American Horses. 387 



071 like grim death to a dead darkey ;'' but as few in America are able to follow Woodruff's precepts 

 in driving as in England to ride and win a Grand National Steeplechase. 



The last edition of Herbert's " Horse of America " contains a number of engravings of the 

 most celebrated trotters at full speed. In this work, and Woodruff's, the fullest information on 

 American trotting will be found* But the following extracts from the recent travels of a 

 lady who seems familiar with English road trotters, of a speed above the average, will afford 

 a better picture of this favourite American " institution," as seen in the light of British eyesf : — 



" The Central Park of New York ranks immediately after the Bois and Hyde Park in point 

 of fashionable attendance, of handsome equipages, of pretty women, ehic toilettes, and general 

 gaiety. In point of natural scenery it far surpasses both. 



" The real object of the extremely light structure of American carriages and harness seems 

 to be to obtain speed ; everything is sacrificed to that one purpose. If a man can prove that 

 his horse can trot his mile half a second less than ' his neighbour's he is happy, and all the 

 country papers herald the fact, to his infinite delight and pride. 



" But as it is necessary to have a track (of sand) specially prepared, an uncomfortable 

 seat like the body of a long-legged spider, no end of training, strength of muscle, and yelling, 

 to obtain a ' dash ' of speed of a mile or two, give me in preference an honest English trotter 

 who will take me over a fair country road at sixteen miles an hour (! sic), who draws with his 

 traces and not with the reins, and whom I can pull up within half a mile ! 



" The American horses are well broken, their intelligence is developed, and it is rare that 

 you see any indication of the viciousness or nervousness so common in our blood horses. An 

 American thorough-bred is taught to obey every inflection of the driver's voice, and to stand 

 still when wanted. The Kentucky breed make capital saddle-horses, and after a generation's 

 training would, no doubt, equal our hunters. 



" The Americans who have had a military education at West Point ride very well ; but of 

 the equitation of those who have not been trained at that military school, nor practised during 

 the Civil War, the less said the better. American ladies, as a rule, know nothing about riding, 

 and very little of how to dress when they show their graceful figures and lovely faces on a 

 side-saddle. White underskirts and unsuitable variation destroy the effect of one of the most 

 effective of costumes. Even if they sit their horse gracefully, a want of firmness is apparent. 

 They have no intimate knowledge of, and consequently are never eJi rapport with, the noble 

 creature who does so much to enhance the beauty of his fair rider. 



"While at New York, I was taken to see Mr. Bonner's horses (to whom Woodruff's 

 book is dedicated), the possessor of Dexter, Pocahontas, and several other of the swiftest 

 trotters. He commenced life in the lower ranks of the social ladder; he is now rich, and 

 his great hobby is to own the fastest trotters that money can buy, solely for amusement, 

 for once in his stable they cease to be entered for races. When I visited Mr. Bonner there 

 were ten horses, each occupying a roomy loose box in stables which were marvels of comfort, 

 cleanliness, and method. One colt, about eighteen months old, had been bought, on the 

 strength of the fleetness of his pedigree, for ;^3,ooo. He was expected some day to accom- 

 plish some such wonderful feat as trotting a mile in a minute and nine seconds (!). I should 

 have thought five shillings nearer the value of the goose-rumped, heavy-headed little quad- 

 ruped. I went to see little Dexter (who trotted one mile and twenty-seven yards in two 



* "The Horse of America," by Frank Forester (Henry Herbert). A new edition by S. and B. Bruce, 1S71. 

 + "Our American Cousins at Home," by Vera. Sampson Low. 1S73. Vera appears to liave visited America in President 

 Grant's first term. 



