.142 ORIGINAL SOURCES OF TROTTING BLOOD. 



The American Star family, with their single cross of Duroc, and 

 only 15 hands 2 inches in height, have a thigh 24 inches in length — 

 the larger ones, Bolton and Socrates, have each one 24^ inches; while 

 Smuggler, a remote descendant of Duroc, can show as fine hindquar- 

 ter action as any horse in the world, and trot very fast on a 24-inch 

 thigh. It is also seen that the length of the thigh bears some refer- 

 ence to the number of Duroc crosses the animal carries. Thus, 

 Brownwood by Blackwood, dam by McDonald's Mambrino, having 

 two Duroc crosses, has a thigh 24|- inches; the present Messenger 

 Duroc, with his five crosses of Duroc, has one 25 inches, and his son 

 Ellwood, with his ten direct crosses, and not so tall on the rump by 

 two inches, has one also 25 inches; Prospero is also 25 inches. 



This feature of the Duroc cross is one that is found with more 

 certainty than any other anatomical characteristic that I know of any- 

 where. In the Mambrino Chief family, the long thigh is universal, 

 unless controlled by an overpowering concentration of Sir Archy 

 or other racing blood, as in a few instances. Administrator has a 

 thigh 24^ inches; Mambrino Patchen, 24^; Idol, 24; Mambrino 

 Eclipse, 24; Mambrino Star, 24; North Star Mambrino, 24; Wood- 

 ford Mambrino, 24; Mambrino Gift, 24; Mambrino Kate, 24|-; Mam- 

 brino Excelsior, 24|^; Proctor, 24f ; Blackwood and Swigert, each 

 24^. These two latter were from daughters of Mambrino Chief; 

 their sire Norman, descended from Messenger stock, was not so 

 long; he produced Lula and May Queen, mares 15 hands and one 

 inch, and each had a thigh 22^ inches; also Sue Letcher, the dam 

 of Neely's Henry Clay, and she a large mare, has a thigh 23 inches, 

 and all these show that the long thigh came from the Mambrino 

 Chief family. Again, Almont, a horse 15 hands 2 inches, has a 

 thigh 24t, and Thorndale, 15 hands 2 inches, has one 24, both from 

 Mambrino Chief dams; and their sire also produced Pacing Abdallah, 

 a horse 15 hands 3-^ inches, with a thigh 22|-, and Goldsmith Maid, 15 

 hands 1 inch, and 22f — which also proves the same point. So uni- 

 formly does this measurement prevail, that I venture the suggestion 

 that if the dam of Middletown was by American Eclipse, he will dis- 

 play a thigh 24 inches in length. I have not seen the horse and can 

 not, therefore, attest the point. But the measure is an authority on 

 questions of pedigree that is sometimes more authentic than certificates. 



We often see the statement that the early Messenger trotters did 

 not trot so wide apart behind as we now frequently observe. The 

 Messenger horse was a horse with a short thigh, and the short-thigh 



