The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-24
WHY MAN O. WAR
CAN RUN 50 FAST
His Action Analysed by En-
pert. Who'Says 1t Resembles
That of st. Simon.
ny DARRETTo DE. soUzA.


1t has been generally believed by rae
ing men that in order TO develop the
greatest possible speed a horse has to
sallop extended and low to the ground :;
In other words. what high school
riders call ''uncollected."
In his racing. and especially on the
evasion OF his last wonderful feat, the
mighty Man o. War has disproved that
idea, to the undisguised establishment of
photograph made in his race against Sir
Barton and reproduced on this page.
shows the incompatible three-year-old
Waking a phenomenal bound, rs inches
TO feet" y above the ground, at the
apex OF one OF his great strides, the
average length OF which was said TO be
over % feet while the maximum strides
reached 2S feet!
In this picture. the horses four feet
being exceedinly close together. there Is
nc, denying that he has very high de-
gree of natural collection. And IT
would be impossibls - 81, or any
other horse, to make rs foot leap-let
alone a succession of such leaps con-
tinued for a. mile and quarter--without
naturally or artificially.
Another proof OF his being collected
is the height at which his head Is car
ried. the lowest part OF his chin being
barely below q perpendicular drawn
from his withers forward.
The fact that his reins are loose while
In this posture proves also that ne Is
weighing on his riders hands ana
that he is. consequently, although run
ming at such excessive speed. as light
of mouth as a well trained high school
horse In complete collection. OF course
il he had been trained in high school
and his natural collection had conse-
quently been improved by art, II would
haze included the neck. which then
might have been carried less straight.
II his legs from below the knees and
hooks are hidden by covering that part
Of the picture l refer to and only the
parts ot his body and legs above that
are SHOWN, Man o. War will appear to
be performing the high school "alr"
called Platter" instead of a racing
gallop.
BY contrasting Sir Barton's attitude as
he vainly chases Man o. War, we see
that, going low to the ground In APP
proved racing style. this horse could
not possibly execute the tremendous
leaps which gave such On easy victory
to his rival. who moreover. apparently
went about his business very calmly.
judging by his absolutely peaceful facial
expression in the photograph.
That Sir Barton does not collect as
we'll nor to such a degree as Man o
War is proved by the comparative lack
of impetus of his off hind leg and by
the low carriage of his head, his chin
being far below the line of his withers.
In fact, a horizontal line drawn from
his withers forward would pass just be-
low his eyes.
Comparing, then, the manner of going
Of these two horses We understand why
Man o. War could SO easily win. and
we then see that the faculty a horse
has Of collecting helps him develop
speed, and develop 1t without undue ef-
fort, consequently with but minimum
of fatigue.
From this picture we thus also learn
that. contrary to the old school idea.
the highest degree of collection can be
obtained--in this case quite naturally
even at top speed. and that the proper
sort of collection. not the one obtained
by the ancient method OF pulling to-
gether" practically the movement back
ward" but the collection arrived at by
the modern method of sending the horse
I'D to his bit" that is by the movement
forward" increases a horses strides and
does not diminish them. This recalls
also what Fills says in his Breaking
and Riding" that he developed the rae
ing speed OF thoroughbreds which he had
trained in high school.
Moreover. this picture confirms the
definition 1 have offered of the "cbllec-
ton" as being "the Capitalization OF tns
horses forces under his rider" that Is
bttween centre OF gravity anS the centre
of propulsion. which Man o War clearly
shows as he seems hung to space by the
top of his girth line.
Those who have had the good fortune
of seeing the great st. Simon run Will
remember that he, too. had "A mighty
stride. and a high gallop and workeJ
with q great degree OF natural collection
unusual among racing thorougnbreds.