THOROUGHBREDS 175 



ruff went to see as a small boy, and was soundly 

 whipped for it when he came home, as he relates in 

 his autobiography — these were races of three and four 

 miles, and not only that, but they were run in heats, 

 " the best two in three." Races of this kind, and still 

 more the training that preceded them, developed a very 

 powerful animal of great endurance. Such was the 

 gelding called Wagner that carried the Confederate 

 general, Abe Buford, a man weighing 300 pounds, all 

 through the Civil War. 



But in recent years short races have made speed 

 more important than endurance in the thoroughbred, 

 and that horse is, for the most part, different in type 

 from his ancestors of fifty years ago. 



The trotter is of course founded largely, one might 

 say mainly, upon the thoroughbred, but the trotter has 

 improved immensely during the past fifty years, not 

 only in speed, but in quality and endurance ; and it now 

 seems fair to say that the trotting family is superior 

 to the thoroughbred even in endurance. The long races 

 and severe scoring to which the trotter is subjected have 

 no parallel In the work now required of the runner. 



In short, the thoroughbred has ceased to be neces- 

 sary as a "foundation" horse or as a "cross" except 

 In respect to horses whose business it Is to run and 

 jump. As a running race horse he far excels all other 

 breeds In the world; and, more and more, polo ponies 

 and hunters are bred from thoroughbred stock. But 

 for the improvement of harness horses the thorough- 

 bred Is no longer necessary or useful. For that purpose 

 the trottlng-bred horse has taken his place. 



