VOL. XXXII. No. 17 
WHOLE No. 1343. 
PRICE SIX CENTS, 
82.05 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act ot Congress, in the year 1875, by the Kwral Publishin g Compan y, in the office of the Librarian of Congress hi Washington.] 
points, and of the class that matures 6lowly, 
reaching their maturity of power and 
development somewhere between the ages 
of 10 and 15 years. She was bred ty Mr. 
Philip Travis, (or Travers) of Westehester 
Co., N. Y. Her sire, was Amos’ Cassius M. 
Clay, Jr., son of old Cassius AL Clay, out of 
Mollie, by Phoenix, son of Jlarpinus by 
Bishop’s Ilambletoni an. Her dam was a 
Virginia mare supposed to be thoroughbred, 
but her pedigree is a matter of uncertainty. 
In 1807, when live years old, American 
Girl was bought by Mr. William Lovell of 
New York for 17,000. During that year, 
and previous to her purchase by Mr. Lovell 
she had trotted at some county fairs and 
given promise of great speed, but her turf 
career really began in 1808, when site won 
four out of eight races, beating Goldsmith 
Maid, Pauic, Geo. Wilkes, etc. In 1809 she 
trotted eighteen races and won ten ; in 1870 
sixteen races and won seven ; in 1871, thir¬ 
teen races, winning six ; in 1872, ten, and 
won eight ; in 1873, thirteen, and won five ; 
in 1871, eighteen races, and won nine ; and 
in 1875, eleven races and won one. During 
her career she has trotted 150heats in 2.30 or 
better, !'<'• heats in 2.25 or better, and 12 
heats in 2 20 or better. During the present 
year, and up to the hour of her death, she 
was eight times engaged, winning in first, 
second, and third money $7,400, making a 
grand total of $102,800 earnings for her 
owner. 
For the correct portrait of American Girl 
given herewith, we are indebted to Mr. 
Wilkes, Editor of The Spirit of the Times. 
with a martingale from opening the gates 
and passing through comfortably and easily, 
as is done by all good practiced riders. 
T have two nice breed mares with lumps 
on their throats, caused by being reined up 
daily for years, and the custom of using 
bearing reins has caused wens and tumors 
on scores of horses in this vicinity. 
The fact about shoeing horses, in your 
last number, tells well, too, for all shoes 
here have the “short stilts” made pretty 
lon &- A Western Farmer. 
THE BEARING REIN, ETC 
THE CELEBRATED TROTTING MARE 
“AMERICAN GIRL.” 
It was with great pleasure I saw this sub¬ 
ject haudled by the Rural. I have been 
from England nearly twenty years, and for 
some time previous the harness makers in 
the midland counties bad not been making 
bearing reins unless ordered, for the best 
horsemen had generally abolished the use of 
them. The martingale was never used after 
a colt was first broken to the saddle, for no 
gentlemau would ride a horse requiring one, 
and all pictures of any kind representing fox- 
hunting, with horses having martingales 
on, are misrepresentations, they have all 
“ breastplates,” for keeping thesaddles from 
getting too far back when riding up steep 
hills, and these are ornamented. 
The harness used by the sporting wealthy 
men in vehicles, for dashing to the coverts or 
elsewhere, is very light, no breeching being 
used. In England, ridiuar on horseback has 
been so universal, that what are called “ bri¬ 
dle roads” : common all over the country, 
and they are' much frequented, these high¬ 
ways, for they aro publio ; are only about six 
feet wide, and tho gates are so narrow as not 
to permit aught wider than a wheelbarrow 
from passing through, these, gate-ways are 
frequent, as there is no fence, excepting 
when going out of one field into another, and 
the latches wuuld prevent anyone on a horse 
Among the readers of the Rural New- 
Yorker are many admirers of the trotting 
horse, whom we hope to interest by the 
excellent likeness in this number cf the 
famous trotting mare, “American Girl,” 
and an epitome of her career. Her recent 
sad and sudden death on the track at Elmira 
was announced iu our last issue. She had 
had a mild form of the epizooty, for several 
days, but on the day of the trot wa3 in the 
best of spirits and apparently in perfect 
condition. A post mortem examination, 
however, revealed a badly diseased state of 
her lungs, and iu tho opinion of the surgeons 
her death was cuused by over exertion 
while under tho influence of the uncertain 
and treacherous disease. 
American Girl is said to have been one of 
the “gamest” animals that was ever on the 
turf, and of her last appearance only of all 
her turf-record can it be said, 
“ Ambition wn* n grievous fault, 
And grievously has she answered it.” 
From the many tributes to her memory 
we have gathered $he following interesting 
facts :—American Girl was a bay mare, 16 
hands high, and was foaled In 1862. She 
was large and rather coarse In some of her 
POTATOES FOR HORSES. 
L. T. Scott writes in the Country Gentle¬ 
man Nearly every winter when I have 
my horses up in stable, I think that I will 
call the attention of your readers to the 
practice of feeding potatoes to their horses. 
I once came pear losing a very valuable 
horse from feeding him dry hay and oats 
with nothing loosening. I have nsver be¬ 
lieved in dosing a horse with medicine, but 
something is actually necessary to keep a 
horse in the right condition. Many use 
powders, but potatoes are better, and safer, 
and cheaper, if fed judiciously. 
If those who are not in the habit of feeding 
potatoes to horses will try them, they will 
be astonished at the result, I have known 
a horse changed from a lazy, dumpish one, 
to a quick, active, headstrong animal, in five 
days, by simply adding two quarts of pota¬ 
toes to his feed daily. If very much clear 
Ifllsi 
