FITTING FOR SHOW. 133 



is this commercial element which has made 

 rivalry in the American arena the most bitter 

 in the world and supplies the reason why it is 

 so essential that preparation be complete before 

 sending horses onto the tanbark. 



In the old countries show ring competition is 

 more or less of a lovefeast compared to the bat- 

 tles fought on American soil. Annually the 

 United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Ger- 

 many are ransacked by the importers for the 

 best horses that money will buy and to win with 

 these horses is a matter of dollars and cents, 

 not of sentiment. That our breeders have done 

 as well as they have in the face of this free- 

 for-all competition speaks volumes for their 

 progressive enterprize in the face of discourage- 

 ment. We are a free-for-all nation, however, 

 and the breeder must win against such competi- 

 tion if he is to gain the top rungs of the ladder. 

 It has been done and it can be done again. 

 There are anomalies in national as well as per- 

 sonal affairs and the position of the American 

 breeder is a notable one. If he wins he wins 

 against long odds and when he wins his triumph 

 is all the more glorious. True parallels can not 

 be drawn between the show yards of Europe 

 and America. 



Friendship ceases when the horses enter the 

 arena. It is then the business of the exhibitor 

 to win and even a small point overlooked may 



