I'RICK  SI3t  OKNTM 
FKK  VKAK. 
r  Entered  acoordiiitf  to  Act  of  OonareHs,  in  the  yo'tr  I37ti,  by  the  Hunii  Publishing  Oonipiiny,  '  .  the  office  of  the  JAbrnrian  of  ConKruss  at  WashlnKtun.j 
and  we  always  will."  The  cut  below  represents 
a  rather  old-fashioned  vehicle,  the  Droschka  of 
two  years  ago.  The  modern  ones  have  the 
wheels  nearer  together.  They  are  made  of 
hickory,  imi^irhvl  from  this  country,  and  cost 
about  150  roubles  ($187.50).  It  will  be  observed 
that  the  wheels  are  very  low,  those  forward  be¬ 
ing  about  20  inches  in  diameter,  and  those  behind 
about  .%  inches.  Tins  brings  the  driver  very 
close  to  the  groimd.  He  rides  with  Ida  feet 
agahist  the  forward  axle  of  the  Droschka,  and 
in  his  lowly  jKisition  must  receive  quantities  of 
mud  and  dust  from  the  feet  of  his  trotter.  In¬ 
deed,  these  vehicles,  on  a  heavy  track,  accumu¬ 
late  enough  mud  to  make  a  sensible  addition  to 
their  weight ;  but  these  points  are  not  considered 
as  important  in  K.issia  as  in  America,  for  the  races 
there  are  generally  di’iven  at  catch-weights.  The 
exception  to  this  rale  is  races  where  the  Oovern- 
meut  gives  the  prizes,  when  a  stipulated  weight 
is  required.  The  most  striking  feature  of  the 
rig  depicted  below  is  the  hoop  over  the  neck  of 
the  horse.  This  institution  is  a  relic  of  the  dark 
ages,  but  has  been  religiously  preserved  in  Uns- 
sia.  It  is  of  no  use,  except  to  hold  the  thills 
together,  which  could  be  done  much  better  in 
other  ways ;  or  to  hang  a  bell  in,  desirable  for 
sleighing,  but  not  done,  of  course,  when  a  horse 
is  trotUng  a  race.  The  retention  of  this  un¬ 
sightly  hoop  appears  to  be  due  to  the  inertness 
of  the  Itussiau  mind,  which  begets  a  disinclina¬ 
tion  to  move  out  of  the  old  ruts.  The  fastest 
time  ever  mailo  by  an  Orloff  trotter  is  five  min¬ 
utes  for  three  versts,  or  two  miles,  and  when  we 
state  that  this  time  was  made  to  one  of  these 
ungainly  Droschkas,  it  will  be  seen  that  tlie 
merit  of  the  performance  is  much  enhanced. 
In  a  race  of  that  distance  they  calculate  that  a 
Hulky  is  six  seconds  faster  than  a  Droschka;  but 
the  owner  of  the  horse  which  made  the  record 
mentioned  is  one  of  the  high-bound  Muscovites 
who  Will  not  change  from  the  Droschka  to  the 
lighter  vehicle. 
Mons.  Goujon,  being  a  native  of  Franco,  has 
none  of  those  Russian  prejudices.  He  has  pur¬ 
chased  a  Sulky  of  the  most  approved  stylo  and  a 
large  assortment  of  gear  for  trotters  of  all  de- 
Hcriptions.  When  ho  returns  to  Russia,  he  will 
not  Only  bo  prepared  to  instruct  horsemen  thero 
as  to  all  our  ways  of  doing  things  iu  connection 
with  trotting,  but  will  be  provided  with  a  groat 
deal  of  paraphernalia  which  will  speak  for  itself. 
While  in  that  land  the  Trotter  is  the  national 
horse  oven  more  than  ho  is  in  America,  they  are 
wofully  behind  the  age  in  many  respects.  That 
this  is  the  case,  no  evidence  is  needed  beyond 
the  fact  of  their  still  using  such  clumsy  four- 
wheeled  carts  for  their  races.  But  wo  imtiolpato 
that  the  visit  of  Mons.  Goujon  to  this  country 
will  go  far  towaid  reforming  their  customs.  He 
was  particularly  struck  with  the  superiority  of 
our  conveniences  for  taking  care  of  horses  in 
the  stable,  and  has  Informnd  himself  thoroughly 
in  all  such  matters.  The  Trotter  is  his  speoialty, 
and  when  he  returns  to  the  land  of  bis  adoption 
it  will  be  as  a  missionary  to  those  whoso  eyes 
have  been  bUnded  by  inertia  and  prejudice. 
When  bis  light  Gaffi'ay  Sulky  is  once  seeti  on  a 
Russian  race-track,  we  think  it  will  not  bo  long 
until  they  come  into  general  use,  and  that  such 
aljominations  as  the  clumsy  vehicle  below  will 
soou  be  discarded  altogether.  When  this  comes 
about,  and  when  other  advancements  ju  the 
science  of  training  and  driving  ti'otters  are  un¬ 
derstood  and  adopted  in  Russia,  we  can  see  no 
reason  why  the  horses  of  that  country  should 
not  be  equal  to  ours  in  Hi>eed,  as  they  already 
are  iu  all  other  desirable  qualities.  Indeed,  wo 
think  there  are  few  American  trotters  which 
could,  pull  such  a  wagon  as  is  depicted  on  this 
page  two  miles  in  five  minutes. 
THE  ORLOFF  TROTTER 
The  very  interesting  article  from  the  pen  of 
Mons.  Jules  Goujon  of  Moscow,  Russia,  on  the 
Orloff  Trotter,  which  was  published  a  few  weeks 
since  in  the  Spirit  of  iho  Times,  has  turned  the 
thought  of  American  horsemen  to  the  dominions 
of  the  Ozar  of  all  the  Russias.  BeUeving  that 
many  of  our  readers  might  feel  interested  in 
these  noted  horses,  we  give  the  accompanying 
illustration  of  a  Droschka  —  a  vehicle  used  in 
the  trotting  races  iu  Russia.  Heavy  sulkies  are 
sometimes  used,  but  the  clumsy,  four-wheeled 
Droschka  shown  has  the  preference.  The  Ed¬ 
itor  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Times  remarks  : 
They  are  not,  however,  as  heavy  as  one  would 
imagine  from  the  picture,  weighing  but  a  trifle 
more  than  seventy  pounds  each.  Tba  progres¬ 
sive  horsemen  of  Russia  use  the  sulkies  and 
appreciate  the  advantage  of  the  two-wheeled 
vehicle,  hut  there  are  many  owners  with  whom 
prejudice  is  patent,  who  content  themselves  with 
saying,  “We  have  always  used  the  Droschka, 
