16C HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 



ger's three greatest sons were : Winthrop Messenger, taken to 

 Maine in 1816, the founder of that sterling famil}^ known as 

 Maine Messengers, of which Sanford Howard said, in 1852, 

 "Elaine has, until within a few years, furnished nearly all the 

 trotting stock of any note in the country," Bishop's Hamble- 

 tonian, foaled on Long Island in 180J:; Mambrino, foaled in 

 1806, from whose loins came two of the greatest families in all 

 history — the Mambrino Chief, and Hambletonian, the latter 

 " by far and away the greatest of all trotting progenitors." 



Metacarpus. The cannon bone. It extends from the 

 hock in the hind leg, and from the knee in the fore leg to the 

 fetlock. It stands nearly perpendicular, and is somewhat 

 cylindrical in shape, though it should be flat from side to side. 



Mexican Derby. First run in the city of IMexico, 

 N. A., December 3, 1893. Won by R. R. Rice, of Arkansas, 

 his entry, Francis Pope and Castanet, finishing in first and 

 second position. Distance : one mile and one-fourth ; time : 

 2:24f 



Mile. A distance of eight furlongs, or five thousand two 

 hundred and eighty feet. 



Mitbeh. A term used by the Arabs, applying to a point 



of the horse which they esteem of great imjiortance. Explained 



by the quotation : 



Next to the head aiifl ears, the Arabs value the manner in which the 

 liead is set on tlie neck. Tliis point, or rather form of .iunctiire, 

 ihey call the mitbeh. It especially refers to the shape of the wind- 

 pipe, and to the manner in which the throat enters or runs in 

 between the jaws, where it should have a slight and graceful curve. 

 This perniits'of an easy carriage of the head, and gives great free- 

 dom to the air passages.— Road, Track and Stable, H. C. Merwin. 



Mixed Gaited. When a horse has two ways of going 



at speed, and changes from the trot to the pace, and from the 



pace to the trot, it is said that he is " mixed gaited." 



Change ot gait is only possible when all the feet are clear of the 

 ground. If the attempt should be made while one foot is on the 

 ground, the result would be a misstep and a fall. This opportunity 

 Is afforded when the extraordinary propulsive force, given by the 

 fore leg that leaves the ground last, projects the body upward, 

 giving a time equal to one-fifth of a stride for the hind foot of the 

 same side to take the place of one that would have followed had 

 the same order continued. — The Horse in Motion, J. D. B. Slilhnan. 



Mixed Meeting. Those meets at which both trotting 

 and running races take place. 



Molars. The molar teeth of the horse appear in two 

 dentitions, or groups — the temporary and permanent. The 

 first consists of twelve teeth, six in each jaw, three on each 

 side. The second consists of twenty-four teeth, twelve in each 

 jaw, six on each side. They are designated by numbers, from 

 front to rear, as first, second, and so on. The first three, which 



