The new South-news., 1908-11-14
MORE RACING BLOOD
IN SADDLE HORSES.


With the fate OF the thoroughbres
horse hanging in the balance In ths
United States on account OF the conn
try wide crusade against race track
gambling. action has just been tsker
by the American Saddle Horse Bred
ers' Association which may open
new field for the use of thoroughbred
mares. After April OF next year any
rtallion or mare by registered sad.
die bred sire out of a thoroughbred
dam can be registered as a standard
saddle horse in the American Saddle
Horse Register. No provision is made
for inspection Of the animal, but the
door is thrown wide open to the pro-
Iuce of all mares of the racing breed,
regardless of conformation, action a.
temperament of either the mare
her offspring.
To horsemen who have foil
building up of the breed cl
known as Kentucky saddle horses aNll
the policy of the American Saddls
Horse Breeders Association in the
past this new rule will occasion sur
prise amounting to wonderment.
Requirements for registration nm
to the present time have been certain
relationship to certain foundation
sires noted for the superior riding
qualities and the beauty OF their off,
spring. Among them were Canadian
racers, Morgan trotters. bush bred
running horses of part thoroughbred
blood and horses of totally unknown
breeding. 1t may be fairly said that
blood was not considered In selecting
the foundation stock, individual ex-
cellence of offspring alone governing.
Trotting blood was used and admitted
by wholesale. until to-day the regis
tered saddle horse without one or
more close crosses to the standard
bred trotter is rather the exception
than the rule.
Thoroughbred blood has played an
important part In the formation of
the breed, as 1t has in the formation
of the breed of trotters, but the sad
die horse breeder who nowadays re-
verts to fresh infusIons Of thorough
bred blood Is just about as scarce as
the trotting horse breeder who goes
back to the runner. The best speci-
mems OF the trotting horse and the
saddle horse show plainly their thor
oughbred ancestry, yet neither has
anything to gain and each has much
to lose by fresh infusion of the
blood of tn Grace horse. Unless men
like Charles l.. Railey, Shelby r. Har-
bison and w. A. McGibbon are much
mistaken the modern thoroughbred
possesses no desirable characteristic
which has not already been engrafted
on the saddle-bred horse Of Kentucky.
The latter has almost the incompara-
Bile quality Of the thoroughbred, with
greater beauty of form and carriage,
far superior action for saddle pur-
poses, and a calm, docile. disposition
which could only be injur,d BY fndis-
criminnSe crossing with He hothead-
ed, fretful racer that for 200 years
has been bred and trained to do but
one thing-to run.
Whether breeders of saddle horses
will take advantage of the new rule
to introduce fresh crosses of racing
seen, but 1t will be surprising If any
very general movement in this direc-
ton is made. If the object of the
Kentucky breeders is to eradicate the
tendency to rack and singlefoot.
which has been SO carefully cultivated
in the saddlebred horse ever since
the type was established, the new
rule may serve Its purpose, but as
means Of improving the breed In any
other respect Its wisdom will be very
generally questioned.