THE MOTOR AS A FACTOR 317 



With the present vogue abated, the motor will become, no 

 doubt, a cold business proposition, which facilitates affairs in 

 such a multitude of ways as to be indispensable, like tlie tele- 

 phone. 



Supplements to the Horse in Service The roadster the 



touring car, and the limousine have all added so much to our 

 possibilities in their respective fields that they must be included 

 in every completely equipped establishment, but there is nothing 

 to render tliem incompatible with the horse in a kindred relation- 

 ship. The commercial truck, also, performs so many lines of 

 service so much more acceptably than the horse ever can, that 

 its supremacy within limits cannot be denied. Yet in this the 

 motor is supplementing, not supplanting, the horse in service. 



Demand for Saddle Horses. — It may seem like overdrawn 

 optimism to attribute to the automobile any advantages accruing 

 to the horse, but such is not difficult of demonstration. The 

 motor car has been a most important factor in the prevalent 

 country life movement. Distances are so contracted by its use as 

 to place the country within easy access of many who could not 

 otherwise enjoy it. The country without a horse is like a library 

 without books. Fox hunting is becoming the sport of a greater 

 number of people in this country each season, partly, at least, on 

 account of the rajDid transit facilities offered by the automobiles. 



There are more people riding to-day on doctors' pre- 

 scriptions than ever before. The convenience of the auto has 

 removed the necessity for even a physiological amount of exer- 

 cise, which must be compensated for in some other way. Thus, 

 while no doubt depressing the market for coach and road horses, 

 the automobile has furnished a boom to the saddle horse trade. 



There is a sentimental side to the subject under discussion. 

 Motor possibilities have left horses, except those in the commer- 

 cial field, chiefly in the hands of people who want them because 

 they are horses, with the result that they are in their highest 

 estate, a condition most satisfactory to them and most gratifying 

 to those interested in tlieir well-being (Fig. 173). 'No one who 

 cares for horses regrets either the substitution of the taxicab for 

 the hoi-se-dra-wn hansom or four-wheeler, nor the transference of 

 the ordinary livery patronage to the garage. He who rides only 



