Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-15
HARNESS HORSE NOTES
BY L. D. SALE.

BY L. D. SALE.
They must have been going some at
Utica. N Y, Tuesday last if the summa-
ries tell the story correctly. Paulding Boy,
for the first time this season. saw the red
banner flung in his face in the 2.10 pace.
after winning the first heat in the fast
time of 2.12A. Since the son of York
Wilkes separated himself from the 2.14
class at Baltimore three weeks ago. he
has been compelled to meet higher class
of horses, and seems to have lost the win
ming habit. 1t Is more than probable, too,
that he is training off trifie, which is
sometimes the case with horses that have
gone five or six hard races SO early in the
season.
At Geneva, N. Y, the week previous,
Paulding Boy was also a non-winner which
Is additional evidence that he is either get
ting into deep water that he Is growing
stale. Hallock NJ, the pony stallion which
horse last year and outcIasses Paulding
Boy when even at his best The sans
may be said of the winner, Jennie W., as
far as class Is concerned.
-.
The farmers of old Montgomery, and
more especially the young folks, are look
ing forward to the annual fair with high
anticipations of a good time coming. AS
fairs go, the Montgomery county annual
is among the greatest ever and gives the
farmers and their sons and daughters the
pleasantest outing of the year. With ham
pers well filled they pull out before sun up
and wend their way toward the fair
grounds. Even old Bose. the family watch
dog, scents the spirit of the occasion and
falls into line under the forward axle of
the wagon. and with tongue out and tail
at the proper angle trudges proudly along
through the dust to witness the greatest
| show on earth. The Montgomery county
fair Is not only fixture In the hearts and
minds of the people of the county, but a
financial success. made SO by the people
of Montgomery through generous rivalry
in products of the soil. The contests be-
tween horses, of course attract, but they
are not the whole thing, as some claim
only a mere incident, in fact, of a great
exposition of the material progress made
year by year in the art Of agriculture.
"a
Representative Joe Sibley of Pennsylva-
MIA, a few days prior to sailing on his yacht
| for eastern waters, announced to repre-
| sentative of The Star that he had cut out
| for the future the breeding of Shetlands
| from his horse program. Instead of being
| the easiest to breed to a certain type he
| said he had discovered. much to his aston
| tshment, that they were the hardest propo-
| sitio;1 he had yet encountered. ITO begin
| with" said Mr.. Sibley, lit must be under
| stood that the native Shetland is sur
| vival of the fittest of his tribe. Originally
| horse of much larger size, during the
| years he has been compelled to fight for
| a mere existence he has become more and
more stunted in his native islands until
| in some instances he is not much larger
| than a Newfoundland dog.
When brought to this country the get
! of an imported stallion and mare are in
| variably larger than their immediate an
I II, liNl
| lions my experience has been that they
| revert to their primitive type-a horse of
| about thirteen or fourteen hands, and
| Weighing in the neighborhood of $50 and
| 700 pounds. AS the Shetland Is a child 8
| horse fashion has decreed that he shall
not average in height much over ten hands.
| Such midgets cannot be uniformly produced
| in the United States without the starving
process, hence the reason why SO many
| Shetland breeding farms have gone out
| of commission in this country.
las l am fond of experiments, about
seventeen years ago I crossed the bIooded
| trotting stallion ST. Bel. son of Election
| eer, and Beautiful Bells, by The Moor,
| on some of my Shetland mares. In only
one sense was the experiment a success.
| The cross gave more finish, action and
| spirit to the offspring Of the union, but
| at the expense of the size demanded by
| the average purchaser. The original Shet-
| land Is almost as cold-blooded as the ass
| OF holy writ, and not much better bred
| than the commonest OK. He is cute and
| wise like the ass, almost as stubborn and
| patient as that animal and aside from
| being a pet Of children and women is of
| no particular consequence In the equation
| of breeding
| Match races. such as advertised between
Sweet Marie Tiverton and Wentworth too
| frequently are disappointing. Either the
match turns out to be hippodrome in
which the money staked Is divided accord
ing to private agreement or the parties
| to the contract fall out. In the three
| cornered match race at Readville Ttverton
| fell lame before the race was called It
| was known among horsemen that With
| Tiverton out of it It would be one-sided
l contest. @Ttverton has been up to date
about the only horse that has been able
| to interest the California mare. He Is a
| very fast horse and has beaten the mare,
but In series of contests she 10 unQues-
| ttonably not only his master, but the master
| Of almost every other trotter now before
| the public
81
Sweet Marie v bay mare and was
foaled in 1885, the property of a colored
man named William Smart Of Los Angeles,
CAL Mrs. Smart broke her when she was
two and half years old and used her
for carriage purposes until she was three