THE NATIONAL HORSE OF AMERICA. 705 
limit. This is the merest speculation. A concensus of the public 
opinion of horsemen in 1860 would have fixed the limit of the trotter’s 
speed at Flora Temple’s mark. When Ethan Allen, harnessed with a 
runner, went the mile in 2:15 men thought it would never be equaled, 
and the popular opinion certainly was that no horse could do it alone. 
Only a little over twenty years ago it was timidly that Hiram Wood- 
ruff ventured the forecast that Dexter would beat Flora Temple’s 
record; but to-day a gap of eleven seconds is opened between Flora 
' Temple’s record and that of Maud S., and upwards of one hundred 
and forty horses have surpassed Flora’s performances. In view of 
the fact that the trotting breed is yet in its infancy, and that the 
average of extreme trotting speed is steadily advancing toward two 
minutes, I think it rather absurd that men assume to fix a limit and 
a time when progress will suddenly cease. 
At the outset I explained why I should deal pretty fully with the 
turi history of the trotter, while still considering him chiefly as a 
horse whose great value consists not wholly in turf uses, but rather 
in his adaptability to serve the requirements of the American people. 
The greater a road or park horse’s natural speed is the greater his 
value, and it is value we breed for after all. Whatever aay be the 
views of the reader as to the other influences of the trotting track, he 
must admit that it has been the chief agency in bringing the Ameri- 
can light-harness horse to a point of excellence unrivaled and unap- 
proached by any other breed. The love of the turf is deeply rooted 
in America as well as in England, and I think this devotion to ‘‘the 
sport of kings” is greatly due to an eminently proper feeling that 
the improvement of the higher kinds of horses depends mainly upon 
turf tests. ‘‘It is certain,” says an old English writer, ‘‘that horse- 
racing was the means of converting the old lumbering horse of this 
country into the elegant, graceful, and pre-eminently fleet animal of 
* * * the present century.” This applies as well to our beautiful 
trotting-bred horse of to-day. The true horseman deplores every- 
thing that tends to degrade the turf more sincerely and deeply than 
do the Pharisees, who ignorantly rail against the horse and the test 
instead of against the men who practice abuses. Excessive betting, 
and indeed gambling, are undeniably practiced on the turf, but men 
bet on all affairs of doubtful issue as well. Shall we therefore silence 
the public voice lest wagers be made on what the verdict of the ballot- 
box may be? It isabsurd to demand that.an honorable public amuse- 
ment, serving as well the production in higher form and value of a 
great staple of our commerce be abandoned because unworthy men 
participate therein. Prime essentials of horses in their highest form 
are speed and endurance, and how can their speed and endurance he 
adequately tested except by putting them in contest? The farmer 
who breeds a beef cow, or the coarser varieties of horses for more 
menial service than between the carriage shafts, contests for pre- 
miums with his neighbor at the county fair. Shall his brother who 
breeds for the speed that is essential to his chosen horse be tabooed 
for likewise seeking the honor of a premium in his class—a certificate 
of the triumph of his endeavor to produce an animal of special ex- 
cellence? But argument on this point is superfluous, for every per- 
son of entelligence recognizes the use, and indeed the absolute neces- 
sity, of the track test. Without it our high type of fleet and beauti- 
ful horses of great price would degenerate into as luggish, lumbering 
spiritless tribe of little worth. 
AG 87——48 e 
