The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1900-06-25
AMERICAN SADDLE HORSE.
UnequaIed as nm AII-Round rraveIer
Ills Great Fame I'm
FranIx1in'N Day.

Journeys not taken on foot were on
horseback, and there has never been a
time when in this country what was
necessary and desirable has not been
supplied" writes John Gilmer Speed
In Ainslee's. "che hardy and active
horses before spoken of as the foun-
dation 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
a patient and skillful rider into a 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 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
er monks took journeys on ambling
iennets, 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 thepal-
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 Marie
Antoinettes L wish he said, / had
one of your best saddle horses, of the
American or Rhode Island breed-a
present of that kind would be money
welflaid out with certain parsonage
'sThe amble pushed faster came to be
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 well along in the nine
teenth century-~even to the second
half of it. But the pace is not 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
best saddle horse anywhere to be found
lis not indebted to the PAGER to any
extent. Nowadays none but pumpkin
would ride a pacing horse. and even the
amble is quite out of fashion even in
those sections of the 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, think, 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 a patient and expert rider. For
the general rider there has been devel-
oped 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-
ters bred. 1t is the product Of thor
oughbred blood and some old Ken
lucky strains-Denmarl1s and Dren-
mons. These horses are capable OF high
education and become very accom-
plished besides being active, symmet-
rical and gentle. It used to be that at
every country fair in Kentucky they
had rings for combination horses
that is, horses good both in harness
and under the saddle. It 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 90 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