55 



jjOLUNTEER was foaled 1854, the property of 

 Mr. Joseph Hetszell, of Florida, Orange 

 County, N. Y. His sire was the famous 

 Rysdyk's Hainbletonian, by Old Abdallah, 

 grandson of imp. Messenger. His dam was Lady Patriot, 

 a bay mare, greatly noted for her indomitable will and 

 endurance; owned by Edwin Thome, Esq., of Thorndale, 

 Dutchess County, N. Y. She was got by Young Patriot, 

 a son of Patriot, by Blucher out of the Lewis Hulse mare, 

 who was noted for her ability to both run and trot very fast. 

 Volunteer was her first foal, and he having been dropped 

 when his dam was four years old, and she has since that 

 time added fourteen others to her family, making fifteen in 

 all, the first six by Rysdyk's Hambletonian, the next two by 

 Ashland, the two following by Surplus, then one by Mam- 

 brunello, and four by Thorudale. Of these, Hetzel's 

 Hambletonian, Green's Hambletonian and Sentinel, by the 

 Old Horse, have become distinguished, the latter having 

 made a record of 2:29J, and promising great things on the 

 turf, but his death, which occurred some two years ago, put 

 an end to what would, doubtless, otherwise have been a 

 brilliant career. Volunteer is a bay horse, about 15J hands 

 high, and possesses a good deal more of finish and quality 

 than most of the get of his illustrious sire. He early gave 

 promise of superior qualities as a trotter, and there is but 

 little doubt that, with proper training, he could have beaten 

 2:30 ; but since passing into the hands of his present owner, 

 Mr. Alden Goldsmith, he has been kept mainly in the stud, 

 it being one of Mr. Goldsmith's theories, that neither a 

 sire nor dam should ever be severely trained, although he 

 seeks for the trotting gait in both, and believes in develop- 

 ing it by proper exercise. But it is as a sire of trotters that 

 Volunteer stands preeminent. If we take the records of 

 horses that have beaten 2:25, as a test of the highest order 

 of excellence among trotters, there is no stallion in the, 

 world that has excelled him, and only one, his own sire, 

 has equalled him. Each of these illustrious sires can boast 

 of eight of his get that have beaten 2:25 in a public race, 

 and as Volunteer is five years the younger of the two, if we 

 judge solely by the records of first-class performers, he is 

 entitled to rank much above the Old Horse as a sire of 

 trotters. The great excellence of the get of Volunteer has 

 not been appreciated until within the past three years, as 

 up to that time but one of them had made a record below 

 2:30, but the great performance of Huntress, when, three 

 years ago, she beat Dutchman's famous three-mile perform- 

 ance, which had stood the wonder of the world for 33 years, 

 opened the eyes of the public to the merits of Volunteer 



as a sire, and since then the Volunteers have been flashing 

 out as stars of the first magnitude in the trotting firmament. 

 We have Gloster, who has often been called the most won- 

 derful trotter the world has ever produced, who made such 

 a brilliant campaign last year, ending with a record of 2:17, 

 and with whom Doble confidently expected, had the horse 

 lived, to beat 2:14 this season ; Bodine, the " Whirlwind 

 of the West," with a record of 2:19}; Huntress, with her 

 unparalleled record of three miles in 7:21}, and a mile in 

 2:20J ; St. Julien, the great six-year-old, that, with only 

 three months' training, won six races in three weeks, scoring 

 a record of 2:22 J, and demonstrating his ability to trot in 

 2:18; Ainy, with a record of 2:22}; and Carrie, with 

 2:24} to her credit; Trio, who trotted last year in 2:23}; 

 Lady Morrison, with a record of 2:27 J ; and then the great 

 stallion, W. H. Allen, with 2:23} ; and Frank Wood, with 

 2:24; and Sister (full. sister to Huntress) that, only taken 

 up from the pasture last June, was at St. Julien's throat- 

 latch in 2:23J, at Hartford, last week. All these, brought 

 out within the short space of three years, proclaim Volun- 

 teer's preeminent merits as a sire of trotters not passably 

 fair trotters, but trotters of the very highest stamp in 

 tones that cannot be mistaken, and which will not longer 

 pass unheeded by breeders. Our picture is said to be an 

 excellent likeness of the horse when extended in a trot, 

 and displays his highly-finished form to great advantage. 

 During the last three years Volunteer has been very popu- 

 lar in the stud, and that popularity will no doubt be largely 

 increased by the performances of his get this season. The 

 bringing out of four such performers as St. Julien, Amy, 

 Carrie, and Sister in one year, was alone enough to establish 

 the reputation of Volunteer as a great sire ; but when it 

 comes backed up by the performances of the others above- 

 named, in the 2:25 class, and with California Dexter, record 

 of 2:27 ; Mary A. Whitney, 2:28 ; and Goldsmith's Abdal- 

 lah (killed last spring at Cynthiana), 2:30, there can be no 

 question as to his ranking first among the sons of Rysdyk's 

 Hambletonian, and when we make allowance for the differ- 

 ence in age, there are many who claim that he deserves to 

 rank even higher than his illustrious sire, as a getter of 

 trotters. There may be those coming after him, younger 

 in years, that may probably wrest his honors from him, 

 but at present his claim to stand at the head of the list of 

 trotting sires can only be disputed by his own famous 

 progenitor. His fame is certainly one of which all lovers 

 of trotting horses may well be proud, and should be espe- 

 cially gratifying to the numerous admirers of this family. 

 Spirit of the Times. 



