HORSES AND MULES 



2S7 



high-sounding pedigree. The result of 

 this was greatly to lower the power and 

 endurance of trotters. 



Trotters and the farmer — Since our 

 viewpoint in this volume is always thai 

 of the farmer, we may well ask what 

 good the farmer can get out of trotters. 

 By breeding trotting stallions to sound, 

 active, well gaited mares the farmer 

 may obtain fine roadsters or coachers. 

 The Bureau of Animal Industry is now 

 trying to establish a distinctive breed 

 of American roadsters on the basis of 

 the Trotter. Trotters are generally dis- 

 tributed throughout the country, and 



pounds. The final results of this experi- 

 ment are awaited with much interest. 



Pacers — As already indicated, the 

 Thoroughbred has given us not only run- 

 ners and hunters, but also trotters, pacers 

 and the American saddle horse. Pacers- 

 do not constitute as yet a recognized 

 breed. Many standard-bred trotters num- 

 ber pacers among their progeny. In 

 early days in this country, pacers were 

 used largely as saddle horses. Later 

 they were put on the track. On the race 

 track the pace seems to be a somewhat 

 faster gait than the trot. For general 

 driving purposes, however, the pacer is 



Fig. 199 — gaited saddle stallion, potosi star. 



any improvement which can be made in 

 them will in time react upon the whole 

 horse industry. Speed is important, but 

 it is not the only point to aim at. En- 

 durance, conformation and size must 

 also be considered. It is desirable to 

 establish a fixed type of good carriage 

 horses which may ultimately become a 

 definite breed. For this purpose the De- 

 partment of Agriculture has purchased 

 18 mares about 15.3 hands high and 

 weighing 1,100 to 1,150 pounds. They 

 are bay, brown and chestnut in color, 

 without tendency toward pacing or 

 mixed gait. The stallion selected was 

 the trotter Carmon, 16 hands, 1,200 



inferior to the trotter. The hips slope, 

 the shoulders are high and the form is 

 otherwise less perfect. Within the pasi, 

 25 years the speed of the pacer has been 

 greatly increased until Dan Patch made 

 a mile in 1.56. 



This type of horse, however, has grad- 

 ually become unfit for a saddle horse or 

 general driving. He is nothing but a 

 race horse and carries in him little of 

 value to the farmer. The pacer strikes 

 the ground with both right or left feet 

 at the same time, while the trotter has 

 no two feet on the ground at once when 

 at speed. The pacing fad at times as- 

 sumes considerable proportions and many 



