When it is no longer advisable to retain a horse, it will usually be found that a satisfactory sale is even more difficult than a satisfactory purchase. The saying "first loss is best" applies in this case with force. If a dealer will not take the animal, it is better to send it to the auction block than to hold on indefinitely for a chance buyer. If the seller desires to keep in touch with the horse and to be kept informed of its future, he will give a warranty.
CHAPTER IV
SOME SADDLE-HORSE STOCK FARMS
With Lexington, Kentucky, as a centre one may, with a radius of thirty miles, describe a circumference which will embrace more fine horses than any area of like extent upon the globe. Here is the home of the American saddle-horse, a well-bred animal that has no superior for pleasure riding. There were good saddle-horses in Kentucky before Denmark, Hedgeford's celebrated son, made his appearance; but it was largely to the influence of this stallion upon suitable stocks that the superb animals now under consideration owe their existence, for few, if any, of these horses are without some strains of Denmark blood, even a slight infusion seeming to have great effect. From Kentucky these saddle-horses have found their way into Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, and other states, and have always met with appreciation for their excellent qualities.
The grazing region of central Kentucky has a gently undulating surface, watered with pretty streams and artificial lakes; on every hand are groves of noble trees in sufficient number to diversify the landscape; and a carpet of rich green turf is spread over the ground, even where the shade is most dense. The climate, the nutritious food, and the intelligent care of man have made these pastures celebrated the world over for the character of the domestic animals they produce.
Within short railway journeys of Lexington, through a lovely, smiling country, are a number of stock farms devoted to the breeding of riding-horses; for, although the stupidity of "the market" demands that these animals shall be quiet to drive, they are bred on purely saddle-horse lines, and the breeder hopes that no animal leaving his hands will ever be called upon to look through a collar. I have known of one case where a farmer asked the privilege of taking back a very fine animal at the purchase price rather than see it put to harness work.
A soldier throughout two wars, an active and efficient park commissioner in Louisville, the city of his adoption, a man of extensive travel and one prominent in many affairs, General John B. Castleman has felt it his duty, as well as his pleasure, to give much time and attention to the improvement of the saddle-horse. Emily, winner of the first premium over mares of any age at the Columbian Exposition, Dorothy, with a clear record in seventy show rings, Matilda, who met defeat but once in fifty competitions, and many other fine animals were reared by this gentleman. Some years since General Castleman removed his breeding establishment to Clifton Farm, Mercer County, and he has recently placed it in the hands of his son, Major David Castleman. Here, upon a range of eight hundred acres, may be found horses of only the most select strains, bred upon lines which have been proved true after years of study and experiment. At the head of the stud is Cecil Palmer, a splendid animal, of perfect paces, and in whose pedigree may be found the names of Denmark, Cockspur, Whip, Gray Eagle, Vermont Black Hawk, and other horses whose blood is in the best representatives of the saddle-animal.
The horses of Clifton Farm are broken to ride at two years of age, and their education is carried on very slowly and most carefully. The foal almost invariably takes naturally to "the five gaits," but no effort is made to force the animal into any particular pace; and if the influence of some remote trotting ancestor exhibits itself in an indisposition to take the rack or the running walk, the animal is not required to accept such accomplishments. The writer saw Major Castleman ride Garrard, a two-year-old, in the slow gallop (or canter), the complacency, tempo, and action of which would have been creditable to a park hack of mature years and careful training. Indeed, the docility of these riding-horses, observed everywhere in a rather thorough tour, was remarkable.
A ride of fifteen or twenty minutes from Lexington, upon the Southern railway, will bring the visitor to Pisgah, where he will find the establishment of the Gay Brothers, the largest farm devoted to the rearing of saddle-horses in this country. Here about three hundred choice animals have the freedom of nearly one thousand acres of blue-grass pasture. At the head of the stud is Highland Denmark, a true type of his family, the sire of more prize winners and fine foals than any stallion in the state. At the Louisville Horse Show, in 1903, the descendants of this horse gained first honors in the classes for two-year-olds, for three-year-olds, for four-year-olds, for the best registered saddle-horse, and for the championship ($1000 value). He is the sire of Motto and of Elsa, well known throughout the country. Highland Denmark is a magnificent animal, 16 hands in height, of splendid form and graceful movements, docile in temper, and, although he runs loose and "has not had a stable door shut in his face" for five years, his beautiful dark bay coat shines like satin. No stock that the writer saw in Kentucky was in better condition than that of the Gay Brothers, the foals of the present year being particularly strong and active.