I4.S 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



(if $24,000, the stallion Ormond, granclsire of 

 Fhing Fox, who had a defect in breathing. 

 Bought by the Argentine Republic, this horse 

 was afterward sold in this country for the sum 

 of $105,000. 



All this proves that other countries besides 

 the United States value piu'e blood and are 

 taking interest in races and the breeding of 

 racing horses. 



YIII. Tkottixi; R.vces 



The trot is a method of progression that is 

 more or less artificial and accjuired ; it is 

 imknown, one might say, to horses in their 

 natural state, their jjrimitive gait being either 

 a walk or a gallop. Certain horses and certain 

 breeds have shown more disposition than others 

 to acquire the trot, and as a result of breed- 

 ing with that end constantly in view, races 

 of trotters have been formed of which the 

 Dutch, or Frisian, is the most ancient. Others 

 came later, like the Norfolk trotter of Eng- 

 land, the Russian OrloiT, the English Hackney, 

 and the American trotter, but hi every case the 

 Frisian trotter contributed to produce them. 



in studying the subject of breeding horses, 

 whose value depends on speed at a certain 

 gait. The order or movement in the trot is 

 left fore foot, right hind foot, right fore foot, 



TiuM^fnuR, rRENCH TkonrR 



To persons accustomed to horses the differ- 

 ences of the x'arious gaits are familiar, but to 

 fi,\ them thorough!)- in mind is a first necessity 



Cresceus 2.02 j4 



left hind foot. Thus the left fore foot and right 

 hind foot move in unison, striking the ground 

 together; then in turn the right fore foot and 

 left hind foot complete the revolution, making 

 the trot a diagonal gait. The pace or amble 

 is an entirely different gait, the feet of each 

 side mo\'ing in unison, making 

 a lateral order of progression 

 instead of the diagonal as in 

 the trot. 



Sport with trotting horses 

 is cjuite ancient in the Low 

 Countries of Europe ; it is 

 one of the oldest amusements 

 there, together with skating, 

 tennis, and partridge shoot- 

 ing. It has certainly con- 

 tributed to form a race of 

 trotters which now enjovs a 

 European reputation. The 

 best horses of the Dutch 

 breed were bought b}' other 

 countries, and by coupling 

 them with the supple and 

 more fiery Eastern breeds a 

 race of trotters surpassing 

 their Frisian ancestors has been obtained. 



The French trotter distinguished himself 

 chiefly on a short-distance track, say of three 



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