DEFECTIVE CONFORMATION". 395 



defect of this horse, is his proportion of front cannon and fore- 

 arm. His front cannon measures 12 inches, and his forearm 30-^. 

 Take one inch from his cannon and add it to his forearm, and he 

 would be in front, as behind, the perfection of poise and the fastest 

 trotter the world has yet seen. I inspected Smuggler for a brief 

 moment in his box, just before and when ready for his great race at 

 Cleveland. I had at once a clear conception of what would be his 

 forelejr-action on the track. Fullerton was in the same race, and the 

 foreleg-action of the two is somewhat alike, only differing in degree. 

 Fullerton lifts his knees and bends them much, throwing his feet out 

 slightly, and bringing his feet to the ground with a sharp stroke, too 

 severe for him to stand a long campaign without evincing some degree 

 of imperfection in his legs. But Smuggler far exceeds him in this 

 respect; he lifts his knees, apparently, higher than his elbow, and 

 advances his forefeet hut very little; and the violence with which he 

 brings them to the ground is shown in his hammering off two shoes 

 in one race — and such shoes as he wears! They began with thirty- 

 two ounce shoes in front and eight ounce shoes behind. Does any 

 one ask why they put such an enormous weight on his forefeet? It 

 is because such weight is requisite to keep him level and perfectly 

 balanced, otherwise he would break, would not hold to the trot, would 

 gallop or trot unsteadily. Why not put the extra weight on his brain, 

 or ballast up his instinct? The answer is obvious. His brain is all 

 riffht — as level as ever carried a trotter to the front — this defect is not 

 in any lack of trotting instinct. His forelegs are so constructed that 

 he has not reach enough in his forearms. His reach is so short, and 

 his pastern and cannon so long, that he can not send his feet far 

 enough, and move them fast enough, to keep pace with the terrific 

 speed of his body and rear propellers. He goes with such fearful 

 velocity and momentum that if he fails of a single step in front his 

 balance is lost — he is gone, and must do one of two things, fall 

 jirostrate and headlong on the ground, or throw out both front 

 feet together and catch level on both at the same time; but this 

 is a gallop. Once in the gallop, this same defect, together with 

 his weight of carcass in front, causes him to gallop high in front; so 

 that he can not catch again until his rate of speed is greatly reduced. 

 All horses whose forelegs are built on this model, which is that of the 

 thoroughbred, gallop high in front. On the other hand, those that 

 are built on a proper mean between too short and too long, such as 

 Goldsmith Maid, Albemarle and Rarus, glide along smoothly — the 



