108 HINTS ON SELECTION, CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF HORSES. 



assumes by nature is a matfer not o-f choice but of necessity he could 

 not gallop if he would. H-is leverage has been wisely placed to carry 

 the weight of his ungainly body, and his speed becomes a matter wholly 

 secondary. The long, strong muscles reaching from his hip to hock 

 run almost parallel to the bones of upper thigh and leg, and could 

 hardly be expected to exert sufficient force for lifting such enormous 

 quarters briskly as in galloping ; the motion must be swinging not 

 propelling a condition which the trot fulfills exactly. 



"The other extreme the long hind cannon and the corresponding 

 pushing or propelling gait, the gallop may be found in all those ani- 

 mals of well-known speed, as deer and antelope, jack rabbits, and the 

 like. Their natural gait, at anything beyond a walk in speed, is known 

 to be a gallop, and the conformation correlates the gait. The prong- 

 horned antelope {Antilocapra Americana) of Northwest Texas, rarely ever 

 known to trot, although but 31^2 inches high, displays a cannon meas- 

 urement of 12^ inches as compared with length from hip to hock of 

 16^, a ratio of but 1:1.3. 



"Just what ratio in this lower lever will be most conducive to the 

 trotting gait can be determined only by a study of the measurements of 

 well known trotting horses now before the public, noting the peculiar 

 points of interest in their ways of going, and especially their tendencies 

 to break when urged to highest speed. Sunol measures 17^ and 40 

 respectively for hind cannon and length from hip to hock, a ratio of 

 1:2.285. Her hock is very low, the cannon extra short, and her mile in 

 2:08^ bears witness to her speed capacity. Ansel, also by Electioneer, 

 shows nearly equal measurement, a ratio of 1:2.222. Delmarch, by 

 Hambrino, measures i7/^ and 38^, a ratio of 1:2.232. Jack, the 

 steady, gray campaigner owned by Mr. Forbes, measures 17)^ and 37, a 

 ratio of 1:2.114. Mary Marshal measures 18 and 39, a ratio of 1:2.167; 

 and Allerton, the king of racing stallions,* measures 17 and 39, a ratio 

 of 1:2.294. 



"Nearly all the great celebrities at present on the track show can- 

 non not quite half as long as length from hip to hock; a few exceptions 

 only prove the rule. The horses named are all pure gaited trotters, 

 bearing voice and whip if needed in a race without a skip, and straining 

 every muscle in a keen desire to win. The record each has made is 

 plainest evidence that trotting blood and brain and leverage combined 

 will carry highest speed. Mary Marshal, 2:12^; Jack, 2:12; Delmarch, 

 2:11^; Allerton, 2:09^; Maud S., 2:08^, and Sunol, 2:08^, are proof 

 potential of the progress made in breeding trotters since the days of 

 Flora Temple." 



Soundness (by which is meant freedom from disease or any abnor- 

 mal feature) is of prime importance, especially in selecting for stud use; 



*Since dethroned successively by Palo Alto, 2:08^ ; Kremlin, 2:07^, and Stamboul, 2:07 }4. 



