The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-05-29
TRorTlNe HORSES
The Growth and Development
of This Animal.


worth mentioning among the live stock
in the days of Adam. Egyptian civil
ization, however, honored him with a
place ON monuments and works of art
five hundred years before he was refer
red to in the writings Of the Israelites.
Though they wandered in Arabia, the
homo OF the noted Arab horse, they
took interest in his development. Six
hundred years later they had advanced
out of the nomad state, and Solomon
took to horses and mounted cavalry
from Egypt, after which Israel dwelt
safely from Dan to Beersheba.
The Mohammedan conquests were
made on the horse and by the horse.
The Indians of America were feeble
to resist and invade SO long as they
had only dogs as their beasts OF burden
After they began to draw horses from
Mexico they we're metamorphosed into
horsemen whose power for evil the his
tory of our frontier attests. From the
lowest to the highest civilization the
horse has been made the power for de-
veloping the resources of the land, or
for defense or invasion.
The Greeks in their highest civiliza-
ton improved the blood drawn from
Egypt to develop the endurance, speed,
style and docility demaded min the
horse. which was to be the pride Of
kings and men of wealth. Races were
instituted which superseded the athletes
and boxers at the famous Grecian games.
Kings and men of wealth expended for
tunes in breeding and fitting horses for
these games.
Gilon, Hero. Dionysius and Alcibia-
des were proud to train and show their
horses. Alcibiades sent seven chariots
at one time and won first, second and
third prizes.
And now just look and think what
the Americans have done for the trot-
ting horse; and when we look back forty
years and seewhere thetrotting horse was
then and compare him to to day it keeps
US thinking, and often think will the
the trotting horse be made to cover his
mile in two minutes?" Well do / re-
member, in my boyhood days, when
horse that could trot in two minutes
and forty seconds was considered a first
class trotter and could make a sensa-
ton.
But now, just think how things have
changed. Today we have Sunol, 2:Os 4 /;
Maud S., who in 1885 made mile in
2:0SX; Patio Alto, a stallion, 2:OsM; AL
lerton, another stallion. 2:O04; Nancy
Hanks, 300, and best of all, out jumps
Arion, q two-year-old by Electioneer
and stops the watch at 2:l0%. Put this
in your pipe and smoke it.
Of Allerton l mentioned in one of nv
articles some three or four weeks back
or Axtell have not said much, but will
now take him into the ring. Axtell
was bred by Chas. w. Williams, of In
dependence, Iowa. He was sired by
William H.. and his dam was Lon. Will
liam L., was by Geo. Wilkes; he by
Hamiltonian U0). Lou was sired by
Mambrino Boy, and her dam by Nam.
brine Royal, son of Mambrino Pilot,
and LOUIS second dam was by Morgan
horse.
Mr.. Williams says in his article in
the Horseman, where he tells how he
bred, trained and drove Axtell:, Ever
since / can remember l have been a
lover of the horse, and when about Ia
years of age bought, with money earned
by myself, my first colt. II cost me
about 500, and scarcely day has passed
since that time that / have not owned
one or more of the horse kind" He
says he was twenty-one years of age
when he had his first experience in de-
veloping a trotter.
He was employed as a telegraph
operator at Independence, Iowa. He
worked at nights in his Office and trained
the trotters during the day.
The trotters he worked at that time
had no breeding, and he says that he
did not know that the strains of blood
in the horse, and not his conformation,
had anything to do with his speed. He
In M lii
than they would when he first began
working them, but none of them could
ever beat three minutes. After work
ing this kind of horses for two or three
years and getting no speed, he began to
think something was wrong. Either
the horses could not trot. or he dia not
know how to develop them. About this
time he commenced reading the differ
emit horse papers, and in a short time
became convinced that horses to trot
must be bred to do so. In other words,
it was the blood that coursed through
their veins that made them trotters.
In 1883 he purchased of the Stout
Bros. Of Dubuque, Iowa, the mare Lou.
He bred her to Erelong, then owned by
III. S. Dousman, of Prairie du CHEN,
Wis, but she proved barron The next
spring he TOOK Lou to Kentucky and
preu ner 10 Wllllam IL and at the same
time he bred Allerton's dam, (Gussie
Wilkes, to Jay Bird. Both William l..
and Jay Bird are by the great George
Wilkes. In March. 1886, Lou foaled the
brown colt now known as Axtell This
youngster was far from being q fine
looking colt, being very crooked and
clumsy, and not very strong. He was
weaned when five months old, and Mr..
Williams gave him all the oats, bran,
carrots and hay he would eat and he be-
came strong, rugged colt, but was
plain old.fashioned looking fellow, and
showed no speed when running with