2 The Trotting and the Pacing Horse 



the West India Islands by Columbus, and from 

 there the stock spread to Florida in 1527. De Soto 

 was attended by cavalry in the expedition in which 

 he discovered the Mississippi River. In 1604 

 horses were taken from France to Nova Scotia, 

 and in 1608 the French introduced horses into 

 Canada. In 1609 English ships landed horses at 

 Jamestown, and Bancroft informs us that in 1656 

 the horse had multiplied in Virginia and through 

 favorable legislation had improved. Speed was 

 especially valued. Horses were landed in Massa- 

 chusetts in 1629, and in the same year were im- 

 ported into New York from Holland. In Virginia 

 and the Carolinas particular attention was paid to 

 the breeding of horses for the running track, while 

 in Pennsylvania, New York, and the New England 

 States the horse of general utility was cultivated. 

 The easy motion of the Narragansett pacer made 

 him desirable for the saddle when road-building 

 was in its primitive stage, and the first speed com- 

 petitions between horses were on level stretches 

 of the country. These saddle contests were far 

 from orderly, but were keenly relished by the little 

 communities weighed down by monotony and 

 craving excitement. All kinds of sharp practices 

 were resorted to for the purpose of beating a rival, 



