HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 115 



41 inches, and from the point of the stifle to the point 

 of the hock, the length of his thigh was 24 inches. His 

 chief points of excellence were his long, trotting gait, his 

 muscular development, and the fine quality of his bones and 

 sinews. He was never engaged in a race, and never had a 

 record at any rate of speed ; but as a three-year-old he trotted 

 in public on Union Course, L. I., in 2:48^. Forty of his sons 

 and daughters have made records ranging from 2:17| to 2:30, 

 including Dexter, 2:17|; Nettie, 2:18, and Orange Girl, 2:20. 

 One hundred and thirty-eight of his sons are sires of eleven 

 hundred and one trotters, and seventy-one pacers, with records 

 ranging from 2:08| to 2:30 ; and sixty-nine daughters, (to the 

 close of 1893), have produced eighty-seven trotters and two 

 pacers, with records of 2:30 or better. " He is not only first 

 as a sire of trotters, but as the progenitor of the producers of 

 trotters, both male and female, he is incomparably above all 

 others of his generation." He died at Chester, N. Y., March 

 27, 1876. 



Hammering'. Punishing a beaten horse ; or whipping 

 a horse at the finish when it is impossible for him to win, are 

 acts known as "hammering." 



Hamstring. The great tendon or sinew at the back of 

 the hock on the hind leg of the horse. 



Hand. A measure of four inches ; the standard division 

 of measurement for horses ; a palm. 



Hand-Gallop. [Eng.] Explained by the quotation : 



The hand-gallop is play; the pace of i)leasure parties not hurried; of 

 hunting men going'to cover with a half hour to spare.— Book of the 

 Horse, Samuel Sidney. 



Hand-Loops. Loops attached to reins for the purpose 

 of getting a better control of the horse, and managing him 

 more easily. There are usually three hand-loops, or straps, to 

 each rein, about one foot apart. 



Handicap. An extra burden placed upon, or a special 

 requirement made of, a superior competitor in favor of an 

 inferior, in order to make their chances of winning more equal. 

 In a horse race the adjudging of various weights to horses dif- 

 fering in age, power or speed, in order to place them all, as 

 far as possible, on an equality. 



Handicapper. An officer of the turf assigned to deter- 

 mine the amount of the handicaps in a race or contest of 

 speed. It is said that an experienced handicapper can so 

 weight two horses of different ages and different degrees of 

 power, that they will run to a head-and-head finish. 



Handicap Race. A race for which the horses are 



