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ROCKSPRINGS GLORIOUS SACRIFICE Major Hendries War Horse an Honest Racer Died on the Field of France FranceBy By Wilfred Southwood Beneath the shadow of a rude wooden cross somewhere in France lies one of the heroes of the great war He gave of his best In the attempt he fell in the pathway pointing to Berlin and allied victory His would be but a limited joy could he awake to see the thousand hordes of victors tramping on and as they go rolling back the teeming masses of Huns For our hero was only a race horse But Ilockspring the hero was a good fighter and proved it on track and battlefield He did his share to blast a hole into tile human wall that reared itself in Hunnish frightfulness against France and it required three severe shell wounds and one siege of pneumonia to stop the gallant son of Mnrtimns With his master Major W I S Hendrie Hamilton Canada Rockspring shared three years of warfare in France aid took his share of hardships that are part of a chargers life lifeBut But Rockspring was only true to family traditions He was proof that blood counts with horses as with men in warfare This game nineyearold gelding was by the Futurity winner of 189S Marti ¬ mas dam Springwells He was therefore half brother to Springsidc this years winner of the Kings Plate He was a hardy sort of racer and being of that thick stocky conformation it was little wonder that owner Sir John Ilendrie thought him worthy to carry his own snn to battle and so made a personal gift of him to the major majorSo So after several years as a useful performer Ilockspring bid farewell to his stahlematcs at the Ilendrie farm His days of racing to the cheers of thousands were numbered and leaving behind him tlie gaiety of his former days lie had to take upT his drab duties of winning the war to the ac ¬ companiment of booming guns Life however at the front was not one whole round of hard work On more than one occasion Rqekspring was given a chance to remember the days of youth and gniety On these occasions he showed he had lost none of his former speed He took his share of honors when raced against other officers horses Some pretty fair English thor ¬ oughbreds competed but Rockspriug always man ¬ aged to get his nose in front frontThat That as a thoroughbred he was well fitted for work at tlie front was shown when he recovered twice from shell wounds and once from pneumonia Only when he got his for the third time did this gallant son of Martimas fail to respond to the bugle call callROCKSPRING ROCKSPRING LIKE A GOOD SOLDIER SOLDIERThey They buried him where he fell and like a good soldier lie was remembered A little wooden cross bears witness that he died facing the enemy The testimony of his master was a true one He was a fine game horse horseHearing Hearing of Uocksprings sacrifice trainer Ed Whytc of the Ilendrie stable declared He was an honest old horse Ed Whyte speaks of Rockspring as a hard tryer During his threeyear career on Canadian and American tracks Kockspring earned some 3COO and won five races in thirty four starts While not a large purse winner his trainer declared Rockspring always managed to pay his way wayHad Had not the war brought him fame Itockspring would have been remembered for his sire Marti ¬ mas The sire had an enviable record winning 53000 in all In addition to the Futurity he won the Fort Erie Derby Nautilus Stakes and Toronto Cup of 1S99 Patience was bred in Rockspring by Martimas son of Candlemas He won the Futurity after waiting at the post for an hour and thirty five minutes Martimas dam Biggoiet made his ¬ tory by winning from her company after a wait of one hour and forty minutes at the post postOn On his dams side Rockspring acquired a fine burst of speed Springwells was a fast starter and could cover threequarters in 112 and the mile in less than 140 140This This story would not be complete without a reference to Sir John Hendries trainer Kd Whyte He is one of the best known horsemen of the province and i fact well known on u American tracks He has trained some splendid performers in his day He has been training for Ilendrie since 1S9T Kd Whyte was last seen in tlie saddle in the Hendrie colors in 1RS1 when he was third on Mr Hendries Long Shot son of Long Taw to Colonist and Bonnie Ino
