Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-06-05
CONCERNING HlGH.STEPPERs.
lIconoclast in Horse Review. !

fads of other people. If, for example,
gentleman is fond of white elephants, he
might as well be left to enjoy his taste
for that luxury as long as he thinks he
can afford it. Still, without oflicious in
reference, one may without offense be
permitted to indulge in criticism in the
taste tor white elephants generally. He
may say that such a taste is expensive
and if gratifed very freely has seldom
been known to result in any great pecu-
MARY gain. 1t has always seemed to the
writer that the taste for high stepping
horses is pre- Try much on par with that
for white elephants. There is no useful
purpose which they can subserve that
cannot be better subserved by horses of
less exaggerated action. The single ad-
vantage which they possess Is a gait
that is simply little more snowy than
that of other horses. 1t certainly is less
elegant, less beautiful and less service
able. 1t is simply more showy-only
that. and nothing more.
The high stopper labors under several
disadvantages. In the first place he
must be more heavily shod than his more
modestlv gated collaboration. The addi-
tional weight that is put In his shoes
requires additional strength to carry and
an addition of eight, twelve or sixteen
ounces in the shoe means, in a days
work. the additional lifting of tons, in
volving vast unnecessary expenditure
of muscular power. The force that
should be exerted in propelling the
horse and the vehicle which he draws
forward is expended in throwing his
front feet to a ridiculous altitude in the
air, serving no other purpose than to
show how mOnstrously absurd the trot-
ting gait may be made if one only takes
sufficient pains. The loss of so much
effort on the part of the horse is an Item
of considerable importance, for every
unnecessary inch that he is compelled to
elevate his fore feet means loss of for
ward movement and therefore a dminu-
ton of speed without any corresponding
advantage.
Not only is the horse that is afflicted
with the excessively high action COM
PEELED to perform gyrations that are
useless, and not only is his speed retard-
ed thereby, but the conclusion resulting
from his lofty action is very severe
strain upon his legs and feet. The high
actor is only wanted in cities. In the
country he would be an anomaly. The
streets of the cities in which he is used
are generally paved with brick, stone or
some other hard substance. With the
easiest and best of trotting gaits these
pavements will stiffen the best legs and
cripple the best feet in time. Horses
that are long driven over them invaria-
bly, feel and show their effects. With
the conclusion resulting from the pound
ing gait of high stopper his period OF
usefulness cannot be long. He will
strut his brief hour upon the stage and
then become simply and purely beast
of burden. He will be almost useless
toy for brief period and then will be
forced to do mental service.
The high stopper is monstrosity
His gait is one which nature never gave
him and the admiration for it is simply q
perversion of taste. For any actua
service he is vastly inferior to the vel
gated trotter and the demand for the
production of such an abnormal horse is
one of the passing whims of fashion
which it is equally difficult to explain
and to Justify.
For track purposes there is, of course
no sort Of necessity for high action
Every unnecessary inch that a horse
raises his feet from the ground is Sc
much lost motion and so much los
power Tracks are usually as nearly
perfectly smooth as they can be made
and there is no necessity for horse tt
lift his feet to avoid obstacles. The
fastest record Will eventually be taIeI
with horse that has the least possibl,
waste action--a horse that can CONVEX
all his power into speed. | have seel
"climbing gated" horses that were fai
race horses, but this kind is always at
disadvantage when pitted against equal
ly good horses that keep their feet clos,
to the ground. This latter class gain
the maximum of speed with the mini
mum of effort and this is what is neces
sary to the best results. A horse tina
steps like hackney would be lost in
race with low, easy gated horse of n,
greater speed capacity in other respects
because the hackney gated horse throw
away very considerable proportion o
his power The question of gait will
decide the question of ultimate speed
because where there are two machine
in other respects equally perfect, but on
with waste action and the other without
the latter will necessarily accomplish
H. r.