iv THE HORSE IN AMERICA 



the danger of becoming confused in the multi- 

 plicity of theories and conflicting statements and 

 with the final result of knowing as little in the end 

 as in the beginning. In this modest little volume I 

 have endeavored briefly to show how the horses in 

 America have been developed and have come to be 

 what they are to-day. If I have succeeded even 

 partly in my purpose I will have my ample re- 

 ward; if I fail, my book will end on a few dusty 

 library shelves along with hundreds of others on 

 kindred subjects. 



There is a peculiar characteristic of most writ- 

 ers on the horse. Let a man be ever so fair in his 

 ordinary business and social life, he is apt, when 

 he becomes interested in horses, to throw away 

 his judicial attitude and change into an advocate 

 who sees only one side. When his interest in that 

 one side carries him to the length of writing, the 

 tendency is to be so partizan that he is even dis- 

 courteous to others who do not agree with him. 

 This queer disposition to wrangle and dispute is 

 due, no doubt, to the fact that horse breeding is 

 not yet by any means an exact science, and the 

 data, guiding even those who exercise the greatest 



