THE FRENCH COAOHER. 203 



When the nineteenth century was about one- 

 third gone the French Government recognized 

 two things: first that the continued infusion of 

 the blood of the Thoroughbred was necessary 

 for the production of the horses it desired and, 

 second, that a fast trot was equally essential to 

 getting the mounted soldier over the ground 

 with the least possible fatigue and the greatest 

 celerity. Consequently in 1836 the government 

 began to offer prizes for trotting races and that 

 policy has been continued to the present day. 

 All the records of all the races that have ever 

 been trotted under the auspices of the French 

 Government are available. It was not how- 

 ever until the present year (1907) that a stud 

 book for French trotters was compiled and pub- 

 lished. This is the ^'Stud Book Trotteur" com- 

 piled by M. Louis Cauchois and altogether a 

 work of amazing interest. It shows how the 

 French, without outside aid of any kind have 

 developed a race of long-distance trotters to a 

 highly creditable rate of speed. According to 

 our way of figuring the speed is not great, but 

 its uniformity at the various distances is aston- 

 ishing. Races at one mile (1,609 metres) are 

 not popular in France. Instead the popular 

 distances are from 1,750 to 4,000 metres or 

 from around a mile and a quarter to a little 

 over three miles. 



Records in France are always rated by the 

 kilometre (roughly five-eighths of a mile), no 



