No. 4.] THE HORSE FOR NEW ENGLAND. 125 



out the entire ride. Tliere are all sorts and degrees of hap- 

 piness ; but no matter how high or how low your degree was, 

 you eould alwa3^s add twenty-five per cent by a ride after one 

 of these chestnut wonders, that never knew what " tire" was, 

 and thought hills were made to run up. 



Action. 



I have said a good deal about action, and, so as to give 

 you an idea of what action is, it seems necessary to describe 

 it a little more fully. 



There is knee action, shoulder action, combination knee 

 and shoulder action ; hock action, stifle action, and com- 

 bination stifle and hock action. The accompanying illus- 

 trations give one a ver}- clear idea of the diflerence between 

 the action of the American heavy harness horse and the 

 hackney. "Jersey Lilly" and ''Lord Pick-'em-up" are 

 representative hackneys and blue ribbon winners at a num- 

 ber of the leading shows in New England; "Sporting 

 Duchess " and ' ' Show Girl " won blue ribbons at Newport 

 this year ; " Fascination " and " Elevation " carried all before 

 them at the Madison Square Garden show. 



It will be readily seen that attractive action and so-called 

 flashy action can be easily obtained by simple knee action 

 and hock action ; but there is absolutely no go-ahead to this 

 action, — it is up and down, and it is in the same place, with 

 only possibly a little advance all the time. 



To the American trotter there is added shoulder action 

 and stifle action ; and they not only show that flashiness, but 

 also place the feet when they are put on the ground at a cer- 

 tain distance ahead, so that the covering of the distance 

 rapidly, or speed, is the result. 



One would hardly believe it possible that horses could 

 be trained to show such phenomenal even action both in 

 front and behind as in the illustration shown, — '.'Sporting 

 Duchess" and "Show Girl;" but the camera is true, and 

 you see before you the knees absolutely even, the hock 

 absolutely even, — in fact, the whole horse poised to a nicety, 

 with his. chin dropped and neck bent, consequently his body 

 properly contracted, Avith the hind legs underneath him where 

 they belong, which is bitting. 



