146 
SOTTTTTKKN (ItTT.TT V A T nR. 
spvi'i) minutes niui tliiiiy-iwo seeoiuls, over a course f.iiir 
miles in len^ili * The i^reai dou’ le race, hetvveeti F.clipse 
ninJ Sir Hettry, lius oiien been sf)oken of, as on<* of the 
best contested and niost rcniarkalile. I think that Sir 
Henry was ll'e best horse, and, in the firsi race, he beat 
Fclipse l)y twenty two feet. In the-econd trial, however, 
he was beaten by Eclipse, liy eleven feet, and victory was 
undoulitedly ijaineti by the superior manaiteinent of his 
rider. I rei'er to the facias eviiience of the necessity of 
having good riders, and those who ihorouithly understand 
the. animal, us well as to have a good horse itself 
Though I arn not an advoc-aie of horse racing I con- 
sider it tin innocent and beneficial amusement, when com- 
pared with many others, and I believe the day is not far 
distant when America may invite every other nation to a 
trial ofhorses, and beat them with ease 
With regard to the horses of America, we learn that 
large tiumiiers were hroiighi over hy the early Spanish 
and English discoverers The first were imported hy 
Columbus, <m his second voyage, in 1493 'I'he fii^t 
brought to any territory now belotiiiing to the United 
Sates, were landed in Florida, in l.b27, by Cabaca De 
Vaca They were allowed to run loose during the dissen- 
sions that followed, anti multiplied to an almost incredi’de 
extent, especially in South Ameriea Ahhough the 
climate in South America would seem to be suitable 
for the proper development of the horse, as it is for 
cattle, yet he has never a'tained more than secondtiry 
importance. In large wild lienJs they roam about ac.ting 
in admirable concert to o[i[)o.se the attacks of wild hearts, 
which share the vast wilderness with them Men have 
fallen victims to their temmity in a[ifiroaching them, iuid 
travellers have frequently louncl their own hor&es shake 
off their liurdens, lireak away iVom restraint and dash olV 
to meet a body of their iree corniianions, if they hafipen to 
meet them. The natives take them with the lasso, and 
only ride the /w/sc.';, leaving the mares to run wild. 'Fliey 
make no attempts to breed, but catch a horse when they 
need him, ami lireak him to their use by the most violent 
measures. They never bring them to market, and it is 
said that a foreigner, who was once riiling a viare was so 
hooted at and pehed by the natives that he narrowly es- 
caped with liis life. 
The wild horses found in North America when the West 
was first explored, vvere more hardy; they were of Span- 
ish exiraction, and had been broui;lu into use by the na 
lives to a grealexteiit, ihougli m my wild herds nf immense 
numbers still roam freely over the prairies ol'our Western 
territories. 
The race of horses which originated those now used in 
this country, and in -Caiiads, were imported fiom various 
nations 
In l()09, one hr.rse and six mares were brnucht to Vir- 
ginia, fnim England. In' 1 a fevv Diitcli Imr.-^es Irom 
Holland, were itn[>oried into New Netherlands, now 
t!ie Slate of N'ew York. In ICOI, M. L. Escabot brought 
the first horse into Canada and Nova Scotia, then known 
by the Indian name of Acadia. Tlie first jiorse brought 
into Massachusetts was from England, atid was im- 
ported by Francis Higginson, in IG29. In 1678, they 
existed in considerable numbers in Loui.siana. The Indi 
anson Red River, in Tex.<s, used them in 1690. The early 
French settlers in Illinois, liad them in considerable num- 
bers in 1750. 
The same vessels brought over the first importations 
of cattle, sheep and swine, and they have increased so as 
to form a most astonishing portion of the wealth of the 
country, 
*Mr. Pratt must have forgotten the time of Lecompte, 
7m. 264.: since which Lexmgion has made the same dis- 
tance (4 miles) in 7m 19 Js.; both on the Metairie Course, 
at New Orleans. — Ena. So. Cult. 
in the present year. Itt55, the number of Imrses m.t y be 
set down at five, nnllioiis, worth on an average, sixty dol- 
lars a piece, and valued in all at ihree liumired millions of 
dollars 3'lie whole immix rof homed cattle is estimated, 
at twenty millions, averaging twenty dollars, and valued 
at fimr hundred millions (>t dollars. 
I'he number of slieep is twenty three million, at two 
dollar.s, equaling forty six million ofdollars. 
'Fhe present e.siimated value of swine, is one hundred 
and sixty millions of dollars, b'^ing tliiriy two niiiliort 
head, worth on the average five dollars a pi'-ce. 
From thesmall liegitmitigs 1 have mentioned, the whole 
Value to this country is now the immense sum of nine 
hundred millions of dollars, and the value of the land used 
for agiiculiural purposes is three billion and live hundred 
million of (ioll.irs, the whole covering an area of about 
three Immired and five million of acres. 
The West India horses may properly he classed with 
those of Atmrica, and tliey generally exhiiiit ihe eharac- 
lerizing marks of the nation to which the islatid may be- 
hmg 
The Cana'lian horses are of French origin, and to this 
stock are we irulnbied for niiKSt of the iroiting horses in 
the United Stales. It is a marked peenlianiy of the Ca- 
ll idi.ui horse that he ahvays trots, as the Araliian horse 
always canters. Other breeds exhibit all the peculiarities 
of movement, including the trot, canter, and amble ; tmt 
the Arabian Imr.^e never trots, and the Canadian rarely 
canters. Besides the trotting horse, we are indebted to 
Canada for many of the most serviceable specimens of 
the cart and dray liorse, of their size, and in the northern 
part of this State, in Vermont, and other sections on the 
Canada line, they are met with in great abundance. 
Tlie United Slates do not, as I have nieniioned, possess 
anything which can beetdied a mitive stock, but many of 
tha horses found here, are superior to anv others, owing 
to judgment in cros-'iug breeds, care in raising, and by a 
close observance of all circumstances which will inqirctve 
good qualities and coi reel dt f cts, so that! may say, witli- 
mu he.Miation, and after long observation, that they com- 
bine all the excellencies of other nations. It was sup- 
posed that the Imrseseiit from Morocco id Gen. Jackson, 
and the Muscat horses sent to President I'yler, would om- 
teric^lly iiiqirove the American race, tmt they were small 
though justly made, and I think the country has derived 
no benefit from their possessimi. 
Mncli of this excellence is obtained by clianging a horse 
from one section to another, provided the cliange of cli- 
mate is not one which will have a deleterious effect, 'i’hus 
a hor.-e breiighl I’roin the Western firairies to the seaside, 
soon gains in weight power oi’ endurance, and value; 
and the, s<one is observed wheti an Eastern horse is car- 
ried West. A horse with the heaves taken Irom New 
York to Illinois will bccured of the disease, and I have 
noticed many other fevorable clianges. Still there is al- 
ways tnoi e or less necessity for acclimation, hut a judici- 
ous eoiiVse < f management will result in much good to 
the horse. The change, however, will be injurious, if the 
new climate is not healthy. Thus, a horse taken from 
here to South Carolina, soon depreciates and becomes of 
less value. A horse taken to Mi'xico, feels the change of 
climate at first, very sensibly, but the purity of the air, 
and the excellence of the feed, soon adds largely to his 
usefulness and value, and he is much more higldy esti- 
nivitcd than the native Mexican mustang, which pai takes 
of the uncertain and flighty character of the people who 
raise him. A horse brought from Kentucky or the West- 
ern States, or from Canada, requires about a year to be- 
come acclitnaled to our section. Our own horses, when 
taken West, ate deemed far superior to any others. (>n a 
tn|:) to Kentucky, 1 was riding on a stage and asked the- 
driver where he obtained his horses. He replied that they 
