504 



THE HORSE. 



use ; but the trotting horse that may not be among the fastest on 

 the course, may, and probably will be, a very superior road horse. 

 The following table shows the best performances from the begin- 

 ning of trotting as a public amusement in this country in 1818, 

 to 1868, in which year a larger number of very fast horses trotted 

 in public than in any former period. The driving of horses long 

 distances at speed, is a practice that cannot be too strongly repro- 

 bated. Four horses have trotted twenty miles within an hour, and 

 several others have tried it and failed. Black Joke, that trotted 

 fifty miles in less than four hours, was severely injured by it. The 

 Orange County horse, that trotted a hundred miles in less than 

 nine hours, died the same day. Such cruelties bring discredit on 

 trotting races, and should not be countenanced. Ordinary racing 

 is not cruel — albeit, many good people who never saw a race think 

 differently ; and though these performances at long distances are 

 introduced to show the utmost capacity of horses, it is " devoutly 

 to be wished,'' that there may never be any more to record. 



One Mile. 



