164 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



slow that the running did not fairly commence until within three-quarters of 

 a mile from the winning post. 



And it must be confessed that the American thorough-bred, though superior 

 to the Arabian, is not equal to the English. 



In 1856 several celebrated horses were taken from this country to England 

 for the purpose of comparison, and they were allowed fourteen pounds advan- 

 tage in running for the Goodwood cup. Of these, Lecomte ran but one race, 

 and was easily beaten by the English horse Fislierman ; Prvor ran for the 

 Goodwood cup, and was beaten ; Prioress, in the same race, might possibly 

 have won under more favorable cii'cumstances of riding, &:c. She afterwards 

 won the Cesarewitch stakes at Newmarket, and this was the only siiccess of 

 Amcricaii horses in England the first year of their sojourn. It must be allowed, 

 however, that Prvor and Lecomte were never in good physical condition there; 

 both died in the process of acclimation. The result of all this has been ascer- 

 tained to the satisfaction of those interested. 



There can be but little doubt that the best horse of the year, in England, 

 can give any American horse yet produced fourteen pounds allowance, and beat 

 him in a race of two and a half miles, though the authorities of the English 

 turf have reduced this allowance at the Goodwood races to seven pounds. Mr. 

 Tenbroeck, who took over these horses, has since taken others, among them 

 Umpire and Starke. The former ran with success as a two-year old, and was 

 first favorite for the Derby, but was signally beaten, not being in the race for 

 more than the first mile. 



We see that the country in which the race is most permanently established 

 as a popular institution, and most largely patronized by the better classes, pro- 

 duces the best horse. The deduction is, therefore, that public trials of speed 

 and endurance tend to improve the stock of breedei's. The race is simply a 

 test of the animar,s power — a proof of how much he can carry, and how fast he 

 can cany it. Everything in this world requires a trial of some sort, and th 

 more regularly organized it is, the greater the improvement. This general law 

 is of universal applicability, and it may be safely laid down as a rule, that for 

 the purification of blood and breed in all animals, from the human down, some 

 competitive test of power and ability is requisite ; and this is precisely the ob- 

 ject and the result of the running race. 



It is not uncommon to hear ignorant persons talk of thorough-bred trotting 

 horses, but the animal is a rare phenomenon. There may be, doubtless, some 

 instances of the real thorough-bred trotting well, but the trot is entirely an 

 artificial gait. The wild horse, in his natural state, never trots, though the 

 untaught foals of good trotters sometimes take that gait. It must be remem- 

 bered also that no trotter has ever shown courage, endurance, and mettle whose 

 pedigree could not be traced, with more or less directness, to good racing stock; 

 and the best pedigree that the much praised Morgan and Black Hawk can 

 boast is a somewhat remote descent from thorough-bred ancestors on one side 

 at least, and the horses of those lineages transmit only the virtues of their 

 racing blood in breeding. The most celebrated trotting stallions of to-day 

 claim to be descended from the famous Messenger, among which may be men 

 tioned Hambletonian, Abdallah, Mambrino, and others. Trustee, that trotted 

 twenty miles within an hour, was out of a Messenger mare, by the famous sire 

 of Fashion. With this stock, what is called "in-breeding" has produced re- 

 markable results in the way of improving successive generations. 



The many good qualities, too, of the Canadian i)ony are due, without doubt, 

 to the early importation, by English officers, of valuable racers to Canada. In 

 fact, by tracing back a little the liistory of horse-flesh, in every region of coun- 

 try where the liorses are uncommonly fine, it will be found that thorough-bred 

 stock has been there at difi'er(.'nt eras. IMonmouth county, New Jersey, is 

 famous for its fine horses, and it is Avell known that racing was a favorite 



