St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-01-18
A NATIONAL HORSE.
The Subject Discussed by F. F.
Vidal in the Country Gentle

man.
The attention of intelligent breeders
and lovers of the equine race has re-
Gently been attracted to statement
made aud frequently repeated by various
writers of experience. viz: That the
people of the United States of America
have not succeeded in establishing a
national breed of horses.
This is the more extraordinary, as in
all else that they have set themselves to
achieve they have in the end succeeded
better than other nations. But is this
charge true one? Candor ohligeS me
reluctantly to say believe it is. because
have large and sincere admiration
for the American people, and firm be-
lief in their energy and intelligence. l
believe that what they intend to do they
will in the end accomplish; but it may
save them generations of useless troubles
and expense to have the causes of fall
ure made clear by disinterested party,
whose sole motive is to see the breeding
of horses all over the world placed on
the right footing. I have made the true
principles of horse-breeding study of
my life. I have therefore some claim
to knowledge and experience. Hence l
have thought that might help a few
| u,
of action III the breeding of horses,
which would, and in my opinion, must,
lead to early success.
What are the causes of failure in
American breeding? / answer incessant
destruction OF true types, by crossing
and crossing again with inferior, OF, as.
yoll say in America, "mongreF' Blood
The principle, if it can be called
principle, which seems to have pre-
vailed is to.breed from any animal that
seems to have some
INDIVIDUAL EXCELLENCE.
If you have mongrel-bred stallion
or mare that has accomplished some
thing out of the common in individual
performance, trOtting or what not, it is
supposed that animal must hand down
its individual excellence to, posterity.
If the individual in question happens to
be bred to a true blood type-tounded on
the only true foundati0n-it would be
wise to select him for breeding pur-
poses. supposing it is wished to culti-
Vate and encourage his peculiar form of
excellence.
But if that is not the case, if he is the
product of a confusing amalgamation of
dissimilar and impure m0ngreD bloOdS,
you are merely perpetuating race of
useless brutes without even tangible
chance that he will hand down his in
dividual excellence. Each succeeding
generation will become more and more
attenuated in vital poWers-more and
more prone to disease and general I'M
SOuhdneSS.
No doubt it may be said:s .'It has
often been done with success" adj
nit that fully. but maintain that those
few (they are but few successes are
mere ''finkes;;" whereas the intelligent
breeder wants certainty, and all expert
ence and science show that there can be
no certainty in pursuing so suicidal
course. A half-bred horse has been
known to win race on the fiat, but our
great breeders of race horses would not
dream of using him at the stud, how
ever fast he may himself have been.
was particularly struck, some thirty
years ago, when in America, with the
paucity of good saddle horses. 1t was
exceedingly difficult to find any at all.
There were few in Kentucky and Vir-
ginia, and think that saw one or two
in California which would have been
thought average saddle horses in Eng
land. Since the War of Secession. I
fancy that there are fewer still. New
ertheleSs, America is the grandest coun-
try in the world for horse-breeding:
everything is in her favor. Had her
breeders from the first proceeded on
scientific principles, she would ere now
have been able to supply the world with
the finest type of horses for general
purposes ever produced in the worlds
history. But what is the fact? A con-
slant Importation of hundreds and thou
sands of horses from England and other
countries to keep up the supply of high
bred types! Well, it is all grist to my
countrymen's mill, but it is unScientific.f
If you want to have an American
horse, par excellence, you must start
right-retrace your steps and commence
breed which will reproduce itself to
type is the original horse of the Arabian
desert. From and through his potent,
blood you can breed to any type you
please. His blood (being the only abso-r
Iutely pure and original blood will
dominate all others. This is demon
stTated strongly to all thoughtful in
9uirers by the prepondering excellence
shown in all known types in proportion
to the number of incrosseS to Arabian
blood. Search through the pedigrees of
English thoroughbreds trace horses) and
it will be seen that the most successful,
families ON the turf are those most
closely inbred to the Arabian And if
this is the caSe-and it will not be de-
nied-with the English thoroughbred,
among whose ancestry there were many
crosses of inferior Arabian blood, what
must ultimately be the result of using
nothing but the purest blood? l humbly
submit-the production of an unrivaled
animal.
The same theory is demonstrated in
your own trotters, though in less de-
gree. Your ClayS are considerably in
bred to the Arabian. and are they not
not only the fastest, as rule--but the
greatest stayers?
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