CHAPTER XXXII 



BREEDING AND BREEDING ESTABLISHMENTS 



THE Kentucky Trotting Horse Association 

 was organized in 1873, and when I attended its 

 first meetings at Lexington, the outlook was any- 

 thing but cheerful. Only what you might call 

 a corporal's guard paid to see the races ; and the 

 officers of the famous Kentucky Association, the 

 then oldest active racing association in America, 

 with General John C. Breckinridge at its head, 

 predicted a speedy failure. The best people went 

 to the running races, and noses were turned up 

 at the trotter. The pioneers of the movement, 

 however, were made of stern stuff, and did not 

 readily yield to discouragement. Colonel Rich- 

 ard West, Major Henry C. McDowell, Lucas 

 Brodhead, W. H. Wilson, R. G. Stoner, Dr. L. 

 Herr, R. P. Todhunter, J. C. McFerran, R. S. 

 Veech, and John E. Green, the three last from 

 Louisville, persevered in the effort, and the asso- 

 ciation steadily grew in importance and influence. 

 It became the fashion for gentlemen from the 



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