The morning call., 1892-06-12


must look TO America, rather than to Eu-
rope, ior the original seat of the equine
series. When, how and why he disappeared
are facts In paleontolOgy that research has
not yet revealed
From the same family In which the horse
originated sprang also the tspir and
rhinoeeTOs, the characteristic anatomical
structure Of the animal being only modi-
hcatlon OF the general plan OF these
creatures, but the horse, and its distant
cousins, the ass, zebra. quagga, ETC., form a
small group entirely distinct from all
others OF the class mammalia.
OF these only the horse and the ass, the
Two members most widely differing of this
family, have been dOmesticated by man,
from which fact it has been popularity de-
dueed that the others were not susceptible of
domestcatiOD. Ii is not likely, however.
that this is true. We have no means OF
knowing with what difficulty the horse was
az nrst subdued by man, and his thousands
OF generations OF service for the human fam
lly have probably greatly altered his ma
tuTal wildness and rebellion.
Were the horse and the ass to be by any
means eXteTminated, there is no doubt but
that mans necessity for beasts of burden
would cause him to put forth efforts and
devote time 10 the subsection of the zebra
and other creatures for whose services no
necessity now exists, and it is equally prob
able that under cultivation these creatures
would develop as remarkably as the horse
has done, and become as generally dis
trlbuted as the present domestic animals
now are. That distribution Is almost uni
versal The records of literature scarcely
90 back to the time when the animals were
not used by man. The cOnqueTing Roman
legi0ns introduced them pretty nearly
over the then whole civilized world, and
it is evident TO all readers of history
that the horse WAS known to the ATyans
long before the period of their dispersion.
We have records Of hOrSe-raeing in the
Had, and the development OF the noble
auimal seems 10 have engaged the attention
Of man from the earliest days. 1t is even
Of nursery-tale fame how the Arab loves
his horse. and stories Of the Barb and Arab
Ian horses flood our literature. 1t was the
introduction of these into England that gave
the great impetus 10 horse breeding and
racing among that SpOTtSmanlike people
that has established the mans and fame Of
the English thoroughbred. l do not mean
that England hau not. even before that,
carefully selected and cultivated breeds Of
horses, but the racehOrses Of England,
either on the turf or in the stud, trace their
ancestry in direct male line to some one
of these Eastern horses, the Byerly
Turk, the Darley Arabian and the
GOd0lphin Arabian or Barb. In fact,
the blood Of all three is probably combined
in every English racer. These three horses
were all imported during the reign of Viii
liam III, and the most famous Of all is the
barley Arabian, from whom the very best
of the thoroughbreds are descended. A
Thoroughbred in England is horse or mare
whose pedigree is registered in the stud
book of the Jockey Club. Our American
thOTOuEhbreds are descendants of these,
imported from that country. Thorough
breds are runners, no one Of them having
ever made trotting record.
The horse was introduced upon this con-
tinent by the early Spanish arrivals, and as
said before, the fact OF bis taking SO kindly
TO the conditions OF lie here is a Toint in
favor of his supposed American origin. The
trotteT is pre-eminently an American insti-
tuition, although the tTOttlng horse has Al
tanned high development and trotting
matches are very popular both IN Germany
and IN Russia. 1t Is TO the United States,
however, that the world is indebted for the
development OF extreme speed in the tTOtting
horse. The interest in this industry dates
from the Importation to this country of the
great thoroughbred horse Messenger, who
was brought to Philadelphia from England
in the latter part Of the last century.
Messenger was a gray stallion, by Man,
OrinO, his pedigree on the dam side tracing
back 10 the ByeTly Turk and the GOdolphin
Barb. Crossed upon the colder bl0Oded
American mares, the trOtting instinct his
progeny received from their dams, combin-
ing with the keen racing instincts Of the
great sire. produced the trOttng racer and
founded the great families OF trOtters that
have since become famous throughout the
racing world.
Nearly every great trotter In the United
States traces back TO old Messenger, gen
orally ca led imported Messenger. The
leading family to-day, the Hambletonians,
SO trace back, the great modern head of
that family having been Rysdyk's Hamble-
tonian. known 70 h0Tsemen as HambletOn-
ian 10, a son of Abdalah, who was by i'm
ported Messenger, his dam tracing to the
same source. The Mambrnos, so popular
in the East, trace back through Mambrino
Chief aud MambrinO Paymaser. the latter
a grandson of Messenger Electioneer was
by Rysdyk's HambletOnian. Guy Wilkes
sire, George Wilkes, was from the same