102 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



in 1853, were decidedly inferior to the blood 

 horse in* size. I think that the Vermont 

 Black Hawk stallion Ticonderoga, shown at 

 the fair at Richmond, was entirely too small 

 for general utility; but he was symmetrical, 

 and the natural attitude of his head and 

 arched neck was admirable. His whole ap 



pear; 



ance was 



distinguished, showing a conside- 



rable infusion of blood ; * and his trot, to my 

 eye, was accurate, gentlemanly and graceful, 

 though I do not know whether it was speedy. 

 These families of horses unquestionably have 

 their appropriate sphere, and that is singly, or, 

 still better, in pairs in a light trotting wagon 

 (as peculiar an American production as the 

 trotters, for Carl Benson, Mr. Bristed, tell 



us that France neither possesses the wood nor 

 the skill with which to construct one light 

 enough) a vehicle that in the North has 

 almost completely usurped the place of the 

 saddle, and I regret to say it, for there is 

 something peculiarly healthful, physically and 

 even morally, in horseback exercise, which, I 

 am persuaded, has contributed in no little 

 degree to the formation of many of those 

 sterling points of character, in which the 

 English differ from their continental neigh- 

 bors. For races also in the North the blood 

 horse has almost entirely given way to the 

 trotter. 



The most distinguished specimens of the 

 trotters that I have seen are horses with no 

 pretensions to elegance of shape. The other 

 day a young Englishman, (whose noble father 

 is the owner of the winner in the same year of 

 two blue ribbons of the English turf) while 

 expressing to me his surprise and delight with 

 their performance in harness, observed that 

 from their general appearance, and the danger- 

 ous look of the position and nature of the 

 shoulders of those he had seen, they would 

 not fetch £10 in England. There is great 

 diversity in the character of their gaits, some 

 of the fastest having an ungainly and confused 

 jumble of gallop before and trot behind, and 

 others a " square" action; but the fast people 

 do not care for the sort of gait on the road, 

 or on the turf, so long as it is not ruled off, 

 provided it is the fastest. These "fast crabs" 

 are hardy, and much " fancy " work may be 

 got out of them if used with care; but we 

 must not suppose that we can take them 

 potbellied with grass, or slavering from 

 a clover field, and make them go, especially on 



* The better opinion seems to be that the original 

 Vermont Black Hawk horse was got by Sherman 

 Morgan, (a son of the original Morgan) out of a 

 " three parts blood" mare reared in the Province 

 of New Brunswick. 



our roads, as they do in the North. To per- 

 form well, they must be in condition and 

 treated on the same general principles as 

 the racers, whose management is admirably 

 understood and whose successful cultivation 

 has for a long time been pursued in Virginia 

 with much talent and at great expense. I 

 was gratified, at the late exhibition at Rich- 

 mond, to perceive that we still retained splendid 

 examples of the blood horse. 



The last time I met poor Captain Arnold, 

 one of the first victims of the Russian war, 

 he expressed himself in warm terms of admi- 

 ration of your Cleveland horse, as embodying 

 the points of Hack, Hunter, Charger and 

 harness horse. Another high compliment 

 he received was from a distinguished owner 

 of blood stock in Virginia, who observed that 

 he did not discover from the conformation 

 of your horse any reason, except his size, why 

 he should not run. For my part, I will 

 merely say at present that I do not see in him r 

 after a close examination, and comparison with 

 English models while they are fresh in my 

 memory, any particular point to object to, — 

 reserving, however, a full and minute opinion 

 until next spring as I am not willing to risk 

 a criticism of a fine horse in very rough 

 condition, more especially before the compara- 

 tively full development of his growth. Con- 

 dition has immense influence with every body. 

 One of the best judges of horses appointed by 

 the Royal Agricultural Society of England 

 candidly confessed to me, — with much regret 

 apparently at his " shocking mistake," as he 

 called it, — that Melbourne, now from his 



progeny, doubtless the most successful and 

 renowned stallion in England, the sire of 

 West Australian and many other winners, and 

 at present distinguished for his powers and 

 points in the eyes of all, came before him as a 

 candidate for the prize offered to the best 

 stallion for hunters, but in very bad order, 

 with sprung knees, &c. ; and that he, with 

 all his associate judges, immediately discarded 

 Melbourne as worthless and unfit to compete 

 for any prize. Before his reputation was 

 established, a celebrated judge of horse flesh 

 had seen him in bad order and laughed at him 

 as an " omnibus horse." The effect of condi- 

 tion is not at all unnatural. As a horse 

 cannot exhibit speed until, after groat and 

 long labor, he has been put in condition for 

 racing, why should he show his symmetry, his 

 beauty and his merits when nothing has been 

 done to bring them out? The late Lord 

 Ducie waged war on the obese condition in 

 which the breeding animals, of the races culti- 

 vated for the secretion of fat, were exhibited 



