I agree fully with Mr. Winans concerning the form of the Assyrian pacer
above. Fewer can show up today with a finer turned muzzle, face and neck,
or show more strength, beauty and symmetry in form than the one in the
outline above. Concerning the cobwebbed suggestion of the “society” paper
about pacers being barred the track on trotting days, I beg to assure the
author of the above letter that the brilliant idea died a-borning. There
is plenty of brains and progressive spirit yet left among the managers
of American trotting associations, and these gentlemen prefer rather
to increase than to diminish the interest in the light harness horse.
The pacer and the trotter are indissolubly linked together—in interest,
destiny and blood. They have, too, much of the same breeding, too many
kindred ties. Joined, as they are, by so many common ancestors, united as
they are by so many great horses, no number of society asses can now pull
them asunder.
In discussing this subject later, Mr. Winans wrote:
“There is one difference between a trotter and a pacer which
I can show in sculpture, which has never been shown before by
any artists, as painters cannot show it. I mean the upright,
locomotive-like progression of a trotter and the side stride
of the pacer. In a picture the difference of the gaits can
only be shown by the position of the legs. In sculpture we
can show how a trotter puts down his feet on each side of
the imaginary line drawn on the ground straight under him,
in the direction he is going, as the following illustration
will show.
[Illustration]
“But this is not true with the pacer. On the contrary, he
puts his feet right on the line, as the following diagram
will show:
[Illustration]
“I can better explain myself by the following: If I model a
horse standing still, and then cut off the two left side legs
and model fresh ones in the act of being lifted up, so as to
represent one position of the pace, I would have to push or
bend the body of the horse over to the left till a plumb line
from the center of his body would hang down to touch a line
drawn on the ground from his two feet touching the ground,
but if I wanted to make a trotter from the same model of a
standing horse, I could make the fresh legs without having
to bend over the body to either side.
“It is curious that the bronze statuettes of the pacer would
not stand firm unless I bent the body over, which shows that
nature knows just how to place animals so that the center
of gravity should be right. Horses in the instantaneous
photograph positions balance on their legs, but if I
model in the conventional position of the run, I have
to put a prop under the bronze horse’s belly, like most
artists do.”
The subject of the proper balancing of harness horses is generally
recognized as one of the most important in the business, and it is highly
probable that more otherwise good drivers fail there, in the proper
management of their horses, than in any other thing. Properly balanced,
the battle is half over in the training of a naturally speedy horse.
The idea suggested in the letter above, if true, as it undoubtedly
appears to be, naturally suggests that a very different system should be
adopted in the proper balancing of pacers and trotters. It is impossible,
of course, to tell how much the individuality of each horse would assert
itself in attaining the ends sought in this direction, but so far as the
mere matter of avoirdupois is concerned, it will be seen that on general
principles the pacer, on account of moving a rear and fore foot at the
same time, can come nearer having both shoes on those feet equal, than
the trotter, where the aim should be to equalize the alternate feet.
It is very plain the balancing required for one will not do for the
other, and horsemen who think they know all about a pacer from successful
handling of trotters will find out their error. For my own part, I
believe it requires less skill to balance a pacer than a trotter, for
the reason that, because of his simple action he can come nearer wearing
the same weight on all feet than any other horse. As proof of this I
have only to refer my readers to the fact that nearly all the very fast
pacers carry but little weight, equally distributed, and require little
protection.
This correspondent has placed us under additional obligations by
enclosing us a pen drawing, executed by himself, on a trip into Northern
Russia, which we reproduce below, and which he calls “a typical pacer
from Finland, Russia, used by the peasants for farm work, fourteen hands
high.” As Finland is in the northern part of Russia, beyond the latitude
where the native horses of any country grow much higher than fourteen
hands, the height is not to be wondered at; and as the peasants of
Finland are of the poorer classes the natural inference is that the pacer
is a natural product of northern Europe, and, no doubt, may be found
in their native state in many, if not all, of these countries, such as
Siberia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, and even North Germany.
[Illustration: A Typical Pacer from Finland, Russia. Used by the Peasants
for Farm Work—14 Hands High.]
“There is no native trotter in England,” writes Mr. Winans. “That is to
say, there is no breed of horse that can beat the very low standard of
3:30. The so-called Norfolk trotter is too slow and is never used for
racing purposes in England. To supply this dearth of trotters, they had
to import from Russia and the United States. Now, a fast trotter from the
States costs more than the class of men who go in for trotting in England
cared to pay, so pacers, which could go in three minutes or a little
better, were got over instead, and as the difference between trotting and
pacing is not understood in England, they got to be called trotters, and
raced as trotters. As a proof of their not understanding pacers, a big
dealer in horses saw a friend of the writer’s driving an American pacer
and said, ‘There, that is what I call trotting in good form!’ The other
country the English import trotters from is Russia. Now, in Russia there
are two sorts of trotters, the ordinary Orloff carriage horse, which can
go close to three minutes, if a good one, and the racing Orloff trotter,
which can go up to about 2:20. Now, the latter are too expensive, so
the ordinary Orloff carriage horses were imported. It was soon found
that they were not fast enough to have any chance even against very poor
American pacers, so the American pacer became the trotter of England.
This refers to the high class, or what corresponds to the free-for-all
trots. There is another lower-down class of trotting which is by far the
most common in England. The races, or generally matches, take place on
the road, and the police (it is forbidden to race on the roads) often put
a stop to the races, and they have to be arranged discreetly. The matches
are announced on some such lines: ‘Mr. So-and-So’s pony, Tommy, matched
for $25 to trot two miles on the So-and-So road against Mr. So-and-So’s
pony, Billy.’
“By the way, till quite lately a trotter in England was always a pony;
they did not talk of trotting horses, but trotting ponies. For this class
of racing the ponies are some 12½ to 14½ hands high and driven to very
heavy, old-fashioned sulkies. The ponies used are not English-bred, but
what are called in England ‘Russian’ ponies. They are not really Russian,
but come from Finland. These ‘Finnish’ ponies are a distinct breed.
They are on an average 14½ hands high or under, strongly built, with
thick, short necks, very good feet and legs, bushy tails, and very hard
mouths. They are generally all shades of sorrel, dun or chestnut, many
with donkey marks down the back, and light-colored manes and tails, and
they are for the most part natural pacers. These are the horses that are
used in St. Petersburg for the public droshkies which ply for hire and
are very cheap. Some can go close to three minutes, with an occasional
one close to 2:40, and are imported wholesale into England for light
tradesmen’s use. In Russia they are also used by the peasants for farm
work.
“The Orloff trotter is quite free from pacing. The many I have driven
have never showed the least sign of pacing, with one single exception;
this horse was not one of the racing Orloffs, but one of an ordinary
carriage pair. I think he had a cross of the ‘Fin’ pony, by his shape. He
used to pace when jogging, but I never tried to get any speed at the pace
out of him.
“The little ‘Fin’ ponies are very fast occasionally for their size.
As an instance, we had a black pair of Orloffs when I was last in St.
Petersburg, which used to pass everything on the road. It is the custom
there, when you have fast horses, to brush with anything you meet. One
day a victoria, drawn by two little dun-colored ‘Fin’ ponies, with some
ladies in it, came along. We turned out to pass them and they ran right
away from us, which no big pair had been able to do all the summer. This
particular pair trotted, but as I said before, most of them are pacers,
and these are what race in the minor races in England as ‘trotting
ponies.’”
The conclusion is evident—the pace is the natural and probably the first
fast gait of the horse.
(To Be Continued.)