AMERICAN HORSES. 



consider small ; because they find them more lasting 

 than big ones. Mr. Foster tells me that size has very 

 little to do with trotting speed, although it materially 

 affects the market value of trotters ; and that there are 

 several horses in the 2.10 list, which are not much over 

 14 hands. For his own use, he prefers horses from 16 

 hands to 16. i, because such animals can pull a fair 

 amount of weight, when their racing days are past. 

 The following is a list of the respective heights of some 

 of the most famous American trotters : — 



Lou Dillon is 5 years old, stands 15. i, weighs 804 lbs. 

 and is a Hambletonian Star. 



Mr. George H. Ketcham tells me that his famous 

 ex-champion 9-year-old chestnut stallion, Cresceus, stands 

 16 hands h, inch high, and weighs in " trotting order " 

 1,050 il5s. 



The Mambrino Chiefs are tall and leggy ; the Morgans 

 keep close to 15 hands ; and, as stated on page 572, the 

 Hambletonians vary a good deal in height. 



The sulky is an important factor in the conformation 

 which is best suited for the trotter, because it increases 

 the stability of the animal's equilibrium (p. 69) during 

 movement ; but with a rider, especially of the " crouching 

 jockey " kind, the stability of the equilibrium is greatly 

 diminished. Consequently, the best trotters are consider- 

 ably shorter in the body, as compared to their height, 



