388 The Book of the Horse. 



minutes seventeen and a quarter seconds, in 1S67) and Pocahontas shod. They are both 

 handsome horses for trotters, and, though small, with extraordinary development of muscle 

 in their fore-arms and hind-quarters. Mr. Bonner, whose pleasure-horses have cost him 

 ;^40,ooo (not dollars), always superintends the shoeing. He told me that we knew nothing 

 about that art in England, an assertion I did not attempt to contradict." 



When there are such purchasers as Mr. Bonner and his followers to compete for the 

 possession of American trotting sires, great as are their merits in the important qualities 

 of action and constitution — qualities in which our horses, under the influence of short races 

 and light weights, are becoming so deficient — no private individual in England can venture 

 to run the risk of importing American sires ; and, if imported, it would be impossible to 

 obtain remunerative fees. The speculation, if ever undertaken, must be performed by stallion 

 subscription associations. 



American trotters are of all sizes. The Dutchman, the favourite idol of Woodruff, was 

 sixteen hands high. Flora Temple, who was victorious on every course for a series of years, 

 was only fourteen hands two inches. 



Dexter, if he was the same horse whose feats are recorded in " The Horse of America," 

 stood fifteen hands one inch high ; and the wonderful mare Pocahontas was si.xteen hands 

 high ; both were by thorough-bred horses out of very well-bred mares. 



As to American coachmen, St. Kamcs, no mean authority, wrote from Kansas : — 

 "Talk about coaching! There, indeed, it may be seen to what an almost incredible 

 perfection this art may be brought — where an eye like an eagle, and a hand light as 

 a feather but firm as steel, will steer six horses and a heavy coach along a road in some 

 places a mere ledge on the sheer face of a rocky precipice, with only a few feet 

 between the passenger and certain death ; but horses and men are brought up to the busi- 

 ness, and one never hears of a fatal accident happening to those under charge of these daring 

 drivers. Once, however, I remember, on my way to Georgetown, we had an unusually heavy 

 load — I think twenty passengers — the full complement inside and out. On arriving at the 

 crest of Guy's Hill, a fearful declivity two miles long, ' Hank,' the driver, pulled up his 

 team, and, getting quietly down, picked up a fragment of rock, and began hammering at 

 something in connection with the running gear. Of course one or two of the more timid 

 of the passengers — rendered more so at the sight of the steep decline in front of them — asked 

 if anything was wrong, and if the coachman 'thought we should get down all right;' to 

 which 'Hank' answered, 'Yes, he thought so, if his brake leathers hung together,' and he 

 tapped away at them again. First one passenger thought he would walk to the bottom of 

 the hill 'to stretch his legs,' and then another, till the whole lot were walking down-hill at 

 their best pace, followed by ' Hank ' and his team, the knowing driver winking at me, and 

 chuckling to himself at the neat way in which he had got rid of his load down the hill. At 

 first I thought of getting down too, but concluded that if 'Hank' could stand it I coukl, 

 and so I kept my seat on the box. The coaches are made like our English four-in-hand 

 drag in shape, only hung on crane-necked springs, and much larger in the body." 



American trotters are not considered to arrive at their full speed until nine years old, and 

 Woodruft" names several celebrities that won great races at eighteen and nineteen years old. 



The following extract from a newspaper in 1S77 gives an idea of the trotting pace at which 

 our American cousins have arrived : — " There are about six or seven trotters in the country 

 (the United States) which can do their mile in two minutes and twenty seconds, or less, 

 and each of them is worth a king's ransom. In the United States, in 1S76, there were 



