Great Falls weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1894-1???, 1895-05-31

If the government should need 10, 900
horses for the cavalry service, would a
competent agent select trOttclS: Have
those horses proved to be weight car
riers? Would the makeup Of the average
trottcr warrant IL purchaser i'll selecting
them for hard service under the saddle?
1t will be SAID by partial friends of the
trott"r that lie will be equal to the oc-
~casiOll, but assertions will nOt do. We
must see tEeIl do S0mcthin~ IL tllut way.
We must see them cover long distances
in trotting races under the saddle. Let
us see if the trotter Of the present day
has sufficient strength fur the cavalry
service. IrOttlng races under the sad
die would be more popular with the
public than those in the sulkv. There is
Il charm t. horseback riding that we
cannot account fJr-a feeling that brings
more excitement til.n the plOWlnun ca
wagner ur Sulkirr. A horse has more
animation when he is mounted than
when he is IHrucsSpd. Silks and sutius
make tn" scene attractive. Besides more
horses can be managed under the saddle
than can he done with the sulky on the
average track.
Two milo and Il half dash races I'M
der the Suddl" with either PAGER on 1rUt-
ter would simply empty the cities Of
their population. They would be pop
ular. Why not handicap the trottcrs as
is done in other countries? This seems
to me ODE the only way by which All On
binary horse can win his oats. There
are handicaps in running races, han
dicaps in foot ages, handicaps III hi
cycle races, hundic;pS in trap shooting.
handicaps III billiards and IN almost rv-
cry other sport that | know Of, hut no
haEdicaps i'll the sport of American trot-
ting. where there is such vast difference
in the capacity Of the horses, and where
handicaps are needed most of all. The
trotting business is on the decline. The
associations are no making money, and
those who campaign the trotter have IL
long, hard and rocky road to travel.
Under these difficulties it seems to
me that some experiment should be
made. As the old system will not do
there is necessity for Il change, and il is
iStoIliSlllilS ~ ilIN llsll tiltIt IL pIl-
sistency among the trotting horse men to
cling to methods which have no merit
in them at all. and the only practices
that We're of value to the trotter, long
distance racing and racing under the
saddle, have long since been abandoned.
l may be mistaken, but my idea was
and is now that the trotter was intend
Il E., .. r,,.l I, 1.-,,
and that the breeding aim was TO make
him a perfect roadster, with sufficient
speed to keep within the bounds of gem
tility, and beyond this substance, endur-
ance and beauty We're to be looked after.
All Of these qualities, except get there,
have been overlooked. Speed alone has
been the object aimed at, and to that
end the light draft bicycle sulky has
been brought into use, kite shaped tracks,
level tracks with the turns thrown up.
Science has been employed to make the
trotter's path an easy one.
In my opinion the only way to male
the trotter ;ln all round horse-one If
and II of speed-is to put him under
heavy weights over long distances.
Weight is the only thing that will thor
oughly tcst the legs. Experiments
through centuries teach us that und"r
the saddle is the only way Ivy which IN
development of the horse for the SQd6G
and the road can he made, and the SAM,
experience also teaches lis that the best
programmes for racing are those now III