HORSE OF CONQUEST AND CEREMONY 



ample of men who made speed contribute to senti- 

 ment rather than to the gambling fever, clothed 

 driving with ceremonial dignity, and the riding horse 

 was forced into the back ground. Tracks for har- 

 ness meetings multiplied and speculative greed 

 caused lines to relax, and the pacer, no longer re- 

 pressed, became as numerous and conspicuous as the 

 trotter. In nearly all the States fundamental law is 

 opposed to the speculative feature of racing, and, 

 when excesses revolutionize public sentiment, there 

 is a swift return to basic principles. The running 

 horse is very popular in New York, and some other 

 States at the time I write, but, if the future can be 

 indexed by the past, there will be periods of reac- 

 tion which will change the character of the horse. 

 Environment plays a very important part in evolu- 

 tion. The elimination of trotting tracks will not 

 utterly destroy the light-harness horse, because it 

 is reasonable to suppose that good roads and speed- 

 ways will not be lost to civilization, and they will 

 furnish a theater for the display of the highest types 

 in driving competition. 



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