HORSES AND MULES' 



289 



horsemen have called attention to the 

 cruel and highly reprehensible practice 

 of hobbling horses in order to compel 

 them to assume the pacing gait. Such 

 horses are likely to acquire an unnatural 

 pace or mixed gait, which greatly inter- 

 feres with their speed and beauty of 

 form. In Rhode Island there was a 

 family of horses known as the Narragan 

 sett pacers, derived, it is claimed, from 

 horses obtained in Australia. The stock 

 was allowed to die out. 



best saddle horses. Denmark was 

 brought to Kentucky in 1839 and bred 

 to native saddle mares, the Thorough- 

 bred being relied upon for courage and 

 endurance and the mares for gait and 

 disposition in the progeny. The Saddle 

 Horse register was first published in 

 1892. (For secretary, see appendix.) 



About 5,000 saddle horses have been 

 registered in the United States and oi 

 these 2,700 are living. The various fain- 



Fig. 201 — TYPE OF MODERN MORGAN STALLION 



(This splendid animal. Goldmine, No. 4,407, was two years old when picture was taken. He is a full brother 

 to Kins Mortfan, selected bv the Mexican uoverninent tor breeding cavalry horses. I'hoto by courtesy of the 

 breeder, L. I). Ely. 



The American saddle horse — The 

 foundation stock of this breed, as given 

 by the American Saddle Horse Breeders' 

 Association, was Denmark (a Thorough- 

 bred), John Dillard and Tom Hal (Ca- 

 nadian horses), and a number of other 

 Thoroughbred and Morgan horses. The 

 Huns, Arabs and Thibetans were fa- 

 mous for their horsemanship. The 

 horses which they used were largely of 

 oriental blood. In England, likewise, 

 the Thoroughbred was the basis of the 



ily types inside the breed are quite dis- 

 tinct. 



Saddle gaits — To entitle him to reg- 

 istry the Saddle Horse must possess five 

 gaits — walk, trot, rack and canter, and 

 either the running walk, slow pace or 

 fast trot. The rack is also known as 

 the single foot gait. The color of the 

 Saddle Horse is bay, brown, black, chest- 

 nut or gray, height about 15.2. Style 

 is an important feature. Many of these 

 horses are good for saddle or driving 



