, 1923-09-05
ENDURANCE RACE
SHOWS BLOOD TELLS
ALL HORSES THAT STAYED TO
END HAD THOROUGHBRED
STRAIN-ONE HORSE
TWICE WINNER

BLOOD will tell' was the comment
of a very capable horseman when
Norfolk Star, thoroughbred gelding,
won the Colorado Endurance test
(held at Broadmoor July 80 to Aug
ust A inclusive) for the second time
and Nintu, a thoroughbred mare,
came in second, says the Thorough
bred Record. The performance of
Norfolk Star in winning the ride two
successive years has never been du-
plicated by any horse. Horses win
ing third and fourth place also had
thoroughbred blood. Babe, the win
ner of the third money, was sired by
a STANDARDIZED stallion out of a
dam by a thoroughbred stallion and
a broncho second dam, and %Indianoal,
fourth prize winner, was sired by a
Percheron stallion out of a thorough
bred dam. This horse showed his
draft blood in his coarse make up and
huge feet, but he had the spirit of his
thoroughbred dam, the will to go I'M
til he dropped and he went on the bit
from start to finish, always. wanting
to travel faster than the rider would
permit.
Horsemen present at the ride did
not believe that Norfolk Star could
win again. The horse is of the weedy
type but his low frictionless action,
heritage of thoroughbred blood, and
the heart to go on and on over all
obstacles brought hi magain to vic
tory.
Six endurance tests have been held.
Four of these have been in the East
and two in Colorado. The Eastern
ride which is to be in Avon, N. Y, in
October, will be of unusual interest
this year, because Norfolk Star and
Nintu will be entered with the horses
of the Eastern states. The rides grew
out of President R~oosevelt's order
that all cavalry officers should dem
onstrate their physical fitness by rid
ing 100 miles in three successive days.
This order was followed by a wall of
protest by armchair officers and the
President, accompanied by Major
Henry Leonard and Admiral Grayson,
made the ride himself, covering the
entire distance in one day. Three
horses were ridden by each of these
men and the different endurance
powers of the animals led to the con-
sideration of similar tests to deter
mine horses of greatest endurance
for breeding army remounts. Moth
ing n done until 1918 when Major
Leonard, w. r. Brown, an Arab
horsebreeder of Berlin, n. H., Harry
Worcester Smith, and a fe wothers
made plans for the first ride which
was held in the East in 1919 and was
won by A. w. Harris of Chicago, also
a breeder of Arab horses, riding the
Arab mare Ramla. Mr.. Brown and
Mr.. Harris each gave $1,000 a year
Harry M. Blackmer, of Denver, and
for prizes for the Eastern tests and
Spencer Penrose, of Broadmoor, have
each contributed like amounts for the
Colorado rides. The Morgan Horse
Club, the Arabian Horse Club of
America, the American Remount As
ISOLATION, the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture and the Horse
Association of America all became
sponsors and financial hackers.
The rides have shown that medium
sized horses excel the large ones, that
good backs, strong loins, great lung
room, capacious middles, good feet
and legs, true action, a level head and
the heart to keep going are essential.
No horse lacking in more than one of
these qualities has ever finished the
test except in 1920 when a mare
whose underpinning was deficient was
nursed through by the use of artificial
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