THE AMERICAN HORSE

By far the most interesting type of horse to the American is the American trotting-horse, not only for the reason that he is of our own development, but because in one way or another he does duty for our harness horse, in practically every capacity except as a draught animal. He is known to horsemen the world over as the most docile and most versatile of horses. He has been developed and trained to go a mile in two minutes, and he has been trained to step high, and to prove himself to be in the highest class of harness horse, and he is not bad under saddle. Indeed, more than one blue-ribbon winner under the saddle from Virginia and Kentucky is of this same stock. This docility is shown in the wonderful performance of Belle Hamlin, Justina, and Globe, driven a mile, three abreast, in 2.14 by Ed. Geers.

In writing of the American trotting-horse one is confronted at the outset with the question of from what standpoint he is to be considered; whether as race-horse, road-horse, heavy harness horse, or general utility horse, as in all of these capacities he is without an equal, and almost without a competitor.

The American trotting-horse is the result of the development of a type produced from heterogeneous breeds; and while several districts of the country had their favorite strains of blood, there was no system of breeding which promised sure results until Hambletonian stamped his offspring with speed, and the instinct to trot; which have been developed by the breeding of horses with speed already developed or with speed inheritance. Trotters may now be bred, with a certainty that the produce will at least excel in speed horses of any other breed, and with a likelihood of great speed.

The breeding of Hambletonian (Plate XXVII.), who traces back to Messenger on side of both sire and dam, has never been questioned. Messenger was imported to Philadelphia from England in 1788. He was a gray stallion by Mambrino, first dam by Turf, second dam by Regulus, third dam by Starling, fourth dam by Fox, fifth dam Gipsey, by Bay Bolton, sixth dam by Duke of Newcastle's Turk, seventh dam by Byerly Turk, eighth dam by Taffolet Barb, ninth dam by Place's White Turk. He was eight years old when he came over.

The breeding of the dam of Hambletonian, known as the Charles Kent mare, is only questioned by those who, having failed in breeding on other lines, have sought relief by attacking Hambletonian's breeding, conformation, disposition, and individuality, without considering that his record in the stud disproves any and every contention of the kind. There is no success like success. At any rate, all agree that the greatest success in breeding trotters has been achieved by a liberal use of Hambletonian blood; and a winner with none of his blood is a curiosity. From Dexter, with a record of 2.17½ in 1867 down to Lou Dillon with a record of 1.58½ in 1903, every champion trotter except one is known to have carried Hambletonian's blood, and the exception probably did. The 2.10 list of to-day contains few without Hambletonian blood.

That Hambletonian impressed his progeny with the trotting instinct, and that this remains through generations, is shown by the history of the Dexter branch of the family. Dexter's full brother Dictator founded a family which increases in number of winners yearly. This is also true of his other offspring who were properly bred and developed.

Whether Hambletonian inherited his ability to impress his progeny with the trotting brain from the Arab, the thoroughbred, the hackney, or the native horse, is immaterial; that he had that ability from some source, the stud book proves beyond peradventure. Whatever combination produced him it was a fortunate day for American horse-breeding when he was produced and placed in Orange County, New York, where there were many good mares for him and where soil and water and climate all worked together for the good of his offspring and enabled him to found perhaps the best all-round type of horse in the world.

All of Hambletonian's get had the instinct to trot, and by breeding to those also having this instinct, which was of necessity in-breeding, it has been increased until the trot is their natural gait, and three-year-olds trot as fast as the champion of thirty years ago. While it has taken nearly a century to reduce the trotting record a minute, and while this reduction has been helped by improved tracks, sulkies, methods of training and shoeing, no one will question that the percentage of horses who can trot fast has increased to such an extent that a horse to trot in 2.20 is easier to find to-day than a three-minute horse thirty years ago.

The breed of American trotting-horse is of such recent origin, only five generations from Hambletonian to Lou Dillon, that it is not to be wondered at that the type is not exact, and that there are instances of reversion to outcrosses which produce individuals which subject the breed to criticism from those who judge quickly rather than calmly.

There is practically no question that intelligent breeding to a type will produce that type. This is proved by the phenomenal success of the Messrs. Hamlin. When Mr. C. J. Hamlin entered the breeding business, he stated that he proposed to breed not only speed, but beauty; and for years Village Farm was not only the home of the champions, but its produce was the most uniform and beautiful known. The great majority of the Hamlin horses bear the imprint of that grand horse Mambrino King, who for several years called forth spontaneous cheers, and applause, at Madison Square Garden, captivating the audience by his distinguished gait and bearing.

In conformation, the trotter has two distinctive differences from the runner, in that the trotter is longer in the body, than he is high, and is higher at the coupling, or rump, than at the withers. These differences, no doubt, are to accommodate the structure to the rotary gait rather than to the series of jumps of the runner. The trotter is steadily improving not only in speed, but in beauty, and it is only a matter of shoeing and education to make him step high for heavy harness use. Photographs show that all trotters at speed, step high at some point in their stride, and shoeing and bitting will so change the stride that it develops a more circular form, and the grit and instinct to trot enables them to go fast, high, and far, as compared to any other high stepper.

In every use, other than draught-horse work, the trotter stands alone as a general utility horse. The intelligence and nervous restraint which makes the two-minute trotter a possibility also makes him, when used as a carriage horse, safer than any other, even when surrounded by the many hideous objects and noises he must face in the city streets of to-day. Prominent coaching men say that no horse in the world can draw a loaded coach at the same speed, and stand the work so well, as the American trotting-bred horse.

The road-horse is a strictly American institution, and the possession of a trotter is about the first sign of prosperity of a successful American who lives outside of our great cities, where he is not influenced by the desire for show. The typical road-horse should have substance so that he can draw two men twelve miles an hour with pleasure to them and comfort to himself. He should have speed enough to acquit himself creditably in friendly brushes. Together with these qualities he should have looks and manners. No breed of horse except the American trotter combines the conformation, speed, and brain, to fulfil these requirements.

The attached diagram and table, taken from the New York Herald after Lou Dillon had trotted in two minutes, shows clearly the progress of the trotter in the last hundred years.

TOOK NEARLY A CENTURY TO GAIN A MINUTE

In 1806 Yankee lopped a Second from the Three-minute Mark and Ninety-seven Years later Even Figures are attained

The following table shows the records of the trotting champions since 1806 and the distance which Lou Dillon would have beaten each of them in a mile race.

LOU DILLON'S DESCENT FROM HAMBLETONIAN IN THE MALE LINE

Lou Dillon is fifth in descent from Hambletonian in the male line. This pedigree is as follows:—

LOU DILLON
SIDNEY DILLON
SIDNEY
SANTA CLAUS
STRATHMORE
HAMBLETONIAN

As to the training and education of the trotter, that is a science which would require a book in and of itself. Of the training of the trotting-bred road-horse, no two men probably pursue exactly the same methods, and no two horses require exactly the same treatment, hence no hard and fast rules can be laid down for every man or for every horse. Each man can only give the fruit of his own practical experience, judiciously mixed with the experience of others.

The first lesson cannot be given too soon. The day the foal is born it should be handled, and made to feel, even at that tender age, that man is its friend and master. This should be repeated every day for several weeks, or even longer, until the foal is perfectly gentle and friendly toward its attendant, allowing itself to be stroked and patted, and each leg in turn to be lifted so that the hoof may be examined and attended to, a small halter put on and taken off, and by degrees the foal gradually accustomed to lead and stand to halter. With a little patience and judgment, all this can be accomplished by the time the foal is a month old, simply through kindness and coaxing.

Most breeders leave all this undone, letting the foals run wild until they are weaned, when they are roughly and partially broken by sheer force and awkwardness combined. Sometimes this is not done till they are yearlings, or even older. The educating methods when they are young give the best results. These first lessons are never forgotten, and the foal is practically born in an atmosphere of docility and obedience. He gains confidence in his master or attendant, and never really learns to fight back at the end of a halter strap, and is much more willing to accept passively what may follow later on.

Instead of being in a state of terrorized obedience and fearful of being hurt every time he is approached by man with a strap or a piece of harness in his hands, he comes to look upon his training as agreeable play.

Before the foal is weaned he should be tied up by the halter rope to a small manger in the stall with his dam, long enough to finish a small feed of crushed oats, and this should be continued as part of his daily routine. He will fret much less after being weaned when this is done.

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His first lessons to harness should be given soon after being weaned, during the winter that he becomes a yearling. A surcingle may be first thrown over his back and loosely buckled at first, then gradually tightened up. Being already used to the halter, he will not object to a snug-fitting bridle. A leather bit is preferable to any other for a young colt. By degrees the rest of the harness may be put on with little or no trouble. If the colt is suspicious, let him see, smell, and nose the harness before putting it on. The colt should be led around with long reins, taught to turn to either side, to stop at the word "whoa," and also to back. Then he may be hitched up to a small cart, especially built, with long shafts, low to the ground and running out behind the wheels, so as to prevent rearing should this be attempted. It is well, also, always to use a strong kicking-strap, on the theory that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." With such a cart and harness and lessons two or three times a week when the weather is pleasant, wonderful progress will often be made before it is time to turn the yearling out to grass.

Next winter he is coming two years old, and when taken up, the harness lessons should be resumed, this time to regulation road-cart. At this stage a plain snaffle-bit should be used. An average of twice a week in harness will be found sufficient, although a short drive every pleasant day may be indulged in. The colt should have the run of a paddock for exercise. The bitting rig may now be used to give the colt a good mouth, a most essential thing, for there is no comfort in driving a horse with a mean mouth. It is assumed that all the driving is done with a light hand, otherwise, instead of a road-horse, a rank puller is being developed.

A young horse in harness can hardly be accustomed at too early a stage to different sights and sounds, provided they are introduced to him with judgment and in a way not calculated to frighten him. He should become acquainted with dogs, cows, and such things as he is liable to meet on the road. An umbrella open or shut should have no terrors for him. In showing him an umbrella and gradually opening it,—and putting it over his head and all about him,—it is well to bear in mind that a colt should be educated on both sides. Whatever is done on the near side should be repeated on the off side. Carts should be rattled and pushed up against his haunches, and a hundred and one things of the sort done,—all of which will suggest themselves to a careful trainer. A horse has little or no reasoning power. He has a tenacious memory. What he has seen and knows does not harm him, he is not afraid of. What he has not seen he dreads, and being naturally the most timid of all animals, he instinctively and instantly thinks of flight, as his sole chance of escape. Confidence in his driver will counteract to a certain extent his dread and his thoughts of flight. A horse that is whipped past an object he is afraid of is being forced to choose the lesser of two evils, and in proportion to the extent of his fear must be the severity of the whipping to induce him to pass the dreaded object. Some horsemen pride themselves on their ability to "make" a horse pass anything or go anywhere. This method ruins a horse for pleasure driving, for when he sees something which frightens him, he knows he is between two fires. Ultimately, he may be cowed into submission and pass things without starting, but his spirit is broken, and he is no longer a gentleman's road-horse.

The better plan is to gradually accustom a horse to steam cars, trolley cars, automobiles, steam rollers, etc., taking him a little nearer each time, and encouraging him with voice and rein to pass. Not every man will succeed in doing this. Your true horseman, like your poet, is born and not made. Before bringing his charge to this point, he will have absolute control of his young horse, and the horse has every confidence in his driver. The driver is confident and fearless, and, knowing thoroughly the nature and limited capacity of his pupil, so manages things that the confidence and fearlessness are mutual, and so in time the horse responds cheerfully and fearlessly to the slightest wish of his driver. In the hands of a timid, nervous man, the same horse is likely to develop into a dangerous shyer, if not a puller or a runaway.

Every harness-horse should be taught to back and to stand. He should understand this before being harnessed to a cart, and time and care cannot be better employed than in making him proficient in both backing and stopping at the word of command, with every vehicle to which he may be harnessed. A horse may do both every time he is asked in a two-wheeled cart, and yet refuse to do either and have to be taught all over again when put to a four-wheeled vehicle.

Another valuable accomplishment is to walk fast. A lazy driver will sometimes make a slow walker of a naturally fast one, but this should not be tolerated. Some colts are naturally inclined to poke along at a snail's pace when walking, and are most satisfactory in every other respect. They will acquire the habit of brisk walking if they are harnessed double with a fast-walking horse. It is time well spent in teaching a horse to acquire the habit.

In driving young horses to pole, they should be driven different days on alternate sides,—first on the near side, then on the off side, or vice versa.

Open bridles should be used to begin with, and afterwards the blind bridle may be substituted. A driving-horse should be equally at home with either kind. While a plain snaffle is preferable for most horses, it will not always answer. In that case, the only way is to experiment with different bits until a suitable one is found. A severe bit should never be used except as a last resort.

The abuse of overdraw checks cannot be too severely reprobated. Many a good horse has his mouth and temper ruined, and his neck muscles made rigid instead of remaining, as they should, flexible and pliable, by the inordinate craze for the "Kimball Jackson" check. Some horses may, and probably do, require it; but, in my opinion, they are few and far between. Many road drivers seem to think such a check must be used on a fast trotter. It is well to recall that Jay-Eye-See, the first horse to trot a mile in 2.10, was driven with a side-check; and Lou Dillon, who has trotted a mile in 1.58½, and is the two-minute marvel of the day, goes without any check whatever. These two noted examples should silence all arguments about the necessity for an overdraw check in order to increase the speed.

The pleasure of a driving-horse depends as much as anything else upon his stopping and standing wherever and whenever you wish him to do so. Young horses are often impatient of this restraint, coming at irregular intervals and places, and it is one of the hardest things to train a horse to do. A good plan is to have them follow behind a wagon, particularly if loaded with hay, and have the wagon start and stop, and the colt you are driving behind it do likewise. This stopping and starting seems to him more natural, coming as it does from the forcible argument of a load of hay in front of him, rather than a pulling on his mouth from behind.

Just as the American trotting-bred horse makes the most agreeable harness-horse in the world, so he is well worth all the time and patience required to make him what he can become. A few months' kindliness, firmness, and patience when his schooling begins mean years of pleasure and safety to his owner later on. Above all, get all idea out of your head of "breaking" a horse. He is the last animal in the world to be made companionable or useful by being beaten and roughly handled and, as the phrase is, "broken." In his bitting, harnessing, and handling he should be made to do things by patience rather than by force. The notion that a horse should never be allowed to refuse to do what is required of him, but that he should there and then be beaten into obedience is not only a false notion, but results badly. Instead of thrashing him past what he shies at, it is far better in the end to keep at the problem day after day until he learns through habit rather than by the whalebone. It takes more time, but in the end the results are far more satisfactory. It is in these early days of the training of the road-horse or harness-horse that the wise owner puts all he knows of bitting, harnessing, shoeing, and feeding into practice. It is at these times, too, that he learns by scores of experiments which of the many counsels he has read or listened to is the wisest. It may be said, indeed, that an owner is and remains partially ignorant and incompetent, until he has watched and bitted and driven, day after day, an equine problem of his own.