Riding and Driving

by Edward L. Anderson; Price Collier

The breeding of Hambletonian (Plate XXVII.), who traces back to Messenger on side of both sire and dam, has never been questioned. Messenger was imported to Philadelphia from England in 1788. He was a gray stallion by Mambrino, first dam by Turf, second dam by Regulus, third dam by Starling, fourth dam by Fox, fifth dam Gipsey, by Bay Bolton, sixth dam by Duke of Newcastle's Turk, seventh dam by Byerly Turk, eighth dam by Taffolet Barb, ninth dam by Place's White Turk. He was eight years old when he came over.

The breeding of the dam of Hambletonian, known as the Charles Kent mare, is only questioned by those who, having failed in breeding on other lines, have sought relief by attacking Hambletonian's breeding, conformation, disposition, and individuality, without considering that his record in the stud disproves any and every contention of the kind. There is no success like success. At any rate, all agree that the greatest success in breeding trotters has been achieved by a liberal use of Hambletonian blood; and a winner with none of his blood is a curiosity. From Dexter, with a record of 2.17½ in 1867 down to Lou Dillon with a record of 1.58½ in 1903, every champion trotter except one is known to have carried Hambletonian's blood, and the exception probably did. The 2.10 list of to-day contains few without Hambletonian blood.

That Hambletonian impressed his progeny with the trotting instinct, and that this remains through generations, is shown by the history of the Dexter branch of the family. Dexter's full brother Dictator founded a family which increases in number of winners yearly. This is also true of his other offspring who were properly bred and developed.

Whether Hambletonian inherited his ability to impress his progeny with the trotting brain from the Arab, the thoroughbred, the hackney, or the native horse, is immaterial; that he had that ability from some source, the stud book proves beyond peradventure. Whatever combination produced him it was a fortunate day for American horse-breeding when he was produced and placed in Orange County, New York, where there were many good mares for him and where soil and water and climate all worked together for the good of his offspring and enabled him to found perhaps the best all-round type of horse in the world.

All of Hambletonian's get had the instinct to trot, and by breeding to those also having this instinct, which was of necessity in-breeding, it has been increased until the trot is their natural gait, and three-year-olds trot as fast as the champion of thirty years ago. While it has taken nearly a century to reduce the trotting record a minute, and while this reduction has been helped by improved tracks, sulkies, methods of training and shoeing, no one will question that the percentage of horses who can trot fast has increased to such an extent that a horse to trot in 2.20 is easier to find to-day than a three-minute horse thirty years ago.

The breed of American trotting-horse is of such recent origin, only five generations from Hambletonian to Lou Dillon, that it is not to be wondered at that the type is not exact, and that there are instances of reversion to outcrosses which produce individuals which subject the breed to criticism from those who judge quickly rather than calmly.

There is practically no question that intelligent breeding to a type will produce that type. This is proved by the phenomenal success of the Messrs. Hamlin. When Mr. C. J. Hamlin entered the breeding business, he stated that he proposed to breed not only speed, but beauty; and for years Village Farm was not only the home of the champions, but its produce was the most uniform and beautiful known. The great majority of the Hamlin horses bear the imprint of that grand horse Mambrino King, who for several years called forth spontaneous cheers, and applause, at Madison Square Garden, captivating the audience by his distinguished gait and bearing.

In conformation, the trotter has two distinctive differences from the runner, in that the trotter is longer in the body, than he is high, and is higher at the coupling, or rump, than at the withers. These differences, no doubt, are to accommodate the structure to the rotary gait rather than to the series of jumps of the runner. The trotter is steadily improving not only in speed, but in beauty, and it is only a matter of shoeing and education to make him step high for heavy harness use. Photographs show that all trotters at speed, step high at some point in their stride, and shoeing and bitting will so change the stride that it develops a more circular form, and the grit and instinct to trot enables them to go fast, high, and far, as compared to any other high stepper.

In every use, other than draught-horse work, the trotter stands alone as a general utility horse. The intelligence and nervous restraint which makes the two-minute trotter a possibility also makes him, when used as a carriage horse, safer than any other, even when surrounded by the many hideous objects and noises he must face in the city streets of to-day. Prominent coaching men say that no horse in the world can draw a loaded coach at the same speed, and stand the work so well, as the American trotting-bred horse.