446 Wisconsin State agricultural society. 
success to the thorough mounting of the cavalry, and the excellence 
of the horses ridden by commanding and staff officers of the foot 
divisions and corps. 
Recovering from the calamities and poverty of the war, as the 
circumstances of our people improved, the study and cultivation of 
their horses rapidly increased, and the earlier years of the present 
century produced many animals which, in high breeding, style, and 
execution of their work, equaled those of any other country, either 
on the race-course, under the saddle, in the harness, or the draught. 
A brief notice of the various classes of horses now in approved 
use and cultivation among our American people may be germane 
to the subject; and, first in order may be named the 
English Thoroughbred or Eace-horse. As originally introduced 
into the American colonies, and since continued in our states, he 
has been the foundation of the highest excellence yet developed 
for all ordinary use, aside from the heavy and slower draught. 
About two hundred years ago, during the reign of Charles II, the 
race-course first began to attract the attention of the nobility and 
other wealthy aristocracy of England, and it has been continued 
down to the present time. As a consequence, speed, bottom, hardi¬ 
ness and endurance were the qualities chiefly sought in the devel¬ 
opment of the race-horse. For centuries previous, they had fine 
horses in England, yet they needed improvement, if possible, and 
choice selections were made from Egypt, Arabia, and the Barbary 
states, for stallions, and sometimes mares, to infuse their good qual¬ 
ities into the English blood. Many crosses of foreign stallions were 
made on the native English mares, and no doubt decided improve¬ 
ments were derived from their use, but, after all, the size and more 
muscular qualities retained by the descendants of those crosses 
were maiidy of the original English character, and have been per¬ 
petuated both in England and America to the present day. 
Late in the last century, and occasionally down to recent years, 
we have received importations of choice stallions from Asia and 
Africa, near the Meditterranean coast; but in justice I must remark 
that although some of them were of the highest symmetry in form, 
action and appearance, yet when crossed upon our well-bred mares, 
a superior impress on their descendants, except in few instances^ 
has not been eminently noticeable. Did time permit, I might go 
into particulars within the limits of my own observation, but the 
