the lookout for mares, wherever they can
find them, and not infrequently gliazus, or maraud-
ing expeditions, have been sent out by the Emir
against this or that tribe, for the express purpose of
capturing some particular mare whose fame had
spread over the desert. It was of the animals in
this stud that Mr. W. G. Palgrave's oft-quoted de-

266 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

scription -was Avritten. Out of his two interesting
volumes ^ this passage alone has survived : —

" EemarkabI}' full in the haunches, with a shoulder
of a slope so elegant as to make one, in the words of
an Arab poet, ' go raving mad about it " ; a little, a
very little saddle-backed, just the curve which indi-
cates springiness without any weakness ; a head broad
above, and tapering down to a nose fine enough to
verify the phrase of ' drinking from a pint pot ' ; . . .
a most intelligent and yet a singularly gentle look ;
full eye ; sharp, thorulike little ears ; legs, fore and
hind, that seemed as if made of hammered iron, so
clean and yet so well twisted with si^ew ; a neat,
round hoof, just the requisite for hard ground ; the
tail set on, or ratlier thrown out, at a perfect arch ,
coat smooth, shining, and light; the mane long, but
not overgrown nor heavy ; and an air and step that
seemed to say, ' Look at me, am I not pretty ? ' —
their appearance justified all reputation, all value, all
poetry. The prevaling color was chestnut or gray.
A light bay, an iron color, white or black, were less
common. , . . But if asked what are, after all, the
specially distinctive points of the Nejdee horse, I
should reply, the slope of the shoulder, the extreme
cleanness of the shank, and the full, rounded haunch,
though every other part too has a perfection and a
harmony unwitnessed (at least by my eyes) anywhere
else."

And yet Mr. Blunt says of this same stud : "Of
all the raares in the prince's stable, I do not think
more than three or four could show with advantage
among the Gomussa." He admits, however, that

1 " Central and Eastern Arabia."

ARABIAN HORSES. 267

their heads were haudsoiiu'v than those of the Anazeh
mares. The latter are built more nearly ou a race-
horse model, having- greater length of body and of
limb. The Nejd ^ horses are perhaps prettier, though
not so bloodlike. Unlike the Anazeh mares, they
stand higher at the withers than at the rump.
" Every horse at Hail," writes Mr. Blunt, •■ had its
tail set on in the same fashion ; in repose some-
thing like the tail of a rocking-horse, and yet not, as
has been described [by Mr. Palgrave], thrown out
in a perfect arch.' In motion the tail was held
high in the air, and looked as if it could not under
any circumstances be carried low."

It has been suggested that this phenomenon is
partly, at least, the effect of art ; that before the
foal is an hour old its tail is bent back over a stick,
the twist producing a permanent result. But this is
probably a slander.

There is one family of American trotters, that of
the Mambrino Patchens, which alone among American-
bred nags is distinguished for the beautiful carriage
of the tail, and, as I have mentioned in a previous
chapter, jealous persons sometimes make the same
insinuation in reference to these horses that was
directed against the stud of the Emir of Hail.

All Arabian horses carry their tails well, and, next
to the head and its setting on, the tail is the feature
which the Arab looks to in judging a horse. " I have
seen mares gallop with their tails out straight as colts,
and lit, as the Arabs say, to hang your cloak on,"
Major Upton remarks. A family of horses renowned
in the desert is descended from a mare of whom the

^ Nejd, a district, is the general ; Anazeh. the ]>artifular term.

268 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

following tradition exists. Her owner was once fly-
ing from the enemy, and, being hard pressed, he cast
off his cloak in order to relieve the mare of that un-
necessary weight. But when, having distanced his
pursuers, he halted, what was his surprise to find
tliat his cloak had lodged on the mare's outstretched
tail and still hung there ! From this incident, the
heroine of the story has figured ever since in the un-
written pedigrees of the desert as " the Arab of the
Cloak."

Occasionally, though not often, one sees an Ameri-
cau-Lred horse, especially if it be a colt, galloping in
the pasture with its tail carried so high that the hair
divides and falls forward like a streamer. This is a
very common sight in the desert. "I have seen a
mare, an Abayan Sherakh," writes Major Upton,
*' galloping loose, with both head and tail high to an
extent such as I could hardly have believed had I
not seen it. Her tail was not only high, but seemed
to be right over her back, and, besides streaming out
behind like a flag, covered her loins and quarters. It
was a splendid sight to one who can appreciate a
horse." A single horseman mounted on a mare that
carried her tail in this superb manner, and galloping
in the distance, away from the spectator, has often
been mistaken in the desert for three horsemen riding
abreast.

What does an Arabian horse look like, — a mare of
the desert, of noble birth, belonging, we will say. to
the tribe Gomussa, of the clan Anazeh, and valued
for her high descent from Nejd to the Euplirates,
from Damascus to l^agdad ? Let us imagine her
comin<ir forward at a walk. She advances with a

ARABIAN HORSES. 2t)9

long, swinging stride, the hiud feet considerably over-
stepping the print left by the fore feet, — overstepping
from twelve to eighteen inches, — sometimes, if care-
ful observers may be trusted, even as much as two or
three feet. Above all, she swings her head from side
to side, and looks about with curiosity, as she goes.
This mark of alertness and vivacity is among the
Bedouins a s'me qua non of good breeding. The son
of a certain sheikh being about to purchase a horse,
asked advice of his father. The old man answered
simply, "Get one whose ears are ever in motion,
turning now forward and now backward, as if he
were listening to something."

In truth, a well-bred horse, the world over, exhibits
similar indications of a lively spirit, and of an in-
quiring mind. There is no pleasure in the use of a
horse who fails to prick his ears, and to keep them in
motion; and it would be a short but not seriously
inadequate description of a good roadster to say that
you can drive him fifty or sixty miles in a day with-
out taking the prick out of his ears. The head of our
Gomussa mare is the first and chief part of her to be
examined.

Whyte-Melville wrote : —

" A head like a snake, and a skin like a mouse,

An eye like a woman's, bright, gentle, and brown,
With loins ami a back that would carry a liouse.
And cjuarters to lift Iiim smack over a town."

This comparison of the head of a horse to that of
the snake has often been criticised, and yet I think
an Arab would perceive the force of the simile. The
head of an Arabian horse when he is excited, writes
one, "seems to be made up of forehead, eyes, and

270 UOAi), TRACK, AND STABLE.

nostrils," and this suygests the raised head of a
hissing snake.

What gives the head of the Arabian steed this
peculiar appearance is chiefly the prominence of the
forehead, — greater in the mares than in the horses.
A small head the Arabians particularly dislike, as
indicating a small brain, but the size should be in the
upper regions of the skull. From the top of the head
to a point between the eyes will often measure as
much as from the last mentioned point to the upper
edge of the nostril. Morever, the forehead, between
and below the eyes, should be slightly convex or bul-
ging.^ The space around the eyes should be free of
hair, so as to show the skin underneath, which at
this part is particularly black and lustrous. The
name for the original breed of Arab horses, now
divided into five families, is Keheilan, from kohl,
antimony, the Arabian horse having by nature that
dark circle about the eye which the women of Arabia
are wont to obtain by the use of antimony. Some-
times the whole face, and even the ears, are entirely
free of hair. The cheek-bone should be deep and
lean, and the jaw-bone clearly marked. There is
great width of jaw and depth of jowl. In fine, the
head of the Arabian horse is large where the l)rain
is, and large in the breathing apparatus, but small in
all the unessential parts. The face narrows sud-
denly below the cheek-bone, and runs down almost
to a point. ''A nose that would go in a pint pot"

1 This feature, which, by the way, distinguishes tlie Touchstone
family of Enj^lisii thorouj^hhreds, is not to he confounded witli tliat
of a convex or " Roman " nose. The latter points to a low descent,
and is associated with obstinacy.

ARABIAN HORSES. 271

is au old descriptiou of the Arabiau cast of counte-
nance.

Bvit the profile of the Arabian horse terminates, not
" with the nostril, as in the English race horse, but
with the tip of the lip." " The nostrils," Mr. Blunt
states, "when in repose, should lie flat with the face
appearing in it little more than a slit, and pinched
and puckered up, as also should the mouth, which
should have the under lip longer than the upper,
' like the camel's,' the Bedouins say." ^

"tine his uose, his nostrils thin,
But blown abroad by the pride withiu."

The ears, especially in the mare, should be long
but fine and delicately cut, like the ears of a gazelle.
This agrees with our Western notion on the subject,
for small " mouse-ears," as they call them, are not
liked by our horsemen. As to the carriage of the
ears. Major Upton well describes it as follows : " The
ears, to be perfect, should be so placed that they point
inwards, so that the tips may almost touch. The out-
line of the inner side of the ear should be much
curved, and, as it were, notched about half-way down."

Next to the head and ears, the Arabs value the
manner in which the head is set on the neck. This
point, or rather form of juncture, they call the mitbeh.
It especially refers to the shape of the windpipe, and

^ " The nostril, which is peculiarly long, not round, runs up-
ward toward the face, and is also set up outward from the nose,
like the mouth of a pouch or sack which has been tied. This is
a very beautiful feature, and can hardly be appreciated except by
sight. When it expands, it opens both upwards and outwards, and
in profile is seen to extend bej'ond the outline of the nose." —
Major Upton.

272 EOAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

to the manner in which the throat enters or runs in
between the jaws, where it shoukl have a slight and
graceful curve. *' This," Major Upton adds, "per-
mits of a graceful and easy carriage of the head, and
. . . gives great freedom to the air-passages. The
Keheilan is essentially a deep-breathed and a good
and long-winded horse."

The peculiar rounded prominence of the forehead
already described, the Arabs call the jibbah ; and the
jibbah, the mitbeb, the ears, and the tail are the
parts as to which they are most particular. These
points indicate breeding, and breeding is all that the
Arabs care for in a horse.

For the rest, the Arabian horse, in his highest form,
exhibits great length. He stands over much ground,
as the phrase is, although his back is short. There is
a common notion that the Arabian at rest keeps his
legs well under him ; that he belongs to that type of
which it is said "all four feet would go in a bushel
basket " ; but this is erroneous. Often, on the other
hand, the Arabian stands with his fore legs bent
backward from the knee, which is thought to be a
good formation or habit. In the length of his body,
in the length of his hind legs, which is extreme, and
in the fact that he stands higher behind than in front,
there is a resemblance between the Arabian horse, at
least the Anazeh horse, and the typical American
trotter. Maud S., for example, has these peculiari-
ties. Sunol has them in still greater degree. The
Anazeh mares, moreover, are very long from hip to
hock, and this again is the almost invaritible forma-
tion of the trotting horse. The body of the Arabian
is elegantly shaped. His ribs are more deeply arched

ARABIAN HORSES. 273

than is -usually the case with our horses, and conse-
quently he swells out behind the shoulders in a grace-
ful curve, whereas both the running horse and the
trotter are very apt to be what is called slab-sided.

Another peculiarity of the Arabian is the great
length of his pastern joints, to which is chiefly due
the remarkable springiness and elasticity of his gait.
" He is so light that he could dance upon the bosom
of a woman without bruising it." And a quaint
writer thus describes a mare of the desert : " All
shining, beautiful, and gentle of herself, she seemed
a darling life upon that savage soil, not worthy of
her gracious pasterns." Nor, despite its length,
does this joint ever break down with the Arabian
horse, as happens so frequently with the English
racer. Grogginess and knuckling over are unknown
in the desert.

As to the legs of the Arabian, they are as hard as
flint ; spavin, curb, and ringbone are very infrequent.
In speaking of a certain Anazeh mare, a bay with
black points. Major Upton declares that her legs ap-
l)eared to have been cut out of black marble, and
then highly polished. The knees and hocks of the
Arabian are large, as they are in all good horses.
" A Bedawee, whose mare had a foal running by her
side, being pursued, feared that his steed would not
do her best, out of consideration for the foal ; there-
fore he struck at the foal with his lance, and it fell
back disabled. But when the Arab stopped his mare,
the foal shortly niade its appearance ; and although
it had been wounded in the hocks, it liad made such
good play that it was called the father or possessor
of good hocks. It is a strain most highly esteemed."

18

274 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

Auother iamily is descencled from " the Mare of
the Old. Woman," whose story is as follows. A
Bedawee had been pursued for souie days through a
long and devious course. On the way his mare gave
birth to a foal, but her master soon mounted again
and continued his flight, leaving the little creature to
its fate. However, when he stopped at night to rest,
the infant appeared, having followed all the way, not-
withstanding its extreme youth, and thereupon he
gave it to an old woman, who brought it up by hand ;
and this foal, " the Mare of the Old Woman," became
the mother of a noted family.^

As to the manner in which the Arabs treat their
horses, it is pleasant to be assured that neither ro-
mance nor tradition has exaggerated its kindness and
familiarity. " Their great merit as horse-breakers is
unwearied patience. Loss of temper with a beast is
not in their nature, and I have never seen them strike
or ill use their mares in any way." If Providence
provided Central Arabia as a region peculiarly fit for
breeding sound horses, it would seem also that the
ancient Arabian race was specially designed to have
the nurture and training of these high-bred animals.
The Arabs have a saying which is indicative of,their
character . " A noble may labor with his own hands,
without disgrace, in three cases, — for his horse, for
his father, and for his guest."

It is clear that rough treatment would soon convert
Arabian horses into demons. Mr. William Day, the
well known English trainer, conjectures that the ill

• Tlie endurance of young fo.ils is surprising. I know of a case
in which a foal only ten days old trav<dled by the side of its dam,
a Morgan, over fifty miles in about twelve hours, without injury.

ARABIAN HORSES. 275

temper and ferocity which characterize some strains
of the English thoroughbred come from the Arab
blood in their ancestry. Hence he infers that Ara-
bian horses are bad-tempered. His conjecture is very
likely correct, but his inference is a vicious one. It
is not improbable that a generation or two of the old-
fashioned English groom, with his rough " Come up,
horse ! " and dig in the ribs or kick in the belly,
added to the use of whips and spurs and severe bits,
would sour the temper and awake the resentment of
so highly bred and finely organized an animal as one
of Arabian descent. But in the desert viciousness in
the horse is absolutely unknown. The Arab rides,
without saddle or stirrups, on a small pad fastened in
place by a surcingle. As for bridle and bit, he has
none. The horse is guided by a halter, the rope of
which the rider holds in his hand, and he is con-
trolled by the voice. " I have never seen either vio-
lent plunging, rearing, or indeed any serious attempt
made to throw the rider. Whether a Bedouin would
be able to sit a bare-backed, unbroken four-year-old
colt as the Gauchos of South America do is exceed-
ingly doubtful."

The Arabian mare has no more fear of her master
than a dog would have with us, and she is on terms
of almost canine intimacy with the whole family.
An old traveller in the desert describes an incident
on a wet evening at the sheikh's tent : " Evening
clouds gathered. . . . The mare returned of herself
through the falling weather, and came and stood at
our coffee fire, in half-human wise, to dry her soaked
skin and warm herself as one among us. She ap-
proached the sitters about the hearth, and, putting

276 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

down her soft uose, kissed each member of the group,
till the sheikh was fain to rise and scold his mare
away."

" Ali's tent," writes Mr. Blunt, '• was partly occu-
pied by a filly and a bay foal, the latter not a week
old, and very engaging. It was tied up, as the cus-
tom is, by a rope round the neck, while its mother
was aAvay grazing, and neighed continually. It was
very tame, however, and let me stroke it, and sniffed
at my pockets, as if it knew that there might be
some sugar there."

No wonder, then, that the Arabian foals are de-
scribed as being gentle and familiar. They do not
run away when they are approached at pasture ; they
are not to be intimidated by the flourishing of sticks
or by the waving of garments. If they happen to be
lying down when one comes near them, they continue
iu that position, instead of scrambling to their feet in
alarm ; and they have an engaging habit of using
their masters as rubbing-posts. All this is true, in
general, of our trotting-bred American foals. The
fact is that any colt, whatever its origin, if treated
with uniform kindness, will become by the age of six
or eight months as tame and fearless as the pets of
the desert.

The manner of rearing the Aral)ian colt is as fol-
lows. It is weaned at the tender age of one month,
instead of being allowed to run with its mother for
four, five, or six months, according to our custom,
but it is then fed on camel's milk, which is very nu-
tritious. So soon as it is weaned, the dam goes out to
pasture, and the foal remains close by the tent, being
tied by a cord around the neck, or around the hind

ARABIAN HORSES. 277

leg above the hock. The chiklren play with it, and
when it is a year old they mount it occasionally, and
thus it gradually becomes accustomed to carrying
weight. Before it attains two years of age it has
been ridden by a half-grown boy, and a year later it
is put through some long and severe gallops. The
Bedouins maintain — very unreasonably, as Western
experience shows — that, unless a horse has done hard
work before he is three years old, he will never be fit
to do it afterward. It may be, indeed, that Arabian
and " thoroughbred " horses can do hard work in
their colthood with impunity ; bu.t of half-bred, still
more of cold-blooded horses, Shakspere's adage still
holds true :

" The colt that 's backed and burdeued being young
Loseth his pride, and never waxeth strong."

When the Arabian colt is about two and a half
years old, besides being taught to gallop in the figure
of an 8, and to change his leg, so as to become supple,
he is ridden by his master on a journey. The conse-
quence of this heroic treatment is, that splints are not
uncommon in Arabian horses, and sometimes their
shank bones become bent permanently. Occasionally,
also, the colt gets a pair of broken knees by being
ridden over rough ground at too early an age. But,
strange to say, the Arabians make no account of such
a blemish. Their horses, when full grown, never fall,
despite their careless way of walking. " The Arabian
horse is too sure of his footing to be careful, except
on rough ground, and there he never makes a false
step."

I own a Morgan mare which has precisely the
same peculiarity. On ordinary roads she will not

278 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

take the pains to avoid an obstacle such as a stone,
and will frequently trip over it, knowing full well
that she can always save herself with the other leg.
But I have driven this same mare down a mountain
side, where the only road was the dry bed of a rocky
stream, and there she picked her way in perfect
safety, without taking a false step.

The smallness of the Arabian horse is due partly,
at least, to scantiness of food. " Horses, mares, and
colts, all alike, are starved during a great part of the
year, no corn being ever given, and only camel's milk
when other food fails. They are often without water
for several days together, aud in the most piercing
nights of winter they stand uncovered, and with no
more shelter than can be got on the lee side of the
tents. Their coats become long and shaggy, and they
are left uncombed and unbrushed till the new coat
comes in spring. At these times they are ragged-
looking scare-crows, half starved, and as rough as
ponies. In the summer, hoAvever, their coats are as
fine as satin, and they show all the appearance of
breeding one has a right to expect of their blood."

The cow-pony of our Western and Southwestern
States is akin to the Arabian, being descended from
the Barbs (in part Arabian) that the Spaniards
brought over when they conquered South America;
and the cow-pony and the Arabian horse fare very
much the same in Avinter, and undergo a similar
change in spring. '' Tlie cow-pony," writes Colonel
T. A. Dodge in a private letter, '' in many places, in
the winter, looks like a beai\ His hide becomes fur,
and his legs are as big as barrels. But when he
scours out in the spring, he is as fine as any thorough-

ARABIAN HORSES. 279

bred. He conies of the same stock which produced
the English thoroughbred, and he has had the very
best of training in running away from wolves and in
hunting his fodder. In other words, with him the
species is a survival of the fittest. . . , Barring his
attenuated form, whicli comes from liis annual starv-
ing, he is one of the most astonishing creatures ever
made."

The last touch of romance is added to the Bedouin
when we learn that he is not in any sense a horse-
dealer. The town Arab is often a dealer in horses,
but the Arab of the desert treasures the glorious
animal for his own sake, and not as a merchantable
commodity. If he has a mare to sell, there she is, —
you may take her or leave her ; but the owner will
make no attempt to exaggerate her virtues or to
apologize for her defects. " He knows little of
showing off a horse, or even of making him stand to
advantage ; but, however anxious he may be to sell
him, brings him just as he is, dirty and ragged, tired,
and perhaps broken-kneed. He has a supreme con-
tempt himself for everything except blood in his
beast, and he expects everybody else to have the
same." The Arabian horse is frequently blemished
by lance wounds and other injuries, and especially
from firing with the hot iron. This is the sovereign
remedy among the Arabs for man and horse, and
upon both animals it is practised to a cruel and
ridiculous degree. Mr. Palgrave mentions one case
where a deep circular wound had been burned upon
the skull of an insane man, the injury being suffi-
ciently great to cause the madness which it was
intended to cure.

280 KOAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

Often, indeed, it requires the eye of a skilled horse-
man to detect the merit and high breeding of a mare
fresh from the desert, in her winter coat and winter
condition. An old traveller relates how such a mare,
sent by a Nedji prince to an Egyptian Pasha, was
criticised by those who saw her : '• Merry were these
men of settled countries, used to stout hackneys.
' The carrion ! ' cried one, for indeed she was lean
and uncurried. 'The Pasha would not accept her,'
said another. But a Syrian who stood by quietly
remarked, ' A month at Shem, and she will seem
better than now.' And some Bedouins who were
present declared her worth to be thirty camels."

It is true, as this traveller sagely declared, that
men of "settled countries, used to stout hackneys,"
often prefer an inferior horse to the pure-bred Ara-
bian. The Barb, for example, has a bigger crest and
is more on the prancing order.

I have touched already upon the views of the
Arabo-maniacs. With them the problem of horse-
breeding is a veiy simple one, the solution being to
discard all other breeds as mongrels, and to go back
to " the primitive horse." the horse of the desert.
On the other hand, most practical men engaged in
the business deride this notion. "I cannot help
thinking," writes one such, '' that of all insane ideas
the maddest is that which some enthusiasts have of
permanently improving English race horses by an
admixture of Arab blood, as if the difference between
the various breeds of horses were not the result of
climate, selection, stiiblc management, work, and
training." It is, I believe, a fact — so malleable
is horseflesh — that a thoroughbred foal, born in

ARABIAN HORSES. 281

India, of parents imported from England, bears un-
mistakable evidence of his birthplace ; and in the
second or third generation the colonized thorough-
bred loses all resemblance to the native English
stock.

No doubt, as the writer just quoted maintains, the
race horse of to-day cannot be improved by an infusion
of Arab blood. He is bigger, faster, than the Arab,
and could beat him over any distance short of one
hundred miles j perhaps indeed over any distance
whatever. It is probably the same in regard to
trotting horses ; and yet, as I have mentioned, the
Arabian formation, especially as it is found in the
Anazeh family, closely resembles that of a typical
trotter. Moreover, the Arabian trotting gait seems
to be much the same as that of our horses. Thus
Major Upton writes ; ^' When trotting, the hind legs
of the Arabian appear to be, and often may be, too
long, and there is too much reach for a pleasant trot-
ting pace [not for speed] ; yet with good riding some
will trot grandly." This is precisely what might be
said of an American trotter if used as a saddle horse.
However, the Arabian horses are deficient in trotting
action forward ; and on the whole it is very doubtful
if any gain in trotting speed conld be made at this
late day by an Arabian cross.

BiTt if the object were, not to obtain a race horse,
either at the running or trotting gait, but to produce
a family of fine saddle or driving horses, especially
the former, for general use, then indeed it might be
well to breed from Arabian stock. Success would be
certain. The only question would be whether you
could reach your end the more quickly by this means,

282 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

ov by breeding from the best of our own horses ; and
this is a problem which nothing sliort of experiment
call solve. It must be remembered that no serious
attempt on a large scale has ever been made in this
country to raise horses with a view to beauty, intelli-
gence, courage, and soundness ; and these are the
respects in which the Arabians excel.

Moreover, the perfectly natural way in which they
take to jumping, an exercise of whicli they have not
the slightest experience in the desert, shows that the
Arabian horses are entirely harmonious in all their
parts, and therefore adaptable to any use that might
be required of them. Lady Anne Blunt relates :
" The mare I rode on the journey carried me over
the raised watercourses by the Euphrates in the
cleverest way in the world ; off and on, without the
least hanging or hesitation, and always with a foot
ready to bring down in case of need." One of the
mares brought home by Mr. Blunt was let loose in
his park on the night of her arrival, and forthwith
she jumped the fence, five feet and six inches high.
The lower rails were then pulled down, and she was
walked back under tlie top one, a thick, oaken bar,
several inches higher than her withers.

Few Arabian horses have been imported to this
country, especially of late years ; but it is a striking
fact that, wlien one hears of some extraordinary feat
performed by an American horse, it is not infrequent-
ly added that his dam or grandam, or some more re-
mote ancestor, was " said to be Arabian." I saw not
long ago, for instance, in a Maine pasture, a little
roan mare, not otherwise remarkable in appearance,
but of a distinctly Arabian cast of countenance. She

ARABIAN HORSES. 283'

had a nose that would •' go in a pint pot," a neat head,
line ears, and a large, intelligent, though wicked eye.
This little mare is reputed to be a remarkable road-
ster, and a former owner declares that he once drove
her from Gardiner to Phillips, Maine, in five hours
and a half. The distance is fifty-five miles. The dam
of her grandsire was a half-bred Arab, and the foal at
her side when I saw them showed even more distinctly
than its mother the Arab strain in its ancestry.

The dam of the famous Flora Temple was by a
"spotted Arabian horse." Leopard Rose, a spotted
mare that made a sensation on the track in 1889 and
1890, winning many races, and getting a record of
2.15 J, was by Killbuck Tom, and he by a circus
horse said to be of Arab descent. Numerous like
instances might be cited. Of course, no pure Arabian
was ever " spotted," but I am inclined to think that
some at least of the animals thus described had
Arabian blood in their veins. Still, the point is
doubtful.

One of the best roadsters in Maine of recent years
was a mare descended from " Royal Tar," a mysterious
white stallion who is said to have swum ashore from
a vessel wrecked near Eggemoggin Reach, and who
not improbably was of Eastern birth.

The grandam of this roadster is described as an
" ordinary " black mare, and her sire was Tom Knox,
a black horse; but she, like her dam, inherited the
white color of her grandsire, Roj^al Tar. She was
once driven eighty-seven miles in a day of fourteen
hours, hauling two people in a top buggy, doing the
last thirty-six miles in four hours, and winding up
with a race of some miles down the road from Bucks-

284 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

port to Bangor, which she wou. This mare weighed
about nine hundred pounds ; her back was very short ;
her eyes were ^' large and expressive " ; she was low-
headed, and a hard puller. I ought not, however, to
speak of her in the past tense, for my informant adds
•' She is now nineteen years old, and has n't seen a
windpuff."

An old gentleman who has owned many valuable
horses told me lately that the best and most intelli-
gent of them all was a medium-sized gelding, with a
dash of Arab blood. One very hot day he drove this
horse sixty miles in a heavy buggy, putting up toward
night at the house of a friend. After the nag had
thoroughly cooled off, the negro groom in charge
mounted and took him out for a bath in a neighboring
river. The horse enjoyed it so much that he swam
hither and thither for a considerable distance with
the darkey on his l)ack, and, finally coming ashore,
he finished the da3^'s work by taking the bit in his
teeth and running away on the high road for three or
four miles out of pure lightness of heel and heart.
" Massa," said the negro, when he led this extraordi-
nary animal to the door on the following morning,
not daring to get in the vehicle and drive, '-'Massa,
this hoss am de debil!"

One experiment now making in this country with
regard to Arabian horses deserves mention. Mr.
Randoph Huntington is a veteran horseman, whose
devotion to the Henry Clay family of trotters (de-
scended from the Barb, Grand Bashaw) and to the
Arabian horse may be described without exaggeration
as heroic. I have quoted in a previous chapter his
description of old Henry Clay. For many years the

ARABIAN HORSES. 2o5

Clays were the victims of prejudice, the result partly
of ignorance, partly of designed misrepresentation ;
and Mr. Huntington, like the horses that he loved,
was a perpetual target for ridicule and abuse. Of
late, however, the value of this strain has asserted
itself so clearly that it cannot be denied by the most
envious person. Mr. Huntington owns the Anazeh
mare Naomi, and he has established a stock company,
with headquarters on Long Island, for the purpose of
breeding a family of Clay-Arabian horses. What
may be the capacity of these Clay -Arabians, as they
are called, I do not know, but some of them are ani-
mals of extreme beauty and finish, as symmetrical as
their Oriental ancestors, and much larger.

As an Arabo-maniac, Mr. Huntington has stood
almost alone in this country. He had one predeces-
sor, a Kentucky gentleman, a breeder of running
horses, who staked his fortune and his hopes upon
the success of his Arabian stud. Twice this man
visited the desert to buy horses, having become con-
vinced that on his first attempt he obtained none of
the pure breed. The enterprise was a failure, and he
died bankrupt and broken-hearted.

It would be interesting to know how far the Arabo-
maniacs have been influenced, unwittingly of course,
by the halo of romance which surrounds the courser
of the desert. At all events, it is a generous enthusi-
asm which this far-away steed kindles in the breasts
of his few and scattered devotees among English-
speaking people. The passion for horseflesh is, I
hold, a sort of divine madness ; and Arabo-mania is
one form of it. Let us deal with it gently.

XI.

THE CARE OF HORSES.

SO many treatises have been written concerning
the horse and his stable that I should do bet-
ter, some critics might think, to let the matter alone.
But my excuse is this : I do not mean to write a
treatise, but only a chapter; and, unless' my knowl-
edge of horse books is at fault, the modest task of
putting the essentials of the subject in so brief a
form has never yet been attempted. The present
essay will contain no long Latin words, no medical
terms, no vague prescriptions ; it will merely treat of
those commonplace things which more learned au-
thors are apt to omit. Nor do I pretend to write for
the typical horseman, who would scorn to obtain in-
formation from the printed ]iage. He knows already
all that man can know. T have not forgotten the

THE CARE OP HORSES. 287

auger and contempt with wliieli a certain blacksmith,
a good mechanic, moreover, once told me of a present
that he had just received from a grateful customer.
It was a work on the diseases of the hoof, written by
a Vet of five times his experience and ten times his
information. " To think," he exclaimed, in the tone
of one whose pride had received a wanton insult, —
"to think that any book could teach me anything
about the foot of a hoss ! "

Now I fear that we horsemen are all more or less
like this blacksmith; and accordingly I address my-
self, not to the craft, but to the ordinary horse owner,
who has acquired no special knowledge of the animal,
and who does not enjoy the services of a stud-groom.
Nevertheless, I make bold to say that among the fol-
lowing pages will be found a few original remarks,
worthy the attention even of a horseman. It would
be odd indeed had I failed to. pick up an idea or two
concerning matters that lie so near my heart. And
here I might repeat what was said to me last sum-
mer by a middle-aged farmer, a rough, grizzle-headed
"Down-easter." We stood in his barnyard on a
pleasant Sunday afternoon, while a weanling filly
— whose high merits had just been pointed out —
contentedly chewed an enormous and horny thumb
extended by her master for that purpose. Suddenly
the farmer turned to me, — being careful, however,
not to disengage his thumb, — and remarked, with
an obvious and unusual effort at introspection, "I
like a good horse awful well!" So do I, — so, I
am persuaded, does the reader, — and accordingly,
with his permission, we will put on our hats, and
saunter out to

288 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

The Stable.

The first thing to notice is that the occupants poke
their heads out as we approach. Tliis means that
they are kept in box stalls, and are accustomed to
be petted and to be fed with apples, carrots, and other
equine dainties. I am a believer in box stalls. A
horse loose in his box — and he should not be tied
unless for some special reason — gets an appreciable
amount of exercise in walking about his quarters.
The difference in this respect is so great that often
a horse, whose legs stock in a straight stall, will re-
main perfectly smooth if he be given the run of a
loose box. So also, the animal in a box stall, having
more freedom of movement, is much less likely to
take to kicking, cribbing, or weaving, — all these
vices being induced by ennui and restlessness. But
the chief advantage of a box stall is that it gives the
horse more opportunity to lie down, to stretch him-
self, and to roll. He likes to lie, as a dog does,
with his head flat on the ground, and with all four
legs stretched out at length, and this attitude is
impossible in a straight stall unless it be extraordi-
narily wide. Every stable should contain at least
one box stall, to be occupied by the horses in turn,
or in case of illness.

The more a horse lies down, the longer will his legs
and feet last. Therefore, in a straight as well as in
a box stall there should always be bedding under the
horse, and, if tied at all, he should be so tied that
he can lie down at ease. It is a common, almost an
invariable, fault of grooms to tie up their horses too
short, lest they should get cast. But with nine horses

THE CARE OF HORSES. 289

out of ten — forty-nine out of lifty, 1 tliink I might
say — this precaution is unnecessary. In straight
stalls I tie my horses so that they can rest their
heads flat on the floor, and I have never had one
injured by so doing. In many stables, if an animal
is seen to lie down in the daytime, it is at once con-
cluded that he must be ill. But give a horse bedding
and sufiicient halter rope, and it will soon become
habitual with him to lie down for a part of the day
as well as of the night. I have noticed especially
that horses like to recline in the morning, after they
have finished eating, comfortably snoozing while they
digest their breakfast. Horses that are out of the
stable all day, such as cart and hack horses, should
always have their hay at night on the floor of the
stall, in order that the}'' may eat and lie down at the
same time. This plan, as we have seen, is usually
pursued with fire horses, and its advantages are plain.
The disadvantage of the method is that it would, in
some cases, entail a waste of fodder, but the waste
would be slight.

I do not quite share the modern prejudice against
the old-fashioned hay-rack. It is dangerous, the au-
thorities say, because hay-seeds are likely to fall from
it into the animal's eyes. This may be so, but I
never heard or read of any such actual case. The
disadvantage of a hay-rack placed on the floor is
that the horse can eat from it easily and quickly ;
whereas witli the high hay-rack, protected b}^ numer-
ous bars, he has some little difficulty in pulling out
his fodder, and hence will be longer in consuming it,
thus facilitating digestion, and giving him something
to do. The best arrangement, it seems to me, would

19

290 ROAD, TRACK. AND STABLE.

be a rack placed at a medium height, and well de-
fended by bars or slats.

By -this time, however, I assume that the reader
and myself have put our heads over the first door,
and are looking inside the stalls. There are five
in this row, and the solid partitions between them
run up to a height of less than a foot beyond the
withers of an ordinary sized horse. At that point
the partition is continued by three horizontal rails, to
prevent neighbors from biting each other. An iron
network would be better, perhaps, but 1 used a dis-
carded lightning rod which happened to be on hand.
Thus, a clear space over all the stalls is obtained for
light and air, and more especially for social purposes.
A horse should always be able to see his neighbor;
and if there is but one loose box in a stable, it should
be contiguous to the straight stalls. A horse shut up
in a box stall, made, as it sometimes is, Avith a solid
door and but one snmll window, is forlorn and un-
happy. In some stables the partitions between the
loose boxes are composed entirely of iron network, —
a good arrangement unless it should render the stalls
draughty.

The reader will observe that my loose boxes face
the south, that there is a window in each, and that
the door is cut in two, having an upper and a lower
part. Thus, the temperature can be regulated in a
considerable degree. Good dimensions for a loose box
to contain a horse of medium size are twelve feet by
twelve, but a box ten feet by ten, or perhaps even
smaller, would be better than a straight stall. Mr.
(t. Tattersall states the proper size of a hunter's box
as twenty-two feet long and thirteen feet wide. In

THE CARE OF HORSES. 291

a recent work Avill be found a plan for making loose
boxes convertible at will to straight stalls.^

If the latter are used, they should be as wide
as possible ; and they should be long, not less than
twelve feet. Short stalls have three disadvantages :
they allow two contiguous horses to kick each other,
— a possible but infrequent evil; they fail to protect
the hind legs from draughts ; and, worst of all, they
enable the occupant to stand with the toes of his
hind feet in tire gutter, which usually runs behind the
stalls. This is a bad position, being certain, if long
continued, to result in a straining of the cords and
muscles of the pastern. It is said in all horse books
that the stall should slope backward but a trifle, only
just enough for purposes of drainage ; but 1 go fur-
ther, and declare that it ought not to slope at all. I
believe that the natural position of a horse is with his
fore legs actually lower than his hind legs, and cer-
tainly he should never be put in a stall where his
fore legs must stand in the least degree higher than
his hind legs.

Perfect cleanliness can be obtained by having the
stall floored with slate, sloping as much as may be
desired. On the top of this is laid a removable floor
of wooden or metal slats, so supported that it is ex-
actly level. On this the horse stands, and, as it is
easily taken up, the slate floor can be flushed with
water every morning. It may be doubted if a stable
should ever have a pipe or gutter connecting with a
sewer, the danger of its becoming clogged is so great.

1 " Stable Building and Stable Fitting," by Giraud. London :
B. T. Batsford, 1891.

292 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

The bedding, acting- as au absorbent, should always
be the main reliance for drainage.

Tlie necessity of sunlight in a stable is now so well
understood that it need not be dwelt upon. The
horse, having a peculiarly line organization, is espe-
cially sensitive to the presence or absence of sunshine.
A good Vet will never perform an operation on a
cloudy day if it be possible to postpone it ; and where
distemper, or any other disease, runs through a stable,
it will, I believe, invariably be found that the lightest
cases and quickest recoveries occur in the stalls that
receive the most sunshine, although none of them
may be actually dai-k. So also it is now commonly
understood that stables should be cool, — a truth
which English horsemen have been very slow to learn.
Even '■'■ Nimrod," an advanced writer with new and
sensible theories about hunters, thought that horses
could hardly be kept in the pink of condition if the
temperature of their quarters fell much below seven-
ty-five degrees ! To their hot, ill ventilated stables
many English writers ascribe the former excessive
prevalence of roaring, now fast decreasing in Eng-
land, and in this country almost unknov/n.

A temperature of fifty-five degrees is not far from
the right one in winter, and any degree of cold above
freezing will be borne by horses with perfect comfort,
provided they are well blanketed. The real enemy of
the horse is not cold, but daini)ness ; and against that
he is to be defended at all points. If a horse begins
to cough, let him be put in tlie sunniest, driest part
of the stable, and he will recover tlie sooner, even
though his new situation be much cooler than the old
one. Dogs in damp kennels always have rheumatism,

THE CARE OP HORSES. 293

and horses have even less affinity than dogs for
dampness. Dryness of climate, says a recent writer,
" is the great factor in producing not only sound feet,
but sound limbs, tendons, and bone." However, it is
time to look a little closer at our stalls, and to see
what they contain lu the way of

Bedding.

Here is a gamy -looking black mare standing on a
deep bed of dark brown stuff which might be, and
indeed has been, mistaken by the unsophisticated for
a muck-heap. I need hardly say that it is peat-moss.
It is not nice to look at, and one would rather see his
horses knee deep in golden straw ; but it has this
great advantage : it cannot be eaten even bj the most
voracious animal, and consequently it is suitable for
liorses that devour their bedding and get too fat.
Moreover, it keeps the feet soft. No horse bedded
with peat-moss ever requires to have his feet stopped ;
and it is invaluable in cases where the hoof is defect-
ive or deficient, and needs to be " grown out." Fur-
ther, it is free from odor, and incombustible. Some-
times peat-moss renders the frog too soft, so that the
horse, especially if he be used unshod, is apt to be-
come foot-sore, but this bad effect might always be
avoided by a frequent renewal of the peat-moss.

And this brings us to the question of expense. The
material costs about $2.50 per bale, and each bale will
supply one box stall or two straight stalls. The peat-
moss should be forked over every day to mix the wet
and the dry. But how long does it last ? That de-
pends almost entirely upon the habit of the particular
horse in eating his hay ; if he eats it up clean, the

294 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

peat-moss bedding will last a long time. The black
mare before us was bedded down seven weeks ago,
and iter bed will last a \veek or two yet, perhaps
longer. (3ther horses, that scatter their hay and
trample it under foot, need a fresh bale every two
or three weeks, and perhaps the average time that
it lasts in good condition is four weeks. Thus it
appears, on the whole, that peat-moss is a cheap form
of bedding.

In summer, sawdust frequently reneAved makes a
good bed, but it is too cold for winter, except as a sub-
stratum with straw on top. Where I live " meadow "
hay cut near the river can be had for $6 or $7 per
ton. It is not quite so clean as straw for bedding ;
but some of it will be eaten by horses, and, unless
their work is fast work, it forms not only a cheap, but
also a wholesome food. The best straw for bedding,
as everybody knows, is rye straw, w^hich usually costs
about $20 per ton, and is more economical than oat
straw, which costs about half as much. The bedding
should of course be well dried in the sun ; meadow
hay can thus be used twice, oat straw two or three
times, and rye straw half a dozen times or more.

The chief points to be observed about bedding are,
first, that it should always be kept imder a horse, for
the reasons previously stated, and, secondly, that it
should be used profusely. A horse likes a deep soft
bed, — such as he does not usually have in New Eng-
land. An English groom will bed down his horses m
a manner to make a Yankee stare. But if the truth
were known, liberal bedding is not only beneficial to
the horse, it is also economical. If much straw be
used, it can all be dried, and used again and again,

THE CARE OF HORSES. 295

whereas, if the supply be stinted, a large part of it
will become so dirty as to be incapable of further
use. Bedding is only less important than

FkEDIN(J.

Under fed, hard worked horses sometimes fall in the
street from sheer weakness, induced by want of oats.
On the other hand, many, perhaps most, gentlemen's
horses are fed too high. In city stables, especially in
boarding and club stables, the horses receive too much
grain and too little hay. Consequently they are apt
to have a shrunken appearance, and to become what is
known as "grain-burnt."

For young horses and colts, hay three times a day,
and plenty of it, is indispensable. The physiological
reason for this was well stated by Hiram Woodruff,
as follows: "In order to thrive, the horse, young or
old, must not only have his stomach supplied with a
sufficient quantity of nutritious food, but also with
enough matter not so highly nutritious to distend it.
A horse or a colt fed only on the substances which
go to make up his substance would starve, though you
gave them to him in the greatest abundance." And
he adds, on the same subject-. "While the animal is
young, a good distention of the stomach is calculated
to produce that roundness of rib which we see in
so many of our best horses. Now this capacity of
the carcass ... is not going to be obtained by the
feeding of food in the concentrated shape. Bulk
is required, and the pulp and essence need not be
given in large quantity until the organization is
formed, and extraordinary exertion is required of
the horse."

296 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

"Make your head early, my bo}^," was a piece of
advice solemnly given to me by an old toper, when I
was about twelve years of age ; and if I were to ad-
monish a colt in the same spirit, I should say to him,
" Make your stomach early."

Much benefit is often obtained from a change of
food. Thus, if a horse does not do well on oats and
hay, he may be tried with provender in place of oats.
" Provender," as the term is used hereabout, means
oats and corn ground up together ; and sometimes
the mixture is subjected by the miller to a steaming
or cooking process, with good results. This is of
course a heavier food than oats, and more fatten-
ing ; but it may safely be given in cold weather. In
cold weather, also, a little whole corn (cracked corn
is always to be avoided) can be fed to advantage. A
pint of corn in two or three quarts of bran, made into
a mash with boiling water, constitutes an excellent
supper on a wintry night for horses that are doing
very little work. But for riding and driving horses,
the chief reliance in the way of grain, year in and
year out, must be oats.

As to the quantity proper to be given, no rules
can be laid down, because horses differ so much in
this respect. Here, for example, if the reader will
accompany me to the end of the row, are two contig-
uous stalls occupied respectively by a big bay mare
and a small black one. The bay mare is a handsome
creature, with an aristocratic head, large mild eyes,
and hunter-like legs; but her back is too long, the
coupling is loose, and her constitution is soft. The
black mare, on the contrary, is a short-backed, com-
pact, tough, wiry animal, and she will do twice the

THE CARE OF HORSES. 297

work of the bay mare on exactly half the food. This
bay mare has another peculiarity, she bolts her oats
without stopping to chew them. To correct this, an
old bridle is always kept hanging at the door of the
stall, and when her oats are given to her the bit is
slipped in her mouth. It would be well also, in the
case of such horses, when kept in loose boxes, to
have a manger made in the shape of a long narrow
trough, running the length of the stall. If the oats
were scattered over this manger, an additional hin-
drance to bolting them would be provided. A " slow
feeding " manger has been patented, and is now on
the market, which accomplishes the same object by
doling out the oats through a small aperture.

Ground oats can sometimes be fed with advantage,
but a horse that bolts his grain is apt to be a " soft "
horse, and to feed him on ground oats would aggravate
this tendency. Not long since, I happened to take
up a disquisition on pigs, and my eye fell upon this
passage : "A hog ought to eat his food up clean, but
he ought not to make a mad rush for the trough ;
that shows an inferior constitution." I believe that
this remark is equally true of horses.

After what I have said of the two animals just
mentioned, the reader will hardly need to be told
that the bay mare seldom if ever requires a bran
mash ; whereas the black mare has one twice a week
through the winter, when grass is not obtainable.
The office of a bran mash is to loosen the bowels, cool
the blood, and purify the system. At the close of a
long, hot day's work, give a horse a good cleaning, a
bran mash, and a soft bed, and it is wonderful how
fresh he will come out in the morning. And here — at

298 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

the risk of causing some horsy person to throw down
my book in disgust — I will state this elementary
fact ; A bran mash,^ consisting ordinarily of six
quarts, is made by pouring boiling water upon the
bran, stirring it, and then covering it with a thick
cloth or otherwise, and letting it steam for lifteeu
or twenty minutes. The cloth may then be removed
and the bran given to the horse, in winter while it
is still warm, in summer when it is cool.

All tough healthy horses need bran, or its equiva-
lent. In fact, this general proposition may be laid
down : strong horses kept on stable food have a ten-
dency to tightness of the bowels, just as delicate
horses have the opposite tendency. In the latter case,
a simple remedy, to be used whenever necessary, is a
cupful of ordinary wheat flour mixed with the grain
or put in a pail of water. In some stables the horses
are " salted " when they receive a bran mash ; but
the better plan is always to have a, lump of rock salt
in a little rack by itself, where it will not contaminate
the oats. Thus the horse can help himself according
to his needs. When salt is given only occasionally,
the animal is sure to take a great deal, and to follow
it up by drinking immoderately of cold water. Colic
has often been caused in this manner.

Bran is a kind of artiiicial grass, and in summer I
prefer to let my horses graze a little, or, if this be
impracticable, to have grass cut for them, which they
like much less. Not many years ago it would have
been thought madness to give grass to a horse in full
training ; but this is done nowadays with great beneht

' 1 use the generic term "bran," Init I iiieau "shorts," which
have more body thau lirau.

THE CARE OF HORSES. 299

in the case both of ruuners and trotters. If possible,
let the horse graze in the early morning, while the
blades are still wet. The grass is sweeter and more
juicy at this time, and the dew is an excellent med-
icine for the feet.

When horses have their shoes removed and are
turned out to pasture, care should be taken not to
make the change too sudden. Many a fine animal has
been killed by direct transition from a warm stable
and blankets to the open air and cold ground. Let
the blankets be taken off while the horse is still kept
under cover ; and turn him out at night for the first
time. If he is turned out in the morning, he will
feed all day, and at night-time lie down, and, very
likely, catch cold ; but if he is turned out hungry at
night, he will keep on his feet all or nearly all the
time till morning ; and the first night is of course the
dangerous one. Another good plan is to take the
horse in the first night just before you go to bed ; and
finally, it is practicable to turn a horse out blanketed.
A second surcingle sewed to the blanket and passing
around the flanks can be used. A horse in active
service can thus be given a night out with safety.

Now, however, as I observe that the reader is be-
coming bored, we will move on to the grooming-room ;
but as we pass by the hay-mows I cannot refrain from
this remark : the popular notion that horses like
coarse hay best, and thrive best upon it, is a huge
mistake. The second or third quality of hay as it
would be deemed in respect to coarseness is the best.
Nine city horsemen out of ten, I am aware, would
deny this proposition ; but the tenth is the man who
has tried the experiment.

300 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

l)ut here we are at the watering trough, and despite
]uy implied })roinise, 1 shall button-hole the reader
for a moment more before we leave the main stable.
Horses require water that is pure and soft. Many
well-bred nags will not drink from a pail in which
another animal has already had his nose. The Arabs
regard pure water as of the highest importance ;
and they do not hesitate to risk their lives, as by
leaving camp at night when the enemy is near, in
order to water their horses at some fresh spring of
which they have knowledge. This is the form in
which they describe a man of thoroughly bad and
contemptible character : —

" His horse drinks troubled water,
And his covering is full of holes."

The oftener a horse drinks in the course of the
day, the less he will drink. Therefore, the best plan
is to have water always before him at his meals. It
was found by experiment at the Duke of Beaufort's
stables, that under this, the modern system, a horse
drank only five gallons, whereas, when watered but
twice during the day, he drank eight gallons.^ Of
course, if the com})arison had been made with three
instead of two waterings a day, the discrepancy would
not have been so great. At Badminton, I believe,
slate troughs are used for this purpose. A better
plan, perhaps would be to have pail-holders fixed
alongside the grain mangers. Then a pail of fresh
water could be put in whenever the horse was fed.

' From tliis it seems necessary to infer that formerly at Bad-
minfjton horses were watered but twice a day, although it is
difficult to believe that so preposterous a .system was practised.

THE CARE OP HORSES. 301

With a permanent watering trougii in the stall, there
must be danger of the water becoming stale, and also
of the horse's drinking from it when he comes in
heated by his work.

The next best thing to having water constantly
before the horse at his meals is to give it to him
frequently, four times a day being the minimuui.
Should he be watered before or after eating ? All
the books say before, but in this country the almost
universal practice is to give it afterward. The the-
ory of the books is, that, when a horse is watered after
his feed of grain, the water tends to wash the latter
out of his stomach, where it should digest, to the gut
or second stomach. But it seems to be more natural
for the horse, as it is for man, to drink after eating
rather than before, provided he cannot drink while
eating. A horse who is both hungry and thirsty will
refuse water until he has had food. There is another
consideration which I have never seen mentioned,
namely, that a horse is likely to eat his grain more
slowly, and to chew it better, if he is thirsty, than if
he has just been watered. My own way is to water
him after he has eaten his grain, and before he has
his hay. At Palo Alto the horses are watered two
hours after eating. Whatever the system adopted,
there is one time at which almost all horses like to
drink, and that is about nine or ten at night, when the
stable is, or should be, visited by the groom or master,
the beds arranged if they need it, surcingles looked
to, and the horses watered.

As to watering on the road, very good horsemen
differ widely in their practice, some eschewing water-
ing troughs almost altogether, whereas others drive

302 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

U}) to every trough, and let the horse drink his filL
Neither example, in my opinion, should be followed.
The best way is to water the roadster often in hot
weather, but to give him only a little at a time ; in
cold weather, less often. Some horses indeed can be
allowed with impunity to drink all they want ; well-
bred nags especially, although they like to plunge
their noses deep in the trough, do not often drink to
excess. However, by watching the effect of water
upon his horse's bowels, the driver will soon learn
how to treat him in this respect.

Even in the stable certain soft horses, whose blood
is apt to be heated, should have their appetite for
water restrained ; they like the feeling of it going
down their throats, and will drink greedily. It would
be well if such animals were always bitted before be-
ing watered ; thus they would be compelled to drink
slowly, and a less quantity would satisfy them. As a
rule, the healthiest horses drink the least. More than
one good pailful should never be given at a time to
any horse. But let there be no interference with
nature in respect to water without good reason. Be-
yond doubt, some ignorant and fanciful grooms keep
their charges in torment for want of it.

One general remark more, and then the reader shall
be allowed to escape from the vicinity of the trough :
very cold water should always be tempered before it
is given to a horse, especially in summer. Now let
us enter the small room in front, whence proceeds
that periodic whang of the currycomb on the floor,
which indicates that within goes on the important
process of

THE CARE OP HORSES. 303

Grooming.

The necessary tools are a currycomb and the brush
that accompanies it, a mane brush, a good, soft cloth,
a scraper, towels, a pick for the feet, sponges, and a
pail. To these may be added with advantage a softer
brush, almost like a hat brush, and a chamois skin.
Combs and cards should be banished to the cow sta-
ble. To discriminate a good groom from a bad one
is a matter for the experienced e^-e of about fifteen
seconds. If a man undertakes to clean your horse,
whatever the circumstances, without first removing
his coat, you may be sure that he is a sluggard and
an impostor. The retention of his waistcoat even
gives reasonable ground for suspicion, and the real
workman is almost sure to let down his suspenders
and roll up his sleeves. When, as will happen some-
times at a New England tavern, a young man wearing
spectacles, and with the languid air of a divinity stu-
dent, looks after the stable, I take off my OAvn coat.

There are four places in especial on the horse which
a lazy or incompetent groom will neglect, and which
may be examined as a criterion. These are the inside
of his ears, the crevice, so to say, under his jaws, the
inside of his hind quarters, and the part under his
tail, which should be cleaned with a wet sponge at
least once a day, for much dust and dandruff collect
there. The root of the mane is also frequently a
neglected spot.

Perhaps the cardinal principle in grooming is this :
the currycomb should not be employed on the horse,
but on the brush. Now the ordinary horse owner will
declare that this statement is applicable only to the

304 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

stables of rich men, where grooms are abundant ;
and such, I confess, was long my opinion. But when
finally I tried the experiment with my own hands, I
quickly discovered the mistake. The truth is, that a
horse can be cleaned not only much better, but much
quicker, without the currycomb, used upon him, than
with it ; the reason being that the currycomb applied
to his skin irritates it, and therefore produces more
dandruff than it removes. The true way to clean the
horse is to rub him round and round with the brush ;
and to supplement this by smoothing down the hair
with a cloth or a chamois skin, or both. Thus he
can be made and kept perfectly clean. Even a mane
brush is too severe for a very fine-coated animal. An
Indian Sayce does his work almost entirely with the
palms of his hands. A wet wisp of hay or straw
is very effective in taking up dandruff; but the main
reliance must be the currycomb brush.

" If a horse is clean," writes Major Fisher,' '• no
scurf or grease of any kind should ever adhere to the
hand when rubbed over the skin. If your groom
assures you to the contrary, and says that you must
expect a little, he lies, and knows it too."

It is related of Mr. Jefferson that he was accus-
tomed at Monticello, his Virginia home, whenever a
horse was brought round from the stables for his
morning ride, to rub the animal's coat with a cambric
handkerchief, and if any grease or dirt appeared on
it, the negro groom was reprimanded, and the horse
sent back to the stables.

1 Author of "Tliroupjh Stable and Saddle-Room," perhaps
the most ])ractical w(jrk gu the subject of horse-keeping ever
published.

THE CARE OP HOKSES. 305

Another common mistake relates to the virtues of
"rubbing down.'' On a liot day, for example, a trav-
eller arriving at his destination flings the reins to the
hostler, and tells him to give the horse "a good rub-
bing down." But what the animal needs is to cool
off, whereas rubbing tends to heat. A better treat-
ment would be as follows. > Take off the harness, and
immediately sponge with cold water the parts under
the collar or breastplate and under the saddle. Thus,
and thus only, are sore backs and shoulders prevented.
If there is any swelling, or as a precaution in hot
weather, it is well to use arnica and water, in the
proportion of two to one. Next sponge his nostrils
and dock ; then with a damp, but by no means a wet
sponge, wipe the dust from his whole body ; and,
finally, let him drink two swallows of fresh water,
and put him in a stall with plenty of bedding. When
thoroughly cool he may be watered moderately, then
fed, then groomed, watered again, and put to bed. It
is best, of course, especially in hot weather, to have
the horse walked about awhile instead of being put
in his stall at once.^

I remember seeing, years ago, a perfect illustration
of what might be called fanatical rubbing down. It
was in a trotting race of many heats, one of the com-
petitors being a little bay stallion, much noted at the
time, called William H. Allen. The practice then was
to rub the horses dry with towels between heats, and

1 " When a journey has been long continued and severe, the
horse should not l)e immediately put into a stable, but ought to
be walked gently about until the circulation of blood in the feet has
had time to accommodate itself to the altered conditions of rest.
By this means laminitis (inflammation of the feet) is averted."
Mr. George Fleming, F. R. G. S.

20

306 ROAD, TllACK, AND STABLL:.

William H. Allen was led under a tree for that pur-
pose. But being a nervous horse, and his skin doubt-
less being tender from continual rubbing, he strongly-
objected to the practice, and spent the whole time of
what should have been his intervals of rest in vain
attempts to kick his tormentors, lashing out at them
with his hind legs, and pawing and striking with his
fore legs. He lost the race, partly perhaps because
he was handicapped by these unnecessary exertions.
The practice nowadays is, after a brief scraping and
drying, with the application of liniment and some-
times the bandaging of the legs, to walk the horse
about, blanketed according to the weather.

After very long drives 1 rub my nags' legs with a
strong solution of arnica and water, or, perhaps bet-
ter, with a mixture of arnica, ISTew England rum, and
water in about equal parts. Alcohol is of course the
essential ingredient. This should be applied from a
point above the hock or knee to the foot, and on all
sides of the leg ; it tends to prevent spavin, curb, and
windgalls. There is nothing like rubbing of the legs
for a tired horse. The animal stands in his stall
with drooping head, eyes nearly closed, and appetite
gone.^ Now take him in hand, clean him well but
(piickly, then gently pull his ears, and rub his legs
for half an hour if necessary, not up and down, but
downward so as to induce a proper circulation of
the blood, and to soothe the muscles. Before long
his eyes will open, his head will be raised, his ears
pricked forward, and you will soon have the satisfac-
tion of seeing hiin munch his hay.

1 I have seen horses in this condition, but not as the result ol
my own driving.

THE CARE OP HORSES. 307

In cold weather the advantages of rubbing down
are more real ; but if the horse be in a sweat, and the
stable be cool, there is danger in the process, unless
three or four men can be employed in it. " The horse
must immediately be rubbed dry, when he comes in,"
say most of the books ; but in the mean time, for it
cannot be done in a moment, the horse catciies cold.
The better way is to let him stand for a minute or
five minutes, according to the temperature, and ''steam
off," then blanket him, and rub his head and neck dry.
Every stable should have at least one hood, to be used,
for example, when a horse goes to the blacksmith shop
in excessively cold weather, and more especially to be
used in the stable. In cold weather, whenever a
horse comes in thoroughly wet, either with rain or
sweat, I put on a hood, removing it as soon as the
hair is dry. If the whole body be wet with rain, one
thick blanket should be put on, to be followed in
about five minutes by another, and perhaps two more,
for under these circumstances heavy blanketing is
necessary. The water will go to the top blanket,
leaving the one next to the horse perfectly dry, — al-
though this result is the opposite of that which the
inexperienced person would expect.

And how about the legs ? Their proper treatment
is summed up in the old stable aphorism : " If they
are wet, dry them ; if they are dry, leave them dry."
Nothing could be more irrational than the practice,
formerly common and not yet extinguished, of sluicing
the horse's legs with water immediately on his coming
into the stable. This might perhaps be done without
harm, if the legs could be dried at once after the
washing ; but this operation would be a long one, and

308 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

uiue times out of ten it would be slurred. Windgalls
occur far more frequently in hot weather than in cold
weather, and by way of preventing or reducing them
I think it well to wash the horse's legs on very hot
days, provided that he is perfectly cool at the time

But no matter how muddy the going may be, the
legs ought not to be washed on that account. My
method is to brush off so much of the mud as will
come off, and then to have the legs bandaged, but not
tightly, with flannel or woollen bandages, to be left
on, usually half an hour or more, till the hair is per-
fectly dry. Then they are taken off, and the legs
brushed and rubbed clean. ^ Care should be taken to
have the bandages come down low, so as to cover
the hollow place back of the fetlock joint where
''scratches" appear. If this method be pursued,
and if plenty of vaseline be used on the heels, and
in the spot just mentioned, reinforced occasionally
by glycerine, say once a week, scratches and mud
fever can be avoided absolutely.

From the legs of the horse, it is a natural transi-
tion to

The Foot.

Extreme dryness and extreme moisture are the chief
enemies of the equine foot, and they both produce
thrush, which is a kind of white decay, indicated by a
peculiar and offensive odor. Commonly it attacks the
frog, and sometimes the sole of the foot. If taken
in hand early, it can be cured by the application of
common salt saturated with petroleum ; and the most
severe case will yield to a solution of blue vitriol and

^ Thi.s is the jjlaii roeoninieiided by Major Fisher.

THE CARE OP HORSES. 309

vinegar. The blue vitriol, about two ounces, may be
put in a quart bottle of water, filled with vinegar, the
vinegar to be used when it has aquired a rich green
or blue tinge. It is best applied by means of a small
oil can with a spout. Thus the liquid can be directed
where it is needed, without touching the sound parts
of the foot. Tar and many other remedies are also
used for thrush.

When the horse is groomed in the morning, his feet
should be well picked out, and in summer washed.
In most good stables, the foot is washed also when
the horse comes in. I have noticed that horses seem
to enjoy this process ; and a thorough soaking of the
hoof when they are groomed in the morning, and
again when they come in after work, will go far to
keep their feet soft and healthy. Care should be
taken, especially in winter, that nothing but the hoof
is wetted. It is very easy for the groom to splash a
little water on the heels and under the fetlock, and
thus scratches may be induced. For this reason, the
safer plan is to omit washing the foot in winter unless
your groom happens to be absolutely trustworthy.

At grass, the foot never becomes hard, but when
the horse stands on straw or wood it is apt to become
hard and dry, and many horses require to have their
feet stopped once a week. The time-honored material
for this purpose is a mixture of cow-dung and earth ;
but if it be used, the foot should be well washed the
next morning with soap and water. In city stables,
oil-meal and bran are commonly employed. A recent
invention for this object is petrolatum, — a packing
saturated with petroleum. It comes in pails which
are sold at $1.50 apiece, and a pail will last a long

310 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

time. This kiud of stuHing is clean, easy to apjjly,
and eifectual except in extreme cases. When the
foot is very dry, I do not find that it answers tlie pur
pose. Some authorities, moreover, maintain, and I
believe rightly, that oil should never be applied to a
hoof, because it renders the horn brittle, 'and impairs
its quality. This is the opinion of Charles Marvin,
the well known California trainer, whose intelligence
and great experience with horses give weight to the
assertion. Mr. George Fleming, also, Avhose prize
essay, "Practical Horseshoeing," is the best work
on its subject that 1 have ever seen, holds the same
view.

Another method of "stopping," and a very good
one, is to put a wet sponge or a handful of moss in
the hoof, keeping it in place by a small stick, or,
better yet, by a thin piece of steel, stretched across
the foot, and inserted under the rim of the shoe.
Finally, felt pads can be bought for seventy-five cents
a pair, which are secured to the foot by means of an
iron toe-piece and a strap and buckle. Thrown into
a pail of water, these pads will in a few minutes ab-
sorb moisture enough to last all night; and they are
convenient to use on a journey. After a very long
drive, especially in summer, the horse's fore feet
should be stopped as a matter of course.

Where shoeing has to be done frequently, as in the
case of fire horses, it is important that the hoof should
grow fast, in order to supply the necessary waste of
horn. Some horses also, as the result of disease, of
bad shoeing, or of bad formation, have a deficiency
of hoof. In such cases it is common to apply oil to
the hoof ; but, as I have stated already, many good

THE CARE OF HORSES. 311

authorities condemn this practice, and I am inclined
to tliink that cokl water is better. Wet rags tied
around tlie coronet will serve the purpose ; and a
sponge arrangement for the outside of the hoof can
be bought. Feat-moss bedding also, as I have said,
encourages a quick growth of horn ; and probably the
very best means for this purpose, though one not
often practicable, is to turn the horse out in a pas-
ture, part of which is salt marsh. I have known an
extraordinary growth of hoof to be promoted in this
manner.

For rheumatism and sprains, also, sea water is a
remedy. Its tonic and strengthening effect upon
horses is remarkable. In one case that fell under my
observation, a severe lameness in the shoulder of a
little bay mare was cured by a course of sea baths.
Her owner took her into the water with him one day
as an experiment: the mare liked the process, and
followed her master into the waves every day there-
after for a month, by which time she had completely
recovered.

In another case, a horse received a severe sprain in
one of the hind ankles. Hot and cold water were ap-
plied alternately till the inflammation disappeared,
and then a bandage was put on, and kept wet with sea
water. In four days the ankle was as good as ever.

I might add here, that, in all cases of sprains, per-
fect rest is absolutely necessary ; and there is no
better remedy than cold water, applied by means of
a linen bandage, continually wetted. But the bandage
should be taken off at night, for it will become dry in
an hour's time or less, and in that condition it is heat-
ing and harmful. For sprain of the hock, or of other

312 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

parts inaccessible to a bandage, or for a sore back,
when the skin is not broken, pure alcohol is a remedy
which I have found efficacious.

And now I have a word to say about

Shoeing.

The first principle of shoeing is, that the foot
should be reduced by paring or burning only with
the greatest caution, and in the least possible degree.
Indeed, some of the latest authorities declare that the
sole of the foot should never be pared or burned,
and that the heels should never be "opened out,"
i. e. that the horn between the bars of the foot and
the frog should never be cut away.

But I think that in some exceptional cases the
sole of the foot should be pared, and that, more fre-
quently, it is best to "open out " the heels. Of course
the sole of the foot grows continually, and the theory
is that the superfluous or old part comes off naturally
in flakes. But sometimes, especially when the horse
is shod in such a manner that the bottom of his foot
is absolutely removed from contact with the ground,
the sole fails to wear off as fast as nature intended,
and as a result it begins to encroach upon the frog.
In such a case it should be pared. And so as to the
heels. If the heels of a colt be examined, a small
wedge-like opening will always be found between the
bars and the frog. Sometimes in old horses this be-
comes entirely closed, and when that happens, I think
it should be opened to preserve the normal condition
of the foot.

However, as a rule, neither sole, frog, nor bars
should be touched, and the wall of the foot should

THE CARE OF HORSES. 313

be pared only euougli to keep it level, and to prevent
undue length at the toe. The amateur may be sure
that a blacksmith whose practice is to pare or burn
the sole of his horse's foot is a bad blacksmith ; and
he may almost be sure that one who does not pare
or burn is a good blacksmith. In former days it was
the custom to pare the sole almost to the quick, for
absolutely no reason ; and consequently, whenever a
shoe came off, the horse was immediately disabled.
The reader of fiction or poetry of the last century, or
of the first half of the present century, will remember
that, whenever the traveller's horse cast a shoe, the
rider was obliged to dismount forthwith, and to lead
the animal with slow and painful steps to the nearest
smithy. But if the foot be left undisturbed, protected
by its cover of horn, the loss of a shoe need not be
made good for a day or a week. On country roads a
horse with sound feet should be able to travel for a
week or so without shoes ; and if he is driven or
ridden only enough to keep him exercised, he may
dispense with shoes altogether. This at least is true
where the roads are soft, but where the roads are
hard it would not be true.

(Jn the other hand, the position that no horse ever
need be shod — which books have been written to
maintain — is an absurdity. A city dray horse wears
out every month an iron shoe at least one third of an
inch thick. Would the horn of his foot last so long ?
The ordinary growth of horn is only about one quarter
of an inch per month ; and although the unshod hoof
may grow somewhat faster, it does not grow fast
enough to compensate for the wear and tear of ordi-
nary roads. Horses in the wild state, and horses

314 ROAD, TRACE, AND STABLE.

turned out iu stuiiy pastures, treci[ueutly become so
foot-sore that they can hardly step ; and before shoes
were invented regiments of cavalry were sometimes
disabled from the same cause. Certainly, if shoes
were not necessary, such a clumsy device as that of
skins, like sandals, bound about the horse's foot,
which were once in use, would never have been em-
ployed. Historians tell us also that plates of metal,
fastened by strings, served the same purpose for hun-
dreds of years. Even the mustang's feet lack the
toughness of iron. " In the mountains," relates Colo-
nel T. A. Dodge, in a recent paper, "where the sharp,
flinty stones soon wear down the pony's unshod feet,
this Indian [the Apache] will shrink raw hide over
the hoofs, in lieu of shoes, and this resists extremely
well the attrition of the mountain paths."

I have even seen it stated in books, that a horse
unshod can travel on smooth ice better than if he
were shod with corks. This, I say, has been stated
as an absolute fact, and elaborate reasons have been
given for it ; and yet I know from my own experience
that a barefooted horse is perfectly helpless on smooth
ice. On rough ice indeed, or on snow-covered roads, he
will travel fairly well without shoes, stepping shorter,
of course, than if he were shod, but on smooth ice he
cannot take a step with safety. Unshod colts are fre-
quently lamed by slipping in icy bai-nyards or fields.
I remember once narrowly escaping a fall while riding
a barefooted horse. In the middle of the street, which
sloped a little to the sidewalk on each side, I had no
difficulty; but the horse shied off, struck the smooth
ice, and we found ourselves skating down toward the
gutter, with a prospect of tumbling when we reached

THE CARE OF HORSES. 315

the bottom ; but just before we brought up against
the curbsbone, I turned the horse's head gently to the
left, and he, understanding what was wanted, jumped
lightly to the sidewalk, and so kept his feet.

The second great principle in shoeing is that the
foot should be allowed to come as nearly flat to the
ground as possible.-^ The office of the frog is to sus-
tain a part of the concussion which the foot and leg
receive when the horse steps ; and this it cannot do
when the shoe is so built up on corks or otherwise
that it keeps the frog clear of the ground. When the
frog is thus deprived of its natural use, the blood fails
to circulate in it, and it becomes atrophied or diseased.
In such a case, also, there is apt to be a consequent
trouble in the legs, for of course the strain upon the
legs is regulated by the shape and position of the
hoofs ; and this brings us to the third great principle
in shoeing, which is, that the horse should stand upon
his feet in the manner that nature intended. It is
plain that if his toe be left too long, or pared too
short, or if the hoof is so treated as to be longer or
higher on one side than the other, or if the shoe is
put on too far forward or too far back, — in these
and in many other cases that might be mentioned, the
legs do not bear their natural relation to the foot.
The consequence is that some muscles and tendons of
the leg do less, and some do more, than their quota of
work. If, for example, the slope of the hoof in front
is too great, the back tendons and joints of the limbs
must be strained.

Even Maud S. was suffering from swollen fore legs
and strained tendons when she came into the hands of

1 See page 249, for the Charlier system of shoeing

ol6 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

Mr. BoDuer. But her lU'w owner, who has made a ck)se
study of the farrier's art, saw at once that she did not
stand true on her feet. Accordingly, he altered the
position of her fore shoes, and the swelling forthwith
disappeared from her legs. Mr. lionner had a similar
experience with the great Suuol. For a year after
his purchase of her she remained at Palo Alto, and a
few weeks before she made her fast record of 2.08^
Mr. Bonner paid the mare a visit. At that time Sunol
was going slightly lame in one fore foot, when first
taken out, from some unknown cause. Mr. Bonner
carefully examined the foot, and discovered that the
wall was a trifle higher on one side than on the other.
'Ihis was rectified, and the lameness 'disappeared.
2s ow, if a horse can become lame at Palo Alto from
such a cause, and the cause remain undiscovered, how
numerous and mischievous must be the cases of bad
shoeing that occur where nothing more than ordinary
skill and experience in horseflesh obtain !

There are many horses that require the mind and
eye of a thorough craftsman to shoe them properly ;
and when thus shod they never interfere or over-
reach ; whereas, if wrongly shod, they can hardly
take a sound step. When an incompetent smith has
t(j deal with such a horse, he commonly begins by
making a murderous attack on the hoof Avith his
knife, and then affixes to it a shoe of extraordinary
shape. A good workman, on the other hand, never
makes a shoe the shape of which differs from the
natural shape of a horse's foot. This, I think, may
be taken as an axiom, and it supplies a test capable
of wide application. The competent smith corrects
interfering or overreaching by contriving a new ad-

THK CARE OP HORSES. 317

justment of shoes to feet, but when his work is done
it will contain no noticeable peculiarity.

Some horses require to be shod with short shoes in
front. I once owned a horse that, if shod too long
in front, would catch a hind shoe in a fore one, and
actually throw himself to the ground. It is a common
fault of smiths to make the shoe too long, — so long,
in many cases, that it curves in at the heel and almost
touches the frog ; whereas it ought to go no farther
than is necessary to protect the wall of the foot from
contact with the ground. For the same reason, that
is, in order to let the heels and the frog have free
play, corks or calkins should not be used in the fore
shoes of saddle or of light harness horses, — except, of
course, when the roads are icy, — and it is a question
whether they are useful on the hind shoes. The ideal
shoe 1 is the lightest, simplest, smallest piece of metal
that can be contrived to protect the wall of the foot.

And now we come to

Blanketing.

The horse requires these blankets : a linen or cot-
ton sheet for summer, to be kept on day and night
unless the weather is very hot ; a woollen sheet, to be
used in cool summer weather; and a thick blanket,
to be used in cold weather over the linen or woollen
sheet, according to circumstances. A woollen blanket
of intermediate weight for fall and spring is a luxury,
but not quite a necessity.

1 Regarded simply as a means to locomotion. When ic is a
question of "balancing" a trotter by means of weight in his shoes,
another problem is introduced. See page 90.

318 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

In a cold stable the horse may re(|uire in severe
weather two, or even three and four heavy blankets.
John Splan sensibly remarks, " If it comes to a cold
night, and you think you want an extra blanket on
your own bed, see that the horse has one."

Beside these individual blankets the stable should
contain one or more hoods, and coolers, and a rubber
blanket for cold rains. The office of the hood I have
already described. The cooler is a long, thin all-wool
blanket, extending over the neck and fastened by
safety pins. It is used when the horse comes in
from work. Horsemen frequently remark, sometimes
"by way of an argument in favor of clipping, that, if
a horse with a long coat gets thoroughly wet with
sweat, he will not become dry again for hours, — often,
in fact, will remain wet through the whole night.
But when this happens, unless in some exceptional
<3ase, it is because of wrong management. The cus-
tom is to put on the animal's heavy clothing at once,
when he conies in hot, and this causes bim to sweat
profusely and to become unduly heated. The proper
way is to let him stand for a very short time, three
or four minutes being the maximum, with no blanket,
then put on the cooler, his legs and fetlocks being pro-
tected by the straw, in which he stands knee deep, or
by bandages, and let him so remain until he is dry, or
until he feels cool to the hand. Then he may resume
his ordinary heavy clothing. Of course, judgment must
be used in tliis process of cooling ; and the time during
which the cooler is employed should vary, according
to the temperature of the stable and the nature of the
horse, from five minutes to an hour or more. I have
never known a horse to take cold under this method.

THK CARE OF HORSES. 319

A cheap, warm, and durable blanket can be made of
canvas or sail-cloth, lined with some woollen material.
A horse bred in a northern latitude will do very well
without blankets in winter, — except, of course, that
one must always be used when he comes in wet from
rain or sweat, — but he will not look well. His coat
will be long, and it will " stare," and he will require
more food than he would need if blanketed.

"When colts or horses are exercised by being turned
out in a yard or lot, it is safer not to blanket them
in the stable. If an animal is neither groomed nor
"covered up," nature supplies him with a thick and
oily garment. Rub your hand on the hair of a colt at
pasture, and you will find that it is positively sticky.
In some parts of ISTorthern jSTew York, and I presume
in some parts of New England also, it is the custom
to winter horses in open yards, without sheds, where
the only shelter is that afforded by the hay-rick which
supplies them with food. Horses thus exposed to
extreme cold and wet receive no injury, but they
must suffer much discomfort, and doubtless the cost
of a warm shed would soon be made up by econ-
omy in hay. Of course warm blanketing is absolutely
necessary when the animal is deprived of his natural
coat by

Clipping.

Clipping, like every other process applicable to
horseflesh, is grossly abused. To clip a horse that
is obliged, as, for example, many hack horses are, to
stand out in all weathers, and for long periods, is a
great cruelty ; and especially is it cruel under such
circumstances to clip the legs which cannot be blan-

320 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE,

keted. It is also in some degree cruel, and as I think
in a high degree absurd, to clip carriage horses in the
city that are seldom required to go long distances.
Such animals being kept in warm stables, and being
warmly clothed, have short coats ; and in these natu-
ral coats they are far handsomer than in the clipped
condition. iSTevertheless, the common practice is to
deprive them of their hair. Why ? Doubtless be-
(;ause the labor of the groom is thus lightened, and in
these matters the man rules the master. On the other
hand, horses that are taken out once a day, driven
hard and fast, and then brought in again, are usu-
ally much better for being clipped, since they escape
the profuse sweating which they would otherwise
undergo.

Moreover, especially in early spring, clipping often
seems to have a valuable tonic effect. Horses that
were thin and run down have been known to pick up
with extraordinary rapidity after being clipped. The
reason doubtless is, that in the clipped condition they
keep a certain amount of flesh which they would
otherwise have lost by sweating. Even when a horse
stands in the stable --to say nothing of his work — he
perspires ; and if the weather is warmish he perspires
a great deal, for his heavy blanket is retained till late
spring or summer. By clipping, this loss of flesh is
avoided; and perhaps also the fact that the animal's
skin is comfortably cool, instead of uncomfortably
hot, has a direct effect upon his general healtli.

But again, under certain conditions, I have no doubt
that the sweating which a long-coated horse gets is
beneficial. A moderate amount of sweating is good for
a horse, as it is for a man, and in the case of an animal

THE CARE OF HORSES. 321

that has very little work, being ridden or driven only
a few miles every other day, perhaps, — in such a case
there can be no doubt that a heavy coat, and the con-
sequent sweating, are advantageous. This is a plain
consideration, but I have never seen it adverted to
in any horse book.

Another point of some importance in deciding
whether or not to clip your horse is this : Will the
operation have a permanent effect upon his coat, mak-
ing it come out earlier, or heavier, or coarser the next
autumn ? Skilled opinions differ on this point ; but,
as a general principle, the cutting of hair certainly
tends to affect its future growth ; and there is no
reason why this should not be true of horses as of
other animals. Still, clipping the coat once a year
probably has only a slight effect, — at least, until it
has been repeated for some years.

In line, whether or not your horse should be clipped
depends upon his coat, upon the work which he has to
do, upon the exposure to which he is subjected, and
in some degree upon the stable where he is kept. If
you wish to avoid a necessity for clipping him, be
sure that he has a thick blanket on the first cool
nights of autumn, even in September : this will tend
to keep his coat short.

The operation of clipping should not be performed
on a damp day, nor on a warm day when the pores of
the skin are open and there is a consequent liability
to take cold ; and it need not be said that a clipped
horse requires at least one more heavy blanket than
an undipped one.

322

ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE.

And now, having brought these essays to a close,
I will address to the gentle reader the same remark
that was made long ago by one of my predecessors in
the subtle art of horsenumship. He said, — and I
trust that I have been equally fortunate, — " Lord !
If I had always such a nice, attentive person to listen
to me as you are, I could go on talking about 'orses
to the end of time."

INDEX.

INDEX.

Abbass Pacha, 119, 264.

Abdallah, 26, 45, 72.

Abdallah, Alexander's, 29, 72.

Abdallah, Lakeland, 56.

Action. See Gait.

Alcantara, 32.

Alcohol, uses of, 306, 312.

Alcyone, 32.

Aldine, 96.

Alexander's Abdallah, 29, 72.

Allen, Ethan, the horse, 44, 45, 68.

Allen, Ethan, the man, 121.

Allen, Wm. H., 306.

Allerton, 67, 123.

Almack, 33.

Almont, 29.

Amazonia, 33.

Amble, the, 164.

American Girl, 31.

American Horse Breeder, the, 48,
140.

Anazeh. See Arabian Horses.

Andrew Jackson. See Jackson.

Anglomaniacs, 22.

Arabian Horses. (See Darley,
GoDOLPHiN, Jennifer, Leeds,
LiNDSEY.) The Anazeli horses,
262, 264, 265, 267, 208, 272, 281 ;
as a cross, 280, 282; as colts, 277;
color of, 264; ears of, 269, 271;
firing of, 279 ; fixity of type, 261 ;
foals, 276; half-bred Arabs, 263,
264; head of, 269, 270; imported

to England, 118, 119, 262; im-
ported to United States, 41, 282;
as junipers, 282. The Nejd horses,
262, 265, 266, 267; nostrils of,
271; origin of, 258-261; pedi-
grees of, 257; points of, 268-274.
As polo ponies, 156 ; race with
English horse, 119; as saddle
horses, 153; soundness of, 273;
as stayers, 153, 282 ; tail of, 267,
268, 272; temper of, 274, 275.

Arabs, their opinion as to impor-
tance of dam, 58 , as horse-break-
ers, 274; manner of riding, 275;
respect for good birth, 255, 256,
279.

Arabo-maniacs, 258, 280, 285.

Archy, Sir, 52.

Arioii, 30, 53, 83, 84, 85.

Arnica, 306.

Auburn Horse, 34, 35

Avery Horse, 197.

Awful, Nancy, 75.

Backs, 116, 145, 296

Badminton, 300.

Badminton Library, 136, 173, 174,

207.
Bagdad, 264, 265.
Raid Galloway, 51.
Bandnging, 306, 308, 311.
Barbs, 171, 215, 278, 280.

326

INDEX.

Barefooted horses, 313, 314.

Baiouet, 33.

IJassett, Harrj-, 39.

iJattell, Mr. J., 121

Bay, 80.

Bay Fearnaught, 127.

Beaufort, Duke of, 203.

Beautiful Bay, 40

Bedding, 131, 242, 288, 289, 293,
294.

Beer, 210.

Belle of Wabash, 40.

Bellfounder, 24, 26, 27.

Belmont, 29.

Benton, Gen., 83.

Beverages for horses, 210.

Billy Duroc, 34

Blackhawk, Vermont, 30, 44.

Black -Joker, 142.

Blacksmith, 131, 287, 313, 316.

Blanketing, 299, 307, 317-319, 321.

Blinders, 131.

Bloody Buttocks, 41.

Blue Bull, Herring's, 47; Pruden's,

48; Wilson's, 24, 48, 50.
Blue Grass region, 161.
Blunt, Lady Anne, 256, 257, 282.
Blunt, Mr. W.. 256, 257, 262, 266,

271, 276.
Bodine, 101.

Bonheur, Mile Rosa, 208.
Bonner, Mr. R., 3], 34, .35, 69, 82,

316.
Booker, Sam, 162.
Boots for horses, 72, 90.
Boott, Mr. J., 26.
Borrow, Mr. G., 27, 116, 190, 191.
Boston, 39, 53.
Boston, city horses of, 210.
Boston Fire Department, 229 etseq.
Boston Girl, 127.
Bran Mash, 241, 297, 298.
breaking, from a trot, 91, 94, 95.
Brewers. See Loni>o.\ Bukweks.
Brinker's Dronnan, 162.
Broncos, 8, 167-171, 278
Bronco thoroughbreds, 171-173. I

Brood Mares, 56-58.

Brood Mare Sires, 56.

Brooklyn Fire Department, 232,

236, 241, 250.
Bucephalus, 197.
Bulrush, 126.
Bunbury, Sir Charles, 51.
Burdett-Coutts, Mr., 152, 189, 198.
Bush Messenger, 33.
Byerly Turk, 41, 51, 119.

Cabell's Lexington, 162.

California Horses, 39, 82.

California Stage Horses, 170.

Cambridge Fire Department, 232,
250.

Canadian Horses, 126, 159, 162.

Canter, the, 165.

Capucine, 199.

Car Horses, 212, 228.

Carriages, early, 181; improvement
in, 180, 203."

Carriage Horses, 150, 178 et seq.;
American, 195-199; clipping of,
319-321; early, 183-185; im-
provement in, 178, 183-187, 203;
the primitive, 179; state, 184,
189; as weight-pullers, 203, 204;
See also Cleveland Bay, Cob,
Hackney, Yokksiiire Coach
Horse, and F'kench Coach
Horse.

Cart Horses, 206 ct seq. ; beauty
of, 200, 209; Blue Bulls as, 48;
mechanically considered, 217; on
the (arm, 209, 225; pictures of,
208; shape of, 217. 224; types
of, 224. See also Clydesdales,

rEKCHKRONS, ShiKE HoKSES,

Suffolk Punch.
Cart Horse Society, 214.
Castianira, 52.
Champions, the, 33.

Grinnell'.s, 33, 34.

King's, 34.

Vermont, 139.

INDEX.

327

Charles I., 118.

Charles II., 118.

Charlier method of shoeing, '24'J.

Check reins, 132-135, 212, 213.

Chicago Fire Department, 232, 236,

211, 242.
Chillaby, 80.
Chloe, 211.
Clay-Arabians, 285.
Clav Pilot, 40.
Clays, the, 2!), 36, 39, 64, 81.
Calilbrnia, 39.
as carriage horses, 196.
Cassius M., 40.
Henry, 36-39.
hall-mark of, 40.
Clipping. 319-321.
Cleveland Bays, 185-187, 189, 190,

260; in the United States, 192.
Clydesdales, 12, 219, 221, 223-225.
Coaches, early, 181-183; fast, 187-

188; in London, 180.
Coach horses, 223. See Carriage

Horses.
Cobs, 147, 198, 201-203.
Cold, effects of, 47, 168.
Color, of Arabians, 264; of Brewers'
horses, 210; of Cleveland Bnys,
187; cream color, 184; of French
Coach Horses, 193; of Perche-
rons, 220; of Shire Horses, 214;
of Suffolk Punches, 218.
Colts, Arabian, 277.
Comanches, 169.
Comstock, Hark, 46.
Conestoga Horses. 238.
Conover, Peter, 72.
Conqueror, 141.
Cook, Fanny, 45.
Cooling, 305, 307, 308.
Copperbnttom, 162.
Corn, 296, 297.
Cow-ponv, 167-171, 278.
Crawlev,' Sir Pitt, 186.
Cribbing, 288.
Crofts, Mr.. 40.
Cropping, 21.

Cummings, Mr. M. L., 38.
Curwen's Buy Barb, 51.

Dalgetty, Capt. Uugald, 130.

Damascus, 264.

Dame Winnie, 54.

Dana, Mr. K. H., 176.

Darley .\rabian, 51, 119, 262.

Darwin, Mr., 260.

Dave, 72.

Day, Mr. Wm., 12, 119, 226, 274.

De Lancey, Col., 40.

Denmark, 163.

Derby, the first, 51.

Dexter, 31, 69, 70, 72.

Dictator, 29, 81, 87.

Diligence Horses, 222.

Diomed, 24, 34, 40, 47, 49, 50, 51,

52, 53, 125.
Direct, 53.
Dirigo, 127.
Dillard, .John, 163.
Doble, Mr. Budd, 72, 73, 74, 99,

101.
Docking, 21.
Dodge, Col. R. I., 167.
Dodge, Col. T. A., 164, 166, 1G7,

278, 314.
Dray Horses. See London Dray
Horses and Cart Horses.

Dressing, 303, 305.

Drews, the, 126.

Drivers of trotters, 92, 93, 95; of
roadsters, 95, 96, 114, 136.

Driving, the art of, 94, 95.

Dryness essential to horses, 293.

Duke of Magenta, 152.

Duroc, 34.

Duroc, Billy, 34.

Diirer, Albert, 216.

Dutchman, 61, 74.

Ears of horses, 117; of Arabian
horses, 269, 271; mouse ears,
239.

328

INDEX.

Eaton Horse, the, 197-200.
Eclipse, American, 30, 33, 69, 126.

English, 80.
Electioneer, 29, 39, 83.
Electioneers, the, 30.
Emblem, 146.

Endurance. See Roading.
Engineer, 33.

English Cart Horse Society, 214.
English liorsenien, 17.
Evelyn, Mr., 181.
Exmoor Ponies, 260.

Fair Nell, 119, 144, 154.

Families, Trotting, 23-59.

Fanny Pullen, 33.

Farm" Horses, 209, 225-227.

Farnum, Mr., 138.

Fearnaughts, the, 126, 127.

Felix, 107-112.

Feet, the care of, 308-310.

Feet, white, 69.

Fire Engines, 230.

Fire Engine House, 235.

Fire Horses, accidents to, 240, 248;
appearance of, 229; bedding of,
242; cost of, 2.50; duty of, 229,
230, 231, 230, 242; exercise of.
241 ; fate of, 253, 254; feeding of,
241; feet of. 248: harness of, 2-30,
235, 230; hospital for, 247 248;
shai)e of, 232-234, 245; shoeing
of, 249; stories of. 233, 234, 238,
2.39, 240, 24-3. 244. 250. 252 253 ;
training of, 232. 237, 238, 239.

Firing of horses by Arabs, 279.

First Consul, 35.

Fisher, Major, 304, 308.

Flagg, Dr.', 124.

Fleming, Mv. Geo.. .305, 310.

Flemish Horses. 184. 214, 203.

Flora Temjilp, 04, 08, 142.

Florence, 107-112.

Florizel, 51.

Flying Cliilders, 51.

Flying Eaton, 145, 197, 198.

Foals, endurance of. 274; Arabian,

276.
Foot, the care of, 308-310.
FuUerton, Judge, 101.
Forrest, Edwin, 31, 87.
Forester, Frank, 52, 02.
Fox Hunting, 151.
Franklin County, Me., 197, 199.
French Coach Horse, 193, 199.
F>og, 249, 308, 312, 315.
Fvlde, 40.

Gait, altering, 90 ; of Arabian
horses, 273, 281; of carriage
horses, 193 ; of Flora Temple,
07; of high steppers, 149, 194; of
Morgans, 122, 197; of trotters,
122, 123, 147, 281; of roadsters,
07, 122, 204; of saddle horses,
159, 104, 165.

Gallop, the, 165.

Galton, Mr. F., 15.

Gano, 30.

Gentling, 16.

Gilbey, Mr. W., 214, 216.

Gimcrack, 42.

Giraud, Mr., 291.

Glencoe, 53, 152.

Godolphin Arabian, or Barb, 50, 51,
119.

Golddust, Lucille, 101.

Goldsmith, Mr. A., 72.

Goldsmith Maid, 71-74, 84, 99, 100.

Gomussa, horses of, 202.

Grant, 72.

Grant, Gen., Arabian horses of,
154, 264.

Grand Bashaw, 24, 35.

Grass, 299.

Gray Eagle, 40.

(ireat Eastern, 62.

Green Mountain Maid, 58.

Grief, 251, 252. 253.

Grinnell's Chamiiion, 33, 34.

Grooming, 303, 305.

Grooms, 72, 99, 130, 303,304.

INDEX.

329

Hackney, 32, 190-192.

Hail, Emir of, 265, 266.

Hal, Brown, 163.

Hal, Tom, 163.

Hal Pointer, 163.

Haleem Pacha, 119.

Half-breds, 150, 151, 171, 205.

Hambletonian, Kysdyck's, 26-28.
Harris's, 33.

Hambletonians, tlie, 26-28, 196;
hall-mark of, 40; as carriage
horses, 196.

Hamerton, Mr. P. G., 9, 10, 206.

Hands, 176.

Hanks, Nancy, 53, 63, 87.

Hanoverian Horses, 18-1.

Happy Medium, 29, 87.

Harkness, Mr. J., 140.

Harness, of road horses, 131-135;
of tire liorses, 231, 235, 236.

Harold, 29, 56.

Harris, Mr. S. T., 58.

Harry Bassett, 39.

Hay, best kind of, 299; meadow, 294;
necessity of, 295, 296 ; racks, 289.

Havs, M. du, 221.

Helm, Mr. H. T., 39, 91, 105.

Hempstead, 146.

Henrv, 69.

Henry, Sir, 126.

Hickock, Mr. O., 81.

Highland Maid, 68.

High School Hors. . 165, 166.

High-steppers, 194.

Holmes, Dr. O. W., 59.

Hook and Ladder Truck, 230, 234.

Hopeful, 67.

Horses, duty toward, of owners, 7,
19; of users, 2, 3; feeding of, 295-
299; friendships of, 72, 80; na-
ture of, 10, 11, 12, 93, 237; malle-
ability of, 280; nervous energy
of, 11, 12, 14, 57; origin of, 259;
points of, 217; Saturday Re-
view on, 217. See Bedding,
Clipping, Driving. Gkooming,
Shoeing, etc.

Hulbert, Ed, 113.

Hull, Mr. J., 157.

Hunter, Kentucky, 64, 87.

Huntington, Mr. K., 37, 154, 285.

Huntress, 61.

Hyde Park, 180, 183, 192.

Indian Carriage, 179.
Indian Ponies, 8, 167.
Insurance (Protective) Wagon
Horses, 246, 247.

Jack, 45.

Jackson, Andrew, the horse, 35, 36.
Jackson, Andrew, the man, 49.
Jackson, Stonewall, 49.
Jarnette, Lady de, 133, 134.
James I., 118.
Jay-Eye-See, 47, 53, 81, 85.
Jefferson, Mr., 304.
.Jeffreys, Mr. D., 35.
Jennifer Arabian, 223.
Jimmy, 78, 79.

Jobmasters. See London Job-
masters.
John, 244.
Johnston, 18.
Judge Fullerton, 101.

Radishes, 263.
Kellogg, Mr. P. C, 46.
Kent Mare, the Charles, 26.
Kentucky folk, 162, 163, 165, 166,

179; horses, 29, 30, 161, 162;

Hunter, 64, 87; saddle horses,

161-167.
Kerbeck, M. de, 31.
Kickapoo Indians, 169.
Kicking, 288.
Killbuck Tom, 283.
King Cole, 211.
King Herod, 41, 51, 52.
King's Champion, 34.
Kismet, 262.

330

INDEX

Kiiapp, Shepherd F., 198, 199.
Knight, horse of, 213-216.
Knox, Gen., the horse, 125, 151.
Knox, Gen., the man, 121.

Lady Duval, 58.

Ladv Patriot, 29.

LadV Thorne, 30, 31, 151.

Lakeland AbdaHah, 56.

Lambert, Daniel, 13, 45, 46.

Lancet, 68.

Lavengro, 116, 190.

Lee, Gen. Harry, 41.

Lee, Nancy, 87.

Leeds Arabian, 51.

Leopard, 154, 264.

Leopard Rose, 283.

Lewis, Col., 152.

Lexington, 53, 81, 83.

Lexington, Cabell's, 162.

Lindsev Arabian, 41.

Linsley, Mr. D. C, his book, 121.

Little Dot, 62.

London Brewers, 210

Coaches, 180.

Dray Horses, 214, 225.

.Jobmasters, 189, 203.

Streets, 180.
Lovelace, Col., 140.
Lucille Golddust, 101.
Lucy, 31, 73.
Lucy Jimmy, 72.
Lulu, 33.
Lynn Fire Department, 232.

Mace, Mr Dan, 13, 31, 94.

Maine Horses, 33, 125, 126, 194,
197-201, 283.

^Lanibrino, 30.

Mambrino Chief, 30.

Mambrino King, .'51.

Mambrino Patchen. .30, .32, 56, .57.

Mambrino Patchens, the, 196; hall-
mark, 40; tails of, 267

Mambrino Paymaster, 30.

Manette, 83.

Margi-ave, 53.

Markliam, Gervase, 184.

Marlborougli, Duke of, 32, 63.

MarshhuufShales, 27, 191.

Marvni, Mr. C, 83, 101, 133, 310.

Matchem, 52.

Maud S., 29, 47, 53, 63, 81, 82, 96,
315.

Messenger, 24, 25, 33, 50, 53, 197.

Messenger, Bush, 33.

Messenger, Winthrop, 33.

Michaux, M. 162.

Middle Ages, horse of, 213-216.

Miller's Damsel, 50.

Miss Russell, 53.

Moor, the, 39.

Morgan, John, 08.

Morgan, Justin, the horse, 41, 42,
121, 126.

Morgan, Justin, the man, 121.

Morgans, the, anecdotes of, 43,
123-125; as carriage horses, 196-
199; as cobs, 202; as road-
sters, 121-127, 137-141, 97-201;
as saddle horses, 139, 158, 159,
161 ; gait of, 122, 197 ; origin of,
41.

Morocco, Emperor of, 41.

Morrills, Winthrop, the, 126.

Morse Horse, 33.

Mouse ears, 239.

Murphv, Mr. J., 70.

Murray, Rev. W. H. H., 121.

Mustauirs, 8, 167-171, 278.

Naomi, 262, 285.

Nancv Awful, 75

Nancy Hanks, 53, 63, 87.

Nancy Lee, 87.

Nancy Pope, 47-

Narragansett Pacers, 157-158.

Nejd. See under Arabian Horses.

Nelson, 63.

Nevins, Mr. D., 127.

Nervous Energy, 11, 57, 58, 120.

INDEX.

331

Night Team, the, 188.

Nimrod, 292.

Nobby, 107-112.

Norfolk Trotter, 23, 26, 27, 190,

191.
Normal! Horses, 47, 219, 22;J.
Nutwood, 29, 53, 83.

Oats, 290, 297.
Old Charlie, 72, 73.
Old Joe, 252, 253.
O'Reilly, Mr. J. B., 22.
Orloff Trotters, 38, 39.
Ostlers, 13, 99, 130, 303, 304.
Women, 222.

Pace, the, 163, 164.
Pacers and Kentucky Saddle Horses,
162, 163

and Trotters, 46, 163.

Mile record of, 163.

Narragansett, 157, 158.

Shape of, 64.
Pacing Cart Horses, 48.
Pacino: Pilot, 24, 40, 47, 162.
Pads, Arabian saddles, 275.
Pads for feet. 248, 310.
Pale Face, 171.

Palgrave, Mr. W. G., 145, 266, 279.
Pamlico, 45, 195, 196.
Palo Alto, the farm, 301, 316.
Palo Alto, the horse, 30, 54, 63, 81,

82, 83, 85.
Paris Omnibus Horses, 223.
Parker, the, 165.
Parlin, Mr. S. W., 145.
Partner, 41.
Pastern Joints in the saddle horse,

145; in Arabian horses, 273.
Pasturing, 299.
Payne Stock Farm, 196.
Pearl, 35.

Peat-moss, 293, 294.
Pea Vine, 166.
Peerless, 35, 88.

Pedigrees. See Thoroughbred

and Stud Book
Pedigrees of Arabian Horses, 256^

257.
Pen ultima, 33
Pepys, Mr., 181, 182, 183.
Percherous, 12, 204, 220-225.
Peter, 239.

Petting, utility of, 8, 242.
I'hillips, Maine, 200.
Pickering, Mr. Ned, 182.
Pilot, 24, 40, 47, 162.
Pilot, Jr., 47, 53, 56, 81.
Ploughing, 209, 226, 227.
Pointer, Hal, 163.
Polo Ponies, 171-173.
Pope, Nancy, 47.
Prince Albert, 220.
Princess, 68.
Privation, effects of, 168.
Prize-fighting, 111, 151.
Protective (Insurance) Company's

Horses, 246, 247.
Provender, 296.

Providence Fire Department, 232.
Pullen, Fanny, 33.
Puritv, 52,

Quartermaster, 32.
Quorn Hunt, the, 151.

PiACES, trotting, 87, 92, 96-98; run-
ning, 72, 92, 160.
Kangeley, Maine, 200.
Rarus, 75-79.
Rattler, 71.

Record Breakers, 57, 58.
Red Bird, 34.
Reefing, 96
Renock, Joe, 139.
Reynolds, Mr. R. S., 213.
Rheumatism, 311.
Rice, Mr. J., 51.
Rifleman, 152.
Riding, 174-176.

332

INDEX.

Boad Horses, breeding of, 117-120;
care of, 130, 131, 136, 137, 138;
checking of, 134; definition of,
114; feeding of, 136-138; har-
ness of, 131; points of, 116, 117;
shoeing of, 131; watering, 301,
302.

Roading, instances of. 127, 138, 139,
140-142, 200, 221, 283, 284.

Koaring, 292.

Rockingliam, 52.

Rodes Mare, 30.

Rose of Washington, 68.

Roj-al Mares, 118.

Royal Tar, 283.

Rubbers, 99, 303-305.

Rubbing down, 305-307.

Running Footmen, 183.

Running Mate, 44, 45.

Ruskin,"^Mr., 178.

Rysdyck's Hambletonian, 26-28.

Saddle Horses, breeding of, 152,
153, 162; disposition of, 149, 150;
disuse of; 159; Kentucky, 161-
167; mounting, 174, 175; points
of, 144-146, 155,156; training of,
174, trotting under saddle, 146.

Saint Julien, 81, 85.

Salt, 298.

Salt Marsh, 311.

Salt Water, 311.

Sampson, 24, 25.

Sand, George, 5.

Sand ford and Merton. 218.

Santa Clans, 30.

Saturday Review, 217.

Schoolmaster, 171, 172.

Scott, Mr. M., 160.

Scott, Sir W., 215.

Scoring, 98, 99.

Scratches, 220, 308.

Searcher, 125.

Sensation horses, 194.

Shakspere, 277.

Sharp, Miss Becky, 186.

Sherman Morgan, 44, 126.

Shire Horses, 183, 214-217, 226, 227.

Shoeing, 312-317 ; Charlier method
of, 249; of tire horses, 249; of
mustangs or broncos, 314; of
roadsters, 131; of trotters, 90.

Shoulders of cart horses, 217 ; of
saddle horses, 144; of trotters,
63, 64.

Shying, 14-16, 117.

Sidney, Mr. S., 154.

Sir Archy, 52.

Skeletonwagon, 67, 89.

Smith, Mr. T. A., 176.

Smithfield, 182.

Smuggler, 47, 04, 91, 100.

Sons'of Horses, 263, 264.

Sontag, 33.

Sophronisba, 33.

Sore Backs, etc., 305, 312.

Spanish Horses, 171.

Spectator Mare, 51.

Spike Team, 243.

Spiral Spring, 231.

Spirit of the Times, 107, 109.

Splan, Mr. J., 18, 76, 107-112, 131,
1.34, 318.

Sprague, Gov., 33.

Sprains, 311.

Springs, 180, 181.

Squirt, 52.

Stable, the, 288-292.

Stalls, 288, 290, 291.

Stamboul, 39, 63, 64.

Stanford, Gov., 30, 85.

Stars, family ofj 69.

Starting a load, 212, 231.

StaA'ers, 153.

Stopping. See Stuffing.

Strathmore, 29.

Straw, 294.

Stud Book, for Cleveland Bays, 189 ;
for hackneys. 190; for Kentucky
saddle horses, 162; for thorough-
breds, 23; for Yorkshire coach
horses, 150, 189.

Stuffing for feet, 309, 310.

INDEX.

333

stumbling, 147, 148, 149, 277,
Stump tlie Dealer, 162.
Suffolk Punch, 218, 219.
Sulky, 87, 89.
Sultun, American, 39.

English, 152.
Sunol, 12, 63, 83, 85, 316.
Sweating, 318, 320.

Tacony, 68.

Tails, of Arabian horses, 267, 268;
of Hambletonians, 28; of Mam-
brino Patcliens, 267.

Tallmaclge, Capt.,41.

Tattersail, Mr., 119, 290.

Taverns, New England, 129, 303.

Temple, Flora, 64, 68, 142.

Tepee Poles, 179.

Texas Horses, 171.

Thackeray, Mr., 9.

Thorne, Lady, 30, 31, 151.

Thornedale, 29.

Thoroughbred, definition of, 23;
beauty of, 207; docility of, 207;
origin of, 118; uses of, 152.

Thoroughbred Blood, in carriage
horses, 186, 205; in Kentucky
saddle horses, 162; in polo po-
nies, 171-173; in roadsters, 117-
120; in trotters, 53, 54.

Thrush, 308.

Toe-weights, 90, 91.

Tom Thumb, 142.

Topgallant, 74.

Toothaker, Squire 200, 201.

Touchstone Family, 270.

Tournament Roll. 216.

Tracks, 88, 89 ; kite, 89.

Trainers, 92, 93.

Tramp, 152.

Trampoline, 152.

Tredwell, Mr. J., 33.

Trollope, Mr. A., 176.

Trotting Families, 23-59.

Trotting Horses, breeding of, 53, 54,
55, 61; friendships of, 72, 73, 77,

79, 80; gait of, 122 123, 165;
points of, 62-64; origin of, 23
tt stq.; various, 59 et seq.

Trotting Ponies, 142, 173.

Trotting Races, 92 et seq.; condi-
tions of, 96-99.

Troublesome, 199, 200.

True Briton, 26, 40.

Truefit, 152.

Trumpeter, 152.

Trustee, American, 33, 53, 142.
Imported, 33, 53.

Truxton, 49.

Turf, Field, and Farm, the, 103, 106.

Turner, Mr. J. M. W., 208.

Turning out to pasture, 299.

Upton, Maj. R. D., 258, 259, 260,
262, 268, 271, 272, 273, 281.

Vanderbilt, Mr. W. H., 96.

Velocity, 27.

Vermont Blackhawk, 36, 44.

Vermont Champion, 139.

Vermont Hero, 125.

Vermont Horses, 33, 139.

Vernon, Mr. R., 51.

Vertumnus, 33.

Veterinary Surgeon, 13, 124. 213,

246, 249, 305, 310.
Vielee, Mr., 65.
Volunteer, 29, 61, 81.

Walker, Rev. G. L., 13.
Walpole, Mr. Horace, 179.
Warren, Mr. S. D., 171.
War Horse, 213-216.
Washington, Gen., 151.
Washington, son of Knapp, 199.
Waxey (horse), 152, 162.
Waxy (mare), 83.
Weaving, 288.
Web, 152.
Wedgewood, 14, 29, 32.

334

INDEX.

Weight-carriers, 145.

Weight of drivers, 92; of joclieys,
92.

Weight Pulling. 67, 212.

Weight Pullers as carriage horses,
203, 204; as cart horses, 217,
210, 221 ; as coach horses, 203,
204: as lire horses, 232, 234;
as trotters, 67.

Wheel, invention of, 180.

Whyte-Melville, Mr., 145, 260.

AVildair, 41.

Wild Tiger. 200, 201.

Wilkes, Geo., the horse, 29, 30, 32,
.39.

Wilkes, Geo., the man, 65, 94.

Winkers, 132.
Winship, H. B., 44.
Winthrop Messenger, 33.
Winthrop Morrills, the, 126.
Woodburn, Kentucky. 29.
Woodruff, Mr. H., 34, 35, 68, 74,
94, 142. 295.

YoRKSHiKK Coach Horse, 189,

190, 192.
Yorkshire Coach Horse Society,

150.
Youatt, 142.
Young Bashaw. 35.
Young Selim, 49.

KURT GAlPtl £> SO
HOLLAND. PA.