THE TROTTING-HOItSE OF AMERICA 45 



more than two have never been used for trotting pur- 

 poses, and never were taught to trot at all, if it is true that 

 the Arabs of the Desert only use their horses at the two so- 

 called natural paces, the walk and the gallop. Besides, 

 although I have never been in foreign parts myself, I have 

 been informed by gentlemen of observation and credit, 

 whose means of noticing this point have been wider if nob 

 greater than my own, that wild horses trot when moving 

 about at ease, or at play, or coming towards an object. It 

 is true, that, if they are at all alarmed, they immediately 

 strike into a gallop ; but this only shows that the gallop is 

 the best natural pace for speed, and not that the trot is no 

 natural pace. I am also informed that other wild animals 

 of desert places, such as wild asses, zebras, quaggas, and 

 the like, sometimes trot ; and, if I had not been told so, I 

 should have inferred it from the fact that almost every ani- 

 mal that goes on four legs, whether domesticated among us 

 or wild in our country, trots at times. Deer trot in the 

 woods : I have seen them do it. The largest and noblest 

 of our native animals is the elk, and he is a trotter. 



If any of my readers, when riding in the Central Park, 

 will take occasion to observe the elk that was sent to Mr. 

 Wilkes from St. Louis for that institution, I will bet a trifle 

 that they will see her trot, and go a pretty good trot, too, 

 if she is put up to her best pace. Away, then, with the 

 notion that the trot is wholly an artificial gait. If it were, 

 I think the attempt to breed trotters would have been a 

 failure ; whereas, everybody knows that it has been success- 

 ful. There is, however, a mixture of truth in the assertion 

 that the trot is an artificial gait. It is not the readiest way 

 for the horse to go at speed. A very poor running-horse 

 I mean a turf-horse could distance the best trotter that 

 ever was started ; and the best trotters never reach their 

 best speed until they have undergone a good deal of hand- 

 ling and cultivation. This handling, from the very first 

 day that the colt begins to eat, should be very different, in 



