THE AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE. 479 



Some very good and fast trotters were first pacers and were taught 

 the better way of going, and some of them after they had acquired 

 speed in their natural gait. 



Pelhain was first a very fast pacer, and afterward became a dis- 

 tinguished trotter. In 1849 he was the first to win a heat in har- 

 ness in 2m. 28s. Cayuga Chief was a pacer in a livery stable, in 

 Worcester, Mass., and a favorite ladies' hackney. One day he 

 struck a trot, and soon became distinguished. In 1844 he trotted 

 to a wagon with 2201bs. in 2m. 36Js. The black gelding Pilot, 

 probably a son of the old pacer of the same name, was first a fast 

 pacer. He surprised his owner by striking a trot, and improved 

 so rapidly that in a short time he trotted in 2m. 28 Js. Tip, and 

 Dart, and Sontag were all pacers that afterward trotted fast. Old 

 Pacer Pilot went fast in both gaits, and so did his grandson, Tom 

 Wonder, the sire of the famous twenty-mile trotter, John Stewart. 



Though there are objections to pacing as a road gait, in harness, 

 some of the fastest have been pacers ; and though it is generally 

 believed that a pacer soon tires, there are performances on record 

 that prove them capable of keeping in the best of trotting com- 

 pany for any distance. In 1843, Sir Walter Scott paced on Beacon 

 Course eighteen miles in less than an hour without a break or halt. 

 In the same year, Oneida Chief paced against the best trotters of 

 that time Lady Suffolk, Confidence, and Dutchman and won 

 more races than he lost, making 2m. 28s., the best time then on 

 record. In the following year, Tippecanoe paced at New Orleans 

 in 2m. 36s., carrying a very heavy rider; and Unknown paced 

 on Beacon Course in 2m. 23s., a performance that had never then 

 been equalled by trotter or pacer. Old Pacer Pilot paced in 2m. 

 26s. with 1651bs. on his back. In 1850, lioanoke paced under 

 saddle in 2m. 21 Js. He was a roan gelding, and nothing is 

 known of his pedigree. In 1854, Pocahontas paced three heats 

 in a race at New Orleans in 2.20, 2.25, and 2.20. But in the next 

 year she brought the figures down to something less than has ever 

 been equalled by any trotter but Dexter, and not surpassed by him. 

 In a race with Hero, the pacer, in a wagon that weighed with the 

 driver 2651bs., Pocahontas paced the first mile in 2.17. This was 

 never beaten but once, and not until 1868, when Billy Boyce paced 

 at Buffalo faster than any other horse has ever trotted or paced. 

 In a race with Holla Golddust, a trotter, mile heats, 3 in 5, to sad- 

 dle, Boyce paced the second mile in 2.15i, and the third in 2.14i, 

 pacing the last half of the second mile in 1.5J, and the first half 

 of the third mile in 1.6. 



Many pacers belong to trotting families, and some trotters seem 

 to take their speed from a pacing ancestor, though this is not com- 

 mon. Oneida Chief was half brother of Flora Temple's sire. 

 Woodpecker, the trotter, and James K. Polk, the pacer, both took 



