TROTTING HORSES. 69 



races overdoes a horse and knocks him off, it is a 

 great, almost an insurmountable obstacle to his at- 

 taining the greatest excellence, even in speed for a 

 mile." 



After Flora Temple came Dexter, a brown horse 

 with a white face and four white feet, by llysdyck's 

 Hambletonian. He also had remarkable courage 

 and endurance, his dam being of the American Star 

 family. 



" Some of the Stars," Hiram Woodruff said, " have 

 given out in the legs ; but their pluck is so good that 

 they stand up to the last, when little better than 

 mere cripples. It is no wonder that they have great 

 game and courage ; for Star's grandsire was the thor- 

 oughbred four-mile r Henry, who ran for the South 

 on the Island here against the Northern horse Eclipse, 

 in 1823. I went to see the race, being then six years 

 old, and got a licking for it when I came home." The 

 Stars were descended from Diomed 



Dexter was first sold at the age of four, bringing 



four hundred dollars. He lowered the record to 2.17^, 



and doubtless would have reduced it still further had 



he not become the property of Mr. Robert Bonner, 



who withdrew him from the turf. The excellence of 



this horse probably gave the finishing blow to an 



old superstition which is embodied in the following 



stanza . — 



"One white foot, inspect him , 

 Two white feet, reject him , 

 Three white feet, sell him to your foes; 

 Four white feet, feed him to the crows." 



The first great performance of Dexter was made in 

 October, 1865, when he trotted under saddle against 



