The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-11-10
ShaRs. and. Ska .sf Horss.
No Dstriment 10 Endnrana.


SChicsys,Nov. os.e(By ths Associst.
cd Press .GaAny atraishtgoing, seusd
horse. with the aaart to keep eodnE
down the road, can Hnish In the $40
mile annual endurance test, accoSd.
ing tessspsrts who shavs analysed ~
results Of the 1922 meet, held rscent-
lysat Fort Ethan Allen. Vermont.
The result, they decided, shows
what Racing men have long known,
that the winners come In all shapes
and sizes. &3
This years five day race was The
fourth annual renewalcof the classic
Of the army remount world, which
w. r. Brown. Of Berlin, N. H.. andaA.
w. Harris, Of Chicago, were instxu-
mental in founding.
Wayne Dinsmore, of Chicago,
chairman of the committee in charge,
in an analysis of the winning horses,
commenting on the wide range sof
types that finished in the ribbons,
finds that the variations In the yiS-
tors was more apparent than real,
however, being largely due to the
more outstanding carriage of head
and neck in some.
All had good withers for the ssd-
die, Mr.. Dinsmore, says, all vwsre
strong backed and powerfully mus
cled over back and loins, all had fair
slope Of shoulders and pasterns, good
feet and we'll set legs.
Vendetta, the first prize winner,
was thoroughbred; Gladstone, fin.
ishing second, Morgan; Grant, in
third place, a grade American saddle
horse; Cragmore, fourth, crossbred
by a thoroughbred stallion out Of o
standardized trotting mare; Path
finder, fifth, thoroughbred; and
Clonmell, finishing sixth, was an i'm.
ported Irish hunter, largely thorough
bred in breeding. The first :, prize
winner was mare, and all the 9TH
ers geldings.
The most important lesson, learned
from the endurance. tests, which re-
quire the horse,s Carrying 220 pounds
this year go pounds less than in
1920 and 1921 meets) to complete
the 800 miles in Ave consecutive days,
Mr.. Dinsmore says, Is the necessity
for straightgoing action. : In. other
words, the horses feet and legs should
move straight forward, parallel to a
line drawn through the center Of his
body, in the direction Of travel. Any
deviation, the tests. have revealed,
wastes energy, leads to leg weari-
ness, and causes the horses to Elm
terfere" by hitting the fetlocks with
the shoe of the other foot.
None of the prize winners were
perfect straightgoers, but their de-
Walton was so slight as to cause no
except in. the case Of
the first prize winner, and her rider
found way to check the trouble,
which was due to bad shoeing.
Next to straightness, the judges
decided, a low easy gait is most de-
,sjrable, gait described by. :horsemen
as Slipping along" This was most
noticeable in Vendetta and, .Clonmell.
Both raised their. feet only enough, to-
clear tn eground and both put their
feet down squarely with q, springy
step.
High knee and. hook action, with
extreme fash, so much admired and
sought after in horses used as park
hacks, is distinct disadvantage it,
was found to horses forced to under
go endurance rides.
The judges also found that the skill
Of the rider, his seat, hands and feet
enter largely in the results. The best
riders rode, the entire 300 miles
standing up in their stirrups, bal
anced so perfectly they never struck
the saddles. zone of the judges"
Mr.. Dinsmore says, described the
ideal seat when he said of one rider
you could glue a fresh laid egg in
the seat of his saddle, and he would
not break it in whole days ride"
Long stirrups, and riding straight
up, with spring in ankles and, leg
muscles to take all shock Of the
riders weight from the horse char
acterize the best long distance riders,
Chairman Dinsmore's, :, report says.
and pounding the saddle" at, a trot,
as the park riders do, is precisely
what must not be done.
Major Louis - BEARD, commander OF
the Fort Remount Station, who rode
the first prize swimmer said:
~ rode the entire distance standing
in my stirrups continually in tros
and some of the time when at q walk.
When trotting i rode 'teetering, 'as II
were, in my stirrups, endeavoring at
all times to keep my.center Of gravity
very, little ahead of that Of the
horse. Instead of@pulling my weight,
my mount was endeavoring ,toncatch
up with It. At times I ,'bridgea with
my reins across the neck just in
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