New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-09

BEST HUNTERS,
SAYS HITCHCOCK
Noted HorSeman Also Has
Word of Praise for
Breeding Bureau.

No man in America has developed
more high class steeplechasers and
| thoroughbred hunters than Thomas
Hitchcock. and what this finished horse
man has to say about the 'cross-coun-
Try or show ring performer will be read
with interest, as he is recognized as an
authority in every country where the
horse OF quality is known.
There is no horse in the world that
is comparable to the thoroughbred as a
hunter, or, as h matter of fact. for al
r'oSt any purpose" said Mr.. Hitchcock
when seen at the Offices of the Jockey
Club. you fnd men decrying him as
being too hot 20 give satisfaction
when put TO any other task than rae
take. People who talk in that fashion
have never had anything TO do with tho
higher type of thoroughbred. and their
experience has come from contact with
calls which have been discarded be-
cause OF their shortcomings.
"AS matter of fact the thorough
the same animals are subjected to
equal tasks. Put a half-bred horse in
/ tanning and ask as much of him as
you do of the thoroughbred and the re-
suit will be surprising. The half-brcd
would not stand the acid test of racing
and come through with perfect dispo-
sition.
Bred for $50 Years.
"The thoroughbred has been bred for
15G years, and the cuils during all that
time have been eliminated. | have had
twenty-five years experience with thor
oughbreds, and during that period |
have experimental with them widely.
My twelve-year-old son has ridden
them in the hunting field on Long ISL
and, and another Of my children, only
six years of age, has ridden them IN
the show ring.
"They are more easily broken to har-
ness than any other horse in the world,
and illustrating this let me tell you OF
something | saw S. T. HARRISON do at
Lexington when the thoroughbred mar
ket was at its lowest, some years ago.
He bought a lot of young stations,
mares and geldngs from one to three
ycgrs of age, and turned them all into
a big paddock. They agreed famously,
and il wasn't three weeks till those
that were old enough were broken to
harness and some being sold all over
the country.
"The halfbred is fine, too, and we
have To bring in the grade in order to
secure an average size, just as IN Ire
land they went to the cart horse TO Sc
cure a bigger hunter type, but by and
large the thoroughbred when he is big
enough meets every requirement.
Jolly Dixon, by Sir Dixon, out OF
Merry Maiden, winner OF the heavy
weight championship at Piping Rock, is
1862 hands and weighs l,46O pounds:
He has stood up under ten years hard
service Cavalier, by Stalwart out OK
a Potomac dam, weighs 1850, while an
other good thoroughbred hunter in my
string is Commission, by Yankee, out or
La Sorella, that tips the scales at 300
pounds. Surely these are big enough
for any purpose, and besides their bulk
they have the quality we all admire,
"The breeding bureau of the Jockey
Club is doing splendid service in stand
ing thoroughbred sires in various parts
of this state. They are really doing the
work of the Federal government or
what foreign countries are doing IN or
der that they may have sufficient
number of horses of the cavalry re-
mount type.
Light Mares Scarce.
"The greatest menace which ! see to
horse breeding in the United States is
the growing scarcity of the light mares
which nick so well with the thorough
bred sire. During recent visit to
Wyoming I found breeders raising the
heavy draft type. There was market
for the smooth young mares unbroken
at two and three years Of age, at good
prices, and they bred them in prefer
ence to anything else.