2 70 THE HOUSE OF AMERICA. 



round meaty withers and the round meaty buttocks were both 

 "coarse and gross" when looked at from the point of good breed- 

 ing. His two great, meaty ends, connected with a long and per- 

 fect barrel, two or three sizes too small for the ends, showed such 

 a marked disproportion that I often wondered at it. Not one of 

 these criticisms is made in the sense of a criticism of Mr. Kel- 

 logg's description, but merely as the expression of a different 

 view on some points, and on those points not mentioned I most 

 heartily agree with him. He has omitted to give the height of 

 the horse for the reason that he had shrunken from his normal 

 height just one inch. When at his best he measured fifteen 

 hands one inch and a quarter. This shrinkage, in addition to^ 

 the ordinary results of great age, is thus explained by Mr. Guy 

 Miller, who knew him better than any other man except his* 

 owner. "His splendid fore hoofs had been ruined by an opera- 

 tion whereby the arch was lost and the horse during the remain- 

 der of his days stood on his frogs." He was two inches higher 

 on the hips than on the withers. 



When the horse was led out his movements were so friction- 

 less and faultless that he impressed me as the most wonderful 

 horse that I had ever seen. He seemed as supple as a cat witk 

 the power of an elephant. As he walked he kept pushing those 

 crooked hind legs away under him in a manner that gave him a 

 motion peculiarly his own, and suggested the immense possibili- 

 ties of his stride when opened out on a trot. Plain and indeed 

 homely as he was he was a most interesting and instructive study 

 whether in his box or taking his daily walks. The question has 

 been asked a thousand times whether the speed of Hambletonian 

 had been developed and how fast he could go. This question 

 I considered very important, in a philosophical and breeding 

 sense, and in starting in to investigate it I found two statements, 

 one that the time made at the Union Course was honest and true, 

 and the other that it was a "put up job" to make Mr. Rysdyk 

 feel good, and that the time in fact was much slower than that 

 announced. Each side had its advocates, and it did not take 

 long to discover that the enemies of Mr. Rysdyk were all on one 

 side and the more bitter their enmity the more blatant they were 

 in denying the truth of the time given out for the performance. 

 This party was headed by one "J. M.," long distinguished, and 

 will be long remembered in Orange County, for the virulence of 



