The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-11-18
RUSSIANS MAKING
Great ADVANCES
BREEDING HORSES
Slev Country is Purchaser
OF Americas Best Sires,
Statistics Show.

No foreign country has made great
er strides in the science of horse
breeding than Russia in the last
quarter of a century. She has been
a buyer of the fastest trotting sires
we have produced while England and
France have supplied the best repre-
sentative Of the thoroughbred fam
lily. c.. K. G. Billings was offered
100000 for The Harvester, 2:01,
when that great horse wore the stall
lion crown, and like sum was offer-
ed w. e. D. Stokes for Peter the
Great, 2:07 IA, and two Of his sons.
Frank Cation, a trainer and driver
of trotting horses, with an inter-
national reputation, has just return
ed from Russia, after an absence OF
23 years, Is of which he spent In the
employ of Count Varnstoff Dashkoff,
Vice-Vizer of the Cossacks, and for
4 whom he won as much as 266,OOO
rubles in a single season. When the
Count died, Mr.. Cation returned to
the United States. He is an encyclo-
\ paedia of conditions connected with
horse breeding and racing in the land
of the Gar. In his opinion much of
the progress is due to the fact that
20 per cent. of all prize money goes
to the breeder of the winner, and he
is particularly enthusiastic over the
development of the standard bred
Orloff-cross the mares of this type
when mated with a thoroughbred sire
throwing army horses that are sec
ond to none in the world.
"They use all types Of native
horses in the army" said the veter-
an recently, at Lexington, KY, from
the stoutly built Cossack, which
stands about 1872 hands and is 4
marvel Of it's kind, up to the horse
of pure blood. The Cossack is bred
in the mountains and is Injured to
hardships. They are fitting COM
panions for the men who ride them
They can stop in twice their own
length, and drop at the word of COM
mand. No wonder they are making
history in the present war.
Two kinds of Orloffs are bred, the
old-fash oined and the modern, which
( is a blending Of our American and
the Orloff types. Army remounts, as
a rule, come from a union of the
males Of this family with mares
which possess lot of thoroughbred
blood, but some experts are crossing
English thoroughbreds on the native
animals of great power, endurance
and coura ge. Each family, of course,
ILLS lis OWu lOllOWlI16, dA0 IAC LII
perial government, in order to deter
mine which of the types would stand
up best under test, had planned a
race from Moscow to Petrograd The
distance is 406 miles and the road is
hard macadam. Each team Of six
horses has to pull a gun-carriage
with full equipment, which included
riders for the wheel team. They were
to race all the way, and it was to
have been my privilege to have
charge Of the Metise or American
Orloff team. The other teams, the
pure-bred Orloff and the thorough
breds were in competent hands, and
We were In hard training when the
war broke out.
I'VE had one test, however, con-
tinued' Mr.. Cation, which was con-
elusive and gave the thoroughbred
family great prestige. A horse OF
that type, weighing about 1900
pounds beat Percheron, Orloff. and
everything else in a drawing cornpeti-
Ntion. Two ordinary horses couldn't
start his load After the war, no
Goubt, the road test will be under
taken, as the Russians are very thor
ough in what they undertake in the
way of experiments.
THE native Orloff is a wonderful
type. There are four of them that,
If trained our way, could not trot in
2:80. The evolution of the breed
should convey a lesson to the United
States. It has taken since the time
Of Peter the Great to bring the type
, of perfection. The pure bred ones
{are black or gray in color, but when
crossed with the American trotter or
thoroughbred, bays are occasionally
seen. lA
when one considers that 20 per
cent Of all, winnings go to the breed
er.'S resumed Mr.. Cation, 'some idea
of the interest in brdeding and rails
Ing may be gained. II have seen as
many as 5000 head Of horses in train
ing for the trots at Moscow, while
there. were 5000 thoroughbreds at
the sgalloping track. The thorough
breds race on grass, and the trotter,
which covers the entire year, with
the exception of the thawing period
in the spring. The trotter had such a
strong footho1d that the populace
took to thoroughbred racing slowly.
Finally Ave trotting races under sad
die were added to the regular thor
oughbred program, and this helped to
popularize the sport, which is con-
Quoted at Moscow all through the
month Of June, including Sundays,
after which the trotters and gallopers
alternate three days a week.
Irotters race over sand-cOvered
asphalt track, and, they never post
pone unless the thermometer drops
beyond 16 degrees below zero Some
times there are as many as % races
a. day, commencing at 2 o'clock and
continuing until nine The lightning
system Is 80 perfect that there are no
shadows. Everything goes like clock
work The timing is done by electric
ity and all finishes are PHI tographed
by two cameras, which are released
by cord. The grand-stands are
heated and they have restaurants and
all other conveniences for patrons.
mo two-year-olds are raced, and
the three-year-o are only asked
to try conclusions in a dash Of two
thirds Of a. mile All races for older
horses were formerly at two miles.
but now about half are at a mile.
Entrance fee Is only per cent, and
there are no other deductions
Horses are classified according to
their winnings, and are arranged in
groups, the slowest being the ninth,
which is for those that have not won
1000 rubles. All tfots are under the
auspices Of the Imperial Trotting
club, which holds twelve meetings
yearly in centers of population. The
halfbred can beat the native, and
the American is the daddy of them