104 GUN, BOD, AND SADDLE. 



THE AMEEICAN THOROUGH- 

 BRED. 



I THINK that few will disagree with me that 

 horse-racing was established not alone for the 

 amusement it affords, but for the encouragement of 

 breeding a superior stamp of animal, alike capable 

 of speed and endurance. Of late years the former 

 quality has been the desideratum, and to so great a 

 pitch has it come through light weights, short races, 

 &c., that the most useless, as far as utility purposes 

 may be considered, are patronized for sires. The 

 result is, what would have been deemed a race-horse 

 a quarter of a century ago, is now thought a hunter 

 at best, while what our fathers would have con- 

 demned as a weedy tucked-up brute, we, with our 

 advanced views of civilization, call a race-horse. 

 Speed for a short distance is what all harp after, and 

 if stamina with speed can not be obtained, the more 

 useful quality is neglected, or entirely sacrificed, for 

 a second less time in a mile race. Double the 



