THE BREEDS OF HORSES. 205 



toga, Mambrino Chief, Royal George, Patchen 

 or any other of' our prominent trotting sires in 

 it can belong to a thoroughbred. It may appear 

 strange to some that it is necessary to make 

 this statement; yet I have seen premiums 

 awarded in the thoroughbred class to trotting 

 stallions at both State and county fairs; and I 

 have known some cases where imported draft 

 horses have been entered in this class and were 

 supposed to be eligible. 



TROTTERS AND ROADSTERS. 



It can scarcely yet be said that we have a 

 distinctive breed of driving horses or roadsters. 

 The horses used for light driving, fast trotting, 

 etc., are largely a conglomeration of all breeds 

 and types. Some of them approximate the 

 French Canadian pony in form and action, 

 while others possess most of the characteristics 

 of the thoroughbred; but so popular have trot- 

 ting races become in this country, and so uni- 

 versal is the fancy for fast driving horses, that 

 at almost all our horse shows and fairs the 

 roadster class will be found more largely rep- 

 resented than any other, and often more largely 

 than all others combined. Indeed the roadster 

 is more distinctly an American feature than 

 any other in our equine product; and we have 

 almost if not quite reached the time when the 

 American trotting horse may properly be classed 



