166 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



The Kentucky horses are handsome and docile, and 

 they jump well. Some of them are up to a great 

 weight. I have seen one in particular that weighed 

 about twelve hundred pounds, a smoothly turned, 

 round built horse, of proud and lofty carriage, fit to 

 carry a commander-in-chief ; instructed in the move- 

 ments of the haute ecole, and so thoroughly disciplined 

 that his owner as he sat in the saddle was able to 

 crack an enormous whip over the horse's head with- 

 out causing him to budge an inch. I have another in 

 my stable at this moment, a coal-black fellow, standing 

 about 16.1, and weighing at least twelve hundred 

 pounds, with a powerful, sloping shoulder, high 

 withers, and a short back, capable of sustaining the 

 heaviest rider. This horse has a long, curved neck, 

 finely cut ears, powerful hind quarters, and a gentleness 

 and intelligence that I have never seen surpassed. 



Another type of the Kentucky saddle horse is ex- 

 hibited in a beautiful little bay mare, called Pea 

 Vine, bred by Colonel T. A. Dodge. She is a tough, 



iug humorous remarks, which I quote from a newspaper published 

 iu the heart of the Blue Grass region : — 



" A new kind of saddler has come into fashion of late, known as 

 the Parker, or New York saddler. A class of business men in 

 the East want something to jolt up their livers and give them a 

 deal of exercise on a short road or in the parks. The gait can 

 scarcely be described, and should be seen to be appreciated. It 

 requires a high degree of intelligence in the horse to enable him 

 to acquire it. He must cross his feet, take short, high steps, and 

 come down hard ; he must go backward as well as forward, side- 

 wise, and obliquely. He must cut up all sorts of didos. The 

 combination of a business man who does n't know anything about 

 riding, a plug hat, and a trained ' Parker ' would draw in any 

 Kentucky town almost like a circus. But then we have them. 

 Our horsemen can put up anything in their line that the trade 

 demands." 



