392 THE HORSE OF AMERICA. 



were the result the galloper for the saddle and the trotter for 

 harness but they assume what appears to me to be a very un- 

 reasonable conclusion that both these types were indebted to the 

 super-excellence of Smetanka. The count was one of the most 

 prominent sporting men of his day, an inveterate horse-racer and 

 cock-fighter., and under this kind of management it is hardly 

 credible that the twenty English thoroughbred stallions should 

 have been put aside for the little white horse of positively un- 

 known origin. But whatever may have been the predominating 

 blood in the saddle department, it is certain that the trotter is 

 lineally descended from Smetanka. He was bred on a Danish 

 mare and produced Polkan (Volcan), without anything new or 

 striking in his characteristics. Polkan was bred on a Dutch mare 

 and produced Barss, and this was the first to manifest a disposi- 

 tion to extend himself to his utmost at the trot and to stick to it. 

 Barss became a great favorite with his master; for, although stum- 

 bled upon, he was a new creation and is the real progenitor of all 

 the horses that bear the name Orloff. His component elements 

 are easily expressed. He had twenty-five per cent, of the blood 

 of Smetanka; twenty-five per cent, of the blood of the Danish 

 mare, and fifty per cent, of the blood of the Dutch mare, it 

 seems to be reasonable to conclude, therefore, that the trotting 

 instinct must be found in the unknown elements of the Dutch 

 inare. 



Some years ago Prof. (the name I cannot now recall), 



from the Imperial Agricultural College, near Moscow, Russia, 

 paid me several visits for the purpose of gathering up what infor- 

 mation he could obtain about the origin and history of the Amer- 

 ican Trotter. He was very intelligent and thorough in his 

 methods of obtaining information, and each succeeding day he 

 came back to me with a new series of questions hinging upon 

 previous interviews, and all carefully prepared. These questions 

 were so admirably shaped to reach the vital points of the subject 

 that I became greatly interested in the man. When it came my 

 turn to ask questions, my first one was, What was the origin and 

 lineage of the Dutch mare that produced Barss? He replied, "Ah, 

 the scientific men of Russia would give a great deal to be able to 

 answer that question." We both agreed, perfectly, that the liv- 

 ing instinct of the trotter came from that mare, but he was not 

 able to tell me anything of her history or habits of action. He 

 told me there were many pacers in Russia and that the best ones 



