The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1900-05-17
AMERICAN SADDLE HORSE.
U-SquaIed as an AlI-ROund Traveller
His Great Fame In
EranIxlin's Day.

SADDLE horses in America have quite
naturally been good for very long
time. In our early history all long
journeys not taken on foot were on
horseback, and there has never been
time when in this country what was
necessary and desirable has not been
supplied" writes John Gin er Speed
in Ainslee's. The hardy and active
horses before spoken of as the foun-
dalton native stock were apt to be very
good saddle horses. Indeed, any active
horse not too heavy in weight or too
long on the back can be converted by
patient and skillful rider into good
saddle horse. A good saddle horse now
adays must walk, trot, canter and gal
lop. These are all natural gaits to all
horses, so that any ordinarily active
horse can be more or less perfected IN
them. But more was needed in the
time of our grandfathers, when long
journeys had to be made over roads
which were not much better than
trails. Then the amble was considered
desirable, and later much pleasanter
gait, which was called a running-walk
The amble is a slow pace, gait where
the progression is secured by the feet
on the same side moving forward at
the same time. This amble had been
held in esteem in Europe since the mid
die ages. At that time abbots and 9TH
err monks took journeys on ambling
jennets, and ladies also preferred such
a mount. We read also of ambling
palfreys which the knights used be-
fore mounting their chargers for battle
or for tilt. The saddle horses in Amer
lea in the colonial time were of the pal
frey kind, and they were considered
very excellent. Silas Dean, who, with
DR.. Franklin, represented the colonies
in France during the revolutionary
war expressed wish that he had such
a horse to give, presumably, to Mare
Antoinette. 4 wish he said, Il had
one of your best saddle horses, of the
American or Rhode Island breed-a
present of that kind would be money
well Laid out with certain parsonage
1.-THE amble pushed faster came to he
the pace. and it is probably true that
there were pacing races under saddle
before we had trotting races. These,
. by the way. were also always under
saddle until we'll along in the nine
teepth century-even to the second
half of it. But the pace is not a nice
gait, either in harness or under the
saddle. and it is not held in high esteem
except by those who use phenomenally
fast horses for exhibition and gam
bling purposes. That there is pacing
blood in many OF our best trotting
families there can be no doubt. 1t is
also true that PAGERS have been con-
verted into trotters. just as baritones
have been changed into tenors; but
these facts do not in the least prove
that the trotter owes the capacity to
trot to pacing blood; that conclusion
from the facts is not fairer than to
say that the trotter owes the trot to
the thoroughbred blood, and in spite
of occasional strains. At any rate, the
modern American saddle horse-the
oest saddle horse anywhere to be found
is not indebted to the PAGER to any
sXtent. Nowadays none but pumpkin
would ride a pacing horse, and even the
amble is quite out of fashion even in
those sections of ~se country where
men ride on horseback for business pur-
poses. and have no desire to get greatly
heated by exercise. For fun, for the
fun of riding, | tl~nl, the thorough
bred is the ideal saddle horse. But the
thoroughbred is not suited to all rid
ers. Most frequently it is not up to
the weight of heavy men, and then
again it is too highly strung for any
save patient and expert rider. For
the general rider there has been devel-
Dped in this country, chiefly in Ken
lucky, an American saddle horse in
every way admirable. This horse is at
least half bred, and often three quar-
tiers bred. 1t is the product of thor
oughbred blood and some old Ken
lucky strainS-Denmarks and Dren-
mons. These horses are capable of high
education and become very accom-
plished, besides being active, symmet-
rical and gentle. 1t used to be that at
every country fair in Kentucky they
Ddu rings LOT CO1lDlnd HOISto-
that is, horses good both in harness
and under the saddle. 1t may be that
such is still the case. / have seen the
same horse take three premiums in
three classes--the best driving horse,
the best saddle horse and the best COM
bination horse. These Kentucky sad
die horses 20 years ago were accom-
plished in many gaits-the walk, the
running-walk, the trot, the rack or
single foot, the canter and the gallop-
and they were fine and useful animals
in every sense. Recently, and especial
ly for the eastern market, these gaits
have been curtailed to the walk, can
ter and gallop, and it has not been con-
sidered necessary to break a horse in
tended for saddle to harness, the mis-
taken idea prevailing that to drive n
horse would injure his saddle gaits.
This idea is the veriest nonsense. Each
new accomplishment helps a horse in
his others. 1t is on a par with the idea
that an English-speaking person know
ing French should not attempt to learn