428 MAMBRINO CHIEF. 



where. In the Mambrino Chief family the loiiff thi^h 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; Woodford Mam- 

 brino, 24; Mambrino Gift, 24; Mambrino Kate, 24:^; Mambrino Ex- 

 celsior, 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 l^ula 

 and May Queen, mares 15 hands 1 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 24^, and Thorndale, 15 hands 2 inches, 

 has one 24, both from Mambrino Chief dams; and their sire also pro- 

 duced Pacing Al)dallah, a horse 15 hands 3^ inches, Avith a thigh 22^, 

 and Goldsmith Maid, 15 hands 1 inch, and 22f — which also proves the 

 same point. 



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 w^as a horse with a short thigh, and the short-thigh 

 trotters all trot close: Happy Medium, 22^; Hambletonian Prince, 

 22; Cuyler, 15 hands 3 inches, 23^; Lakeland Abdallah, 15 hands 2 

 inches, 22-2-; Edward Everett, 15 hands 1^ inches, 22^; Geo. Wilkes, 

 15 hands, 22; Lucy, 15 hands 2 inches, 20; Gen. Knox, 15 hands 2 

 inches, 20^; Tattler, 15 hands 2 inches, 22^; Orient, 15 hands 2^ 

 inches, 23; Hopeful, 15 hands 1 inch, 21^; Gov. Sprague, 15 hands 2 

 in -hes, 23^. The above list indicates the length of thigh in trotters 

 that have no near IDuroc blood. 



When the Duroc blood came in, the long thigh widened out the 

 position of the hind legs, and this wide open gait is so attractive to 

 some that it is early seized upon as a sure indication of coming great- 

 ness in the trotter. The Star family all show the wide gait, although 

 they possess only one cross of Duroc blood, sandwiched between two 

 and perhaps three crosses of Messenger, and one of Henry, another 

 short-measure horse. It must be borne in mind, however, that while 

 the form and peculiarities which give type to the Star gait came from 

 the Duroc cross mainly, that gait is not the Messenger Duroc gait. 

 The Henry cross exerted a controlling influence over the conforma- 

 tion of the American Star family, and greatly modified the Duroc 



