THE AMERICAN MAMMAL 87 



them to the end of their journey in as clean a condition 

 as the best of our officers on the plains. The talent to do 

 this is by no means universal ; but it is wide-spread. And 

 though we may marvel at the recent three hundred and 

 fifty miles ridden in from seventy-two to eighty hours by 

 the most expert foreign horsemen on their picked horses, 

 the record of dead and foundered steeds leads us to be- 

 lieve that we could have done as well and saved our 

 horses. 



This brings us again to the question of the endurance 

 of the American mammal. Except the ass, there is per- 

 haps no creature of the equine race as stubbornly endur- 

 ing as the bronco. This is largely due to the American 

 olimate. The record of running and trotting time in 

 America tends to prove the same thing ; and our athletic 

 records, considering how recently born our athletic fad is, 

 are of high grade. The fact that the common States' 

 horse can be taken and, after short training, made to do 

 such marvels of distance work, not only proves the intelli- 

 gence of our officers but sustains the claim of superior 

 vitality in the horse. 



