CHAPTER XXVII 



THE GROWTH OF DISCIPLINE: HORSE SHOWS 



IN 1825 the New York Trotting Club was 

 organized, and its race ground was at Jamaica, 

 Long Island. In 1828 the Hunting Park Asso- 

 ciation was established in Philadelphia, for the 

 encouragement of the breed of fine horses, " espe- 

 cially that most valuable one known as the trot- 

 ter." Topgallant, Betsey Baker, Trouble, Sir 

 Peter, Whalebone, Screwdriver, and other horses 

 of that period trotted over the Hunting Course. 

 The races usually were at two-, three-, and four- 

 mile heats, and more attention was paid to 

 endurance than speed. As the roads improved 

 the taste for trotting grew, and the old song 

 eulogized the 2.40 mare on the plank road. The 

 Centreville track, Long Island, had a code in 

 force in 1838, but the rules most generally re- 

 spected were those of Union Course, Long Island. 



During and immediately after the Civil War 

 there was so much laxity in the conduct of 

 races that trotting fell into disrepute. It was in 



285 



