The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10
AMERICAN CAVALRY HORSE IMPROVING Singing Defeat Had Very
 Good Results DUE TO JUST FEW MEN
After Humiliation Last Year Many Fine Horses Were Presented to & Government and Many F .
 Were Purchased
By SIDNEY EsPEY

United States army suffered at the Ma tional Horse Show at Madison Square 1 Garden little more than a year ago.
 when they saw every ribbon in the
 chargor classes easily won by officers
 rom foreign countries, has been produc-
 tive in high degree As a result of that
 singing defeat nearly every prize offered
 in similar classes this year was won by
 an American officer. astride an American
 mount.
 Ihis was brought about by the energy
 of few private individuals and the CO., i operation of officers in the United States army and officials of the war department
 at Washington. The American horses had
 barely been given the gate at sthe time
 or their honorable defeat when August
 Belmont presented the government with his famous stalions. Henry of Navarro | and Octagon, with a. view to reversing
 the order of things at the next horse l show.
 Ihe army officers who judged at the
 show and were forced to send the animals
 ridden by their fellow officers down to de-
 feat before the braided and gIded officers |
 manifest inferiority. at once started
 movement to improve the American cav
 airy horse. In this they had the hearty
 cooperation of the secretary of war Not long afterward a group of men
 headed by Judge William H. Moore of New York raised a subscription fund to purchase mounts to be sent to the Jn
 ternational Horse Show held in London | last June. A large sum of money was l raised and large sum paid for the best
 hunters. Jumpers and chargers which New | York state, Virginia and Kentucky could
 furnish. Among these animals were the
 famous Knight Of Elway, Chiswell and | Tampico, besides number of horses of | lesser fame.
 1 AS soon as these horses were delivered | to the government they were turned over
 to the keeping of well recognized stock
 breeders in Virginia, who bred them to the
 best mares in the state. This was done
 under the. joint supervision of the De- I partment of Agriculture and the War De- pertinent.
 About month before the Olympia show | in London, the first annual National Cap- | ltal Horse Show was held in Washington The government animals were entered in
 the charger and jumping classes at the 1 National Capital show and did we'll In a.
 number of classes they were defeated by
 the horses of private owners, notably | those of the Blenheim stables of Blt-
 more, owned by Walter Abel but on the
 whole their showing was creditable
 The earliest evidence of the revivified | interest in the cavalry horse was manifest
 when the first natural Military Horse Show was held at Fort Myer. Va. in l sbo ,.I
 chiefly by the officers of Fort Myer, but l President Taft and Secretary of War l Dickinson evidenced a keen interest in it 1 j. It was attended by all the army offi- l cers in Washington, besides practically | the entire diplomatic corps and members | of Congress interested in the cavalry l horse improvement. The class of animals | shown was poor, but the great amount of
 interest was considered encouraging. 1 When the time for the National Capital l Horse Show came around the universal | interest in the development of the army l horse mad reached such point that the l executive committee of the show was headed by Maj. Henry T. Allen, one of the recognized authorities on the subject in
 the service, and it's membership was made
 up of the most prominent horsemen or Virginia.
 The board of directors of the show wa3
 composed of the foremost men of the na- l tion. The secretary of war, the secretary | Of the navy, the attorney general, United States Senators Wetmore of Rhode Is l land and Bailey of Texas; Henry Fairfax Fourth Assistant Postmaster General De- Graw and many other prominent men served upon it. while President Taft was | the patron of the show.
 | While the show was still in progress | Judge Moore. who acted as one of the | judges in the ring, purchased Roustabout | a famous high Jumper, owned by Louis | Leith of Virginia, an animal of the same | strain as Heatherbloom, which held the
 high jump record for many years. Inl- | nediately upon purchasing Roustabout Judge Moore presented it to the nitsd | States to further the. development of the | cavalry horse.
 l At all the shows of the Virginia circuit | last summer, special classes were placed on the programmes for charges and after | the return of the government animals I from London, where they did well con- sidering the fields they showed against 1 they were entered in several of the shows, winning consistently.
 The movement for the improvement of | the American cavalry horse has resulted | in the permanent establishment of two important horse shows: The Military Horse Show at Fort Myer and the Nation al Capital Horse Show at Washington. 1 Both shows bid fair to become interna- l tional events.
 At the last session of the Sixty-first Congress an effort was made to have special bill introduced, providing an ap- 1 propriatiop for developing the cavalry horse. The effort failed, being postponed until the press of more important bus I mess crowded it out
 bill probably will be introduced and passed at the coming session of Congress which will make ample provision for the purpose. Whether this work will be placed under the supervision of the De-
 partment of Agriculture or the War De- partment Is al present uncertain.
 It Is reluctantly conceded by the United States army officers that this country ranks near the bottom as far as it's cav airy is concerned. This is not due so much to the fact that the country is with out resources for the organization of a well equipped cavalry, but rather because available resources have been sadly nag lected
 There are in the country many stalions of excellent breeding, the use of which would insure to the government a superior cavalry. It is the desire of the army of- ticers behind the present movement to secure these animals. The most of them are owned by private individuals and are held at high prices. but an efficient stud is rapidly being accumulated.
 Very different rQsults from those shown last year are expected at the second Mill itary Horse Show. to be held early in the spring at Fort Myer. The attention ofsthe entire military of the nation will be fo- cused on the show.
 -s----
 A Change
 From the Spokesman Review