Thoroughbred or Galloway, 33 



VI. 



The fancy of to-day is for the daisy-clipping 

 thoroughbred. And when they do not run to the 

 knife-blade pattern, they may be the finest mounts 

 a man can throw his leg across. But my fancy 

 for the road has always been for the higher step- 

 ping half-bred. Granted that on the turf or across 

 a flying country blood will tell. Granted that 

 brilliant knee action is mainly ornamental. Still, 

 in America, the half-bred will average much bet- 

 ter in looks, and vastly more satisfactory in hardy 

 service. Where shall we again find the equiva- 

 lent of the Morgan breed, now all but lost in the 

 desire to get the typical running horse } For sad- 

 dle work, and the very best of its kind, there was 

 never a finer pattern than the Morgan. Alas, 

 that we have allowed him to disappear! His 

 worth would soon come to the fore in these days 

 of saddle pleasures. The thoroughbred's charac- 

 teristic is ability to perform prodigies of speed 

 and endurance at exceptional times. But the 

 strong, every-day-in-the-year good performer is 

 usually no more than half-bred, if even that. 

 Moreover, you can find a hundred daisy-clippers 

 for one proud stepper, be he thoroughbred or gal- 

 loway. There is such a thing as waste of action. 

 No one wants to straddle a black Hanoverian out 

 of a hearse. But the horse who steps high may 



