THE PACER 79 



pacers were chiefly used for saddle purposes. It 

 sometimes happened that individual animals showed 

 much speed, and, when possessed of a considerable 

 portion of the blood of the thoroughbred horse, had 

 the stamina and bottom to go races of one-, two- 

 and three-mile heats. However, for racing purposes 

 the pacer played an unimportant part, and when 

 horse -back riding ceased as a custom, pacers were 

 rarely seen. Persons unskilled in horsemanship may 

 wonder that pacers should not meet the requirements 

 for road -horses, both for pleasure and utility. For 

 this there are many substantial reasons. For mere 

 speed on a track, or very smooth road, the pace is a 

 shade faster than the trot. This is the only thing 

 that can be said in favor of the pacer as a driver. 

 In no other quality can he rank with the trotter. In 

 considering him as a horse for pleasure-driving, it 

 should be observed that as a type he lacks beauty of 

 form, having, as a rule, poorer quarters and a ten- 

 dency to upright shoulders and a sloping rump. He 

 does not often have a proud carriage of the tail, and 

 goes with a low head. In general bodily conforma- 

 tion he is decidedly inferior to the trotter. The high, 

 bold action which so charms the eye is impossible to 

 the pacing movement. A pair of pacers as coachers 

 would be an absurdity. It may be asked why pacers 

 would not do for the saddle. It must be remembered 

 that the old-fashioned pacer or racker, once popular 

 as a riding- horse, had a broken gait like some of the 

 easy movements of the modern saddle -gaited horse. 

 The present-day pacer has a true pacing gait, and is 



