472 BLACKWOOD AND SWIGERT. 



uniform proportions. Hips not prominent; a long and rather slender 

 gaskin; the thigh not being heavily muscled, but seeming rather 

 deficient in this respect,' and the heavy part of the quarter not com- 

 ing down very well. The hind legs of these horses are rather straight, 

 more so than the average sons of mares by Mambrino Chief; the 

 hocks are large and well formed, and show no tendency toward curbs, 

 or any leaning toward the Maml^rino Chief pattern in form. The 

 measurement from hip to hock, it will be noticed, is the old Messen- 

 ger formula of 39 inches; and a thigh 24|- inches gives these two a 

 great similarity to Thorndale and Almont, excejDt in the muscular 

 appearance of the quarters and thighs of the two latter. They are 

 not so wide at the stifle, nor so large in the thigh or gaskin, as Almont 

 and Thorndale. They each have handsome tails, well set on, and a 

 long, well-formed neck — in all of which they each resemble the other 

 very much. The entire outward form and appearance of the two 

 horses is strikingly alike, and they may be set down as the Castor and 

 Pollux of the trotting stud. Their gaits or manner of going follow 

 from their similarity of blood and conformation, and are precisely 

 alike, although I have never seen either of them in motion. In each 

 case I was able to describe the gait to the satisfaction of the owner or 

 keeper. 



A horse or a family that has a 24|- inch thigh, and only measures 

 39 inches from hip to hock, will trot very wide apart behind — wider 

 than is necessary — and will lift the hind feet and hocks too high. 

 This action will be controlled somewhat by the structure and exten- 

 sion of the muscles of the hindquarter; and, for this reason, those of 

 the same measurement will differ in the degree of their faulty action. 

 Thorndale lifts his hind feet too high, and he strikes the cross-bar of 

 the skeleton wagon with his feet, unless specially constructed for him. 

 Blackwood and Swigert, with their long and more slender gaskins, 

 raise their hocks entirely too high, and both strike the cross-bar with 

 their hocks, unless the sulky be specially built for them. 



The stifle action of these two families is precisely alike, and rather 

 similar to the Almonts. Indeed, it could hardly be otherwise with the 

 similarity of conformation. This peculiarity of anatomy, which was 

 ingrafted on the American trotter by Duroc, and which has a tendency 

 to an increasing development with each successive generation, like the 

 trotting peculiarity of the Messenger blood, has made its mark on the 

 trotting gait of a very large and rapidly increasing branch of our 

 roadster family. In some instances, as we have seen, notably in that 



