506 THE HORSE OF AMERICA. 



G. Stoner, Farmer Timothy Anglin, and all the other "little 

 fellows." Woodburn has made a great deal of money out of 

 these humbug tin-cup records, and as registration and the 

 standard are now absolutely under the control of her manager, 

 the 2:30-tin-cup still remains the evidence of a fast trotter, 

 worthy of standard rank. True, everybody nowadays laughs 

 at the idea that 2:30, with the "tin cup," is any evidence of even 

 reputable speed, but as they have given a certain kind of pre- 

 eminence and made money in the past, the twins will not be 

 separated, but will hold their places just as long as the standard 

 is under the present control. 



From this brief examination of the symptoms I think a safe 

 diagnosis can be made. The trouble seems to be twofold, or it 

 may be said there are two troubles, either one of which is dan- 

 gerous, but the two together m^y prove fatal in the end. It is a 

 well-known fact in veterinary science that there are certain dis- 

 eases among horses that may be communicated to the men who 

 have them in charge. There is one disease, vulgarly called "big- 

 head," that comes creeping upon its victim before he is aware 

 of its existence or approach, and against the insidious steps of 

 this destroyer the manager at Woodburn should be affectionately 

 warned. Sham records of 2:30 for standard rank are no longer 

 welcomed with enthusiasm in this country. The other trouble 

 is not so much with the manager as with the material which he 

 manages, which seems to be affected with what may be called 

 "dry-rot." This view of the non-productive character of the 

 Woodburn breeding stock, when measured by first-class perform- 

 ers, seems to be borne out by the fact that the names of those 

 gentlemen who have depended most largely on Woodburn blood 

 do not appear on the foregoing list as tha producers of first-class, 

 trotters. For about forty years the fame of W^oodburn as the 

 greatest of all our breeding establishments has been as wide as. 

 the boundaries of the nation. But notwithstanding the weight 

 and influence which great wealth and an unblemished name may 

 have secured, the records up to the close of the year 1896 have 

 deposed her from the first rank as a breeder of trotting horses, 

 and sent her away to the rear, where she now occupies her true 

 place in the eighth rank. It is well known to everybody that, 

 since the days of the first Mr. Alexander, Woodburn has never 

 entered a colt in a stake nor started one against other people's 

 colts, prize or no prize. This air of assumed superiority is. 



