THE ORLOFF TROTTER. 407 



Perhaps nothing illustrates better what I have called the 

 versatility of the trotter than this contest with the Hackney in 

 the latter's own especial field if he may be said to have any. 

 Of course there could be no contest between the horse of a special 

 breed and the nondescript as a harness horse for speed or useful- 

 ness on the road, whether the distance were half a mile or a 

 hundred miles; but in the show-ring the Hackney men claimed 

 absolute pre-eminence for their "high-acting" horses. They 

 did not dare contest with the trotter in the matter of road speed, 

 so to have any contest at all the trotting horse men had to 

 "carry the war into Africa." This they have done with a venge- 

 ance. They have taken the pure-bred trotting horse, dressed 

 him in the fashion dictated by the Hackney "faddists," taught 

 him the Hackney tricks, the preposterous Hackney action and all 

 that, and have beaten the Hackneys not once but time and again 

 right on their own ground, viz., at the National Horse Show in 

 Madison Square Garden. In almost all cases in classes where 

 trotters have been admitted to compete with Hackneys, the 

 former have carried off the honors within the past two years. 

 Many notable instances might be cited, but one will suffice. At 

 the National Horse Show, 1896, a class was offered for "half-bred 

 Hackneys," sires to be shown with four of their get. The Hack- 

 ney end of the argument was upheld by Mr. A. J. Cassatt's re- 

 nowned prize-winner, imported Cadet, with four of his get. 

 Against him was entered the well-known trotting sire Almoiit 

 Jr., 2:26, with four of his get, and though the judges were gen- 

 tlemen identified more or less with the Hackney interest, so 

 superior in form, action and style were the four youngsters by 

 the trotting sire that they carried away the honors from the 

 chosen progeny of one of the most noted Hackney show horses in 

 the world. 



In the sale ring this verdict has been corroborated. The 

 highest prices the record figures paid in the fashionable New 

 York market for park horses, "high steppers," or by whatever 

 name the merely spectacular harness horse may from time to 

 time be called, have been paid for trotting-bred horses: and in 

 advertised sales of "Hackneys" it has become somewhat common 

 to encounter half-trotting-bred and full-trotting-bred horses. 



While no genuine American and horseman can without regret 

 see a typical American horse mutilated and his action perverted 

 in the manner required to bring him into "Hackney" classes at 



