522 THE HORSE OF AMERICA. 



failure would wipe out the work already done in both the Regis- 

 ter and the Monthly. It was the crucial period in the history of 

 these publications. A misstep or an unwise provision would 

 have brought a disastrous end. To found a breed of horses rest- 

 ing primarily and wholly upon performance and the blood de- 

 scended directly from performers, or the producers of performers, 

 was something that never had been attempted in the world. The 

 basis was wholly unique, but it commended itself to the public 

 judgment as a just one, and as the only foundation upon which 

 the proposed breed could be successfully established. The basis 

 was wisely chosen and the superstructure erected thereon was 

 equally wise in all its provisions. Never have we known a set of 

 men to work more earnestly or more unselfishly for the common 

 purpose. 



After very careful consideration in a large and intelligent com- 

 mittee, the finished labors of that committee was reported to the 

 Association on November 19, 1879, at the Everett House, in this 

 city, and the standard was then and there adopted without so 

 much as a question and without a voice or a vote being raised 

 against it. Thus the standard was launched in unity and wis- 

 dom, and from that day it went forward on its mission of educat- 

 ing the people. The "Trotting Register" has done much and the 

 Monthly has done something in the way of education, but the 

 standard has been the special formula through which all these 

 teachings have been brought home to the breeder, great and 

 small, in a manner that educated both his mind and his pocket. 

 If we could conceive of the brightest mind directing the most 

 pointed pen for the period of a hundred years in the special 

 department of how to breed the trotting horse, we feel sure he 

 would fail to accomplish as much as this little, practical formula 

 called the "Standard" accomplished in the first dozen years of 

 its existence. 



When the standard was adopted and put in operation there was 

 a material advance in the market value of all animals registered 

 under its requirements, and it thus became not only a matter of 

 honor, but of profit, to breed only in the standard ranks. Every- 

 body was willing to pay more for a good horse that was standard 

 in his breeding than for one equally good that was not standard 

 in his breeding. A record of '2:30 was then accepted as evidence 

 of a high rate of speed, everywhere. There was a grand rush for 

 standard rank and the number of fraudulent performances sent 



