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" RACING TYPES Theories as to Shape Action and Its Influence Short Grass and Ben Holliday Johren and Cudgel Domino1 and Henry of Navarre Size in Race Horses Naturalist and Friar Rock Change in Type Straight Thighs vs. Curved Ormonde and Vedette Racing Plates of the t Cracks" Their Measurements Horses Race in All Shapes By W. S. VOSBURGH rj. ,r had m uj of to to and nd the l,0 the ie llt was as os lv iii jj, ws ,. The l,e he l,e lv j. the ie ig is v s ,. st e I, a ,e .e , s . :e I, d - . - i e j i r j u - i r ii i l - t i j - s . a i s t i . - Z f ; d t " w we "Uace horses run Well in all shapes" lias. long ig been a proverb, and "horses for courses" is another quite as old. Then we. have heard that "action m makes the race horse." We have been told thnt horses which gallop witii a straight foreleg cannot Sf -"y- ym that horses with curved hocks are bad id beginners. u would he easy to fill a book of Jt proverbs of the race courses, and all or them have some foundation. Vet every-day familiarity with u racing will show that there are manv brilliant it exceptions to these proverbs a race horse is a a complex animal, so full of variations and con-tradictions. i- It is epiite evident that many celebrated race e horses were altogether out of their distance over r courses belonging properly to two-year-olds five e or six furlongs from the fact that they could not t fall into their stride as quickly as others; "get their legs." as the trainers would say. They were not it t as good beginners. Such horses were Longfellow, , Short Grass and Africander, among others. Johren is a recent example of the above. This is class of horse called "poor beginners" are fast t horses when once they are well In their stride; , 11,e-v ,Cil" maintain the pace, and sometimes can n " "ie last quarter of a mile faster than the first, t. A,le.!e horses, fast when they have got fairly into 0 their stride, are different from that class of t moderate speed which require two or three miles to show iheir best. Of the. latter, class Hen Holliday nurt Bushwhacker were conspicuous ex-amples. - The last named were horses of fine endurance e e at a moderate pace, but rather lacked the speed of horses of the first class. Cudgel, George Smith and ,i a Johren are all fast horses, but thev are not as s quick beginners as some otlifrs; indeed, it is likely 1 there are many horses which can beat them over r a half mile course. Courage, clear wind and qiialitv of muscle fiber are qualities which make horses s stay; but the long, sweeping action helps them to 0 race at a high rate of speed after they have gone e a certain distance. If a horse is wrong in his b wind, either from infirmity or want of condition, he cannot respond when the pace becomes strong. - That horses stop from want of courage cannot be - denied, but some of the best horses that ever lived have stopped from want of condition Kentucky, for instance, in his great race against Lexingtons time. He had made a season in the stud, and was too hastily prepared. Harry llassett "quit like a 1 steer in his race with Longfellow for the Mon- mouth Cup of 1872. but three weeks later he ran a game race and defeated Longfellow for the Sara-ii toga Cup clearly a result of different condition. . Hamburg quit in the race for the Belmont Stakes, , but. lie never did it afterward, Action has a great deal to do with a horses . racing quality. No greater contrast could be offered l than that between . Domino and his great rival, Henry of Navarre. Domino was a short-striding horse; he seemed to take two or three strides to every one taken by Henry. At a mile Domino alii ways held Henry safe; an eighth farther and it was a dead heat; still another eighth and Henrv was the better horse. Short Grass wis a wonder-nil strider; in fact, we cannot recall so long a strider. He could not keep up at tile start and lost ground rapidly; but once settled in his stride he overhauled his onnonents, and even at short distances lie occasionally beat them, showing that he was not lacking in speed, but needed time to settle into his enormous stride. The famous gelding Parole had a tremendous stride, and seldom was near the front early in the race; but when fairly in motion his speed was so great he cut down bis rivals in the last quarter so rapidly that they seemed to be standing still. SENSATION AND HARRY BASSETT. Sensation and Harry Bassett were the two horses i whose action when galloping was the most perfect can remember long, low and as regular as the piston-rod of a locomotive. They looked to be mov- ing easily when they were really doing their best 11ns was also the case with Tyrant, the colt with -which 4 j Mr. Haggin won the Withers and Delmont i Makes of ISS.i. He seemed to gallop so easily t and defeated his opponents so easily that he was hailed as a wonder. P.ut later, when he met a bet- c ter class of colts, he lost his beautiful action and t floundered all over. Hamburgs action was quite perfection, and we cannot recall a colt which when galloping seemed A to rise so little off the ground an action that stole 1 away t,e jnChcs which count in a close contest, a King James bad bad action; but he was a horse of I such enormous power and vigor that, to a great degree, he overcame the disadvantage. Sam Mc- v Meekin bad about the worst action ever seen in a S race horse, throwing his near forefoot outward and t cutting his stride short. a ., The old proverb that horses race well in every shape cannot be denied. Nevertheless, the shape anil g build of a horse has some influence upon what is t wanted of him. Lengthy, long-muscled horses gen- h ernlly stay over a distance of ground better than ti short or heavily-muscled horses. Short-bodied g horses are better as a rule over a short course, as Ii they are quicker beginners and stride with greater ti rapidity. Dig, powerful horses are better over p; short courses than over long courses, as for example, f for Itoseben. Reliable, Naturalist, Jack Atkin and Iron is is Mask. On the contrary, some of our in-st stayers fi have been horses of moderate size like Hindoo, Ik Hernns. Henry of Navarre. Dallot, . Omar Khav- hi yam. The liard and. Friar Dock. st Years ago the critics were all for length. "See cc what fine length, what fine range he has," was a cc common observation while inspecting a race horse "i But at that period the distances were longer. With ra the gradual reduction of the distances the race V horse has undergone a change of conformation. This ki is a fact that has been freely commented upon bv lil close observers. Major K. D. Cassatts translation of of Colonel Cousto s book goes far to prove it For one lengthy horse today you will find a "dozen to short-bodied ones. Presumably, it is the effect -ig igo of continued breeding from horses more remarkable ne for speed than for stamina. As Major Cassatt remarks of f in his translation: "Short distance races have been be responsible for making this conformation the com- tin inoii conformation of the race." er The race horse in England has undergone this dr change quite as much as the American. The an- j pearance of Ormonde quite revolutionized all the tin he old theories, Ormonde was u short-bodied, snort-1 Uz ize ig m Sf id of Jt u it a a i- e r e t it t , is t , n t. 0 of t - e e ,i a s 1 r s 0 e b - - 1 . , . l i 4 j i t c t A 1 a I v S t a ., g t h ti g Ii ti p; f for is is fi Ik hi st cc cc "i ra V ki lil of to igo ne of f be tin er dr j tin he Uz ize necked horse on high legs. Indeed, unless a shorter bodied horse is on high legs he is seldom of much , account Galopin was rather short -bodied, but not t tiII,l":,il ? "S. 0r"""1"- Simon, too. was . , conformation is best suited to the modem system of racing. The English have also produced a great S!!CVV".,thl. st-vlt of a horst bel,i1" the saddle, M,-wi Miti"Klls-..i"T !"" Uw f-slhMi. whereas . nT SI.S w,,I,t,l lwks fur back was formerly the t i ideal I recall one of the first English horses I remember seeing, the mare Inverness, bv Maca-roni imported by the late Sir It. W. Cameron. She had the most crooked hocks, set away back, that I Had ever seen anil, accustomed as I was to the straight hind leg of the Lexingtons, it attracted even my youthful eyes. I noticed the same in ,.;;0!i ,,0r ,"! Ile xrriy here in 1SS2 and in- curred the displeasure of Mr. Fasten when I described him as "a cat-hammed horse." .alopiu had straigiit thighs, and this gave the fkt "ther reason to doubt that he was a son of Wdette All the descriptions of Vedette state that he had curved thighs and that his hocks were far behind him. In such a horse we should not look for a weight carrier, as his back is not well supported by his underpinning. Hocks so far away from the body on tall a great strain upon the back f 1,?"1S fte Iate -AIr- Charles J. Foster used -tell-.,me, tl-!lt the bock should forni- a- straight it i.ibMi line with the ischium. MI.?2es which fi1110" wIt" a straight foreleg seldom stay, according to the belief of some critics- ",ut i;instead. a horse belonging to the late E. J. Baldwin, galloped straight in front, vet was a ralr stayer. We have also heard that horses with considerable knee action were non-stayers, but the Dwyers George Kinney had a great deal of it ami certainly he could stay far beyond the average of Bonnie Scotlands colts. A horse with deep back ribs as a rule, stays better than one with short back ribs Some one has written that I had pronounced Cudgel a non-stayer. I never said that. .. "l did not have the deep back ribs of d st-ijei. But. as I recall him. Cudgel makes up for lack of depth of back ribs with, a roundness i .All- 1 V. ha,s ,K?en. ""ticed in horses which - .10,""e of rib in making its curve from the spine is certainly a good point in a race rSeS "re Ilns,SI,t"J ""1 often deHcate Of course, the more perfectly a horse stands upon X T tit,-e ";tter ay Kood horses have turned their toes out, and some of these were quick beginners. A horse that turns his toes in is voted a bad proposition. Domino turned the toe of his off forefoot inward, and his plates in mv possession show the contrast between his forefeet, though both were of good size. Volantes plate also m my collection, is the largest I ever saw measuring nearly five .Inches across at the widest nCncu,a-1; 111 sllae "uI wide at the iVmt .iVim?f KI,!1-V-VJI" ra" "early all his races in i.V: V ""--quarter plates. As I recall Volante, Ins feet were broad and low-walled and flat; but he could perform well in heavy ground. SALVATOR HAD LARGE FOOT. .itnl! ?t ,y,la,cs racing plate can be formed when I state that it measured 4 15-Ki inches across, asi JlIy ,4 J"1 ! rom toe to ,eel- Salvatoi? had i,i a large foot, judging from his plate, which had a width of 4 10-KJ inches, but it was rather long and not so open at the heel as that of his reat rival, Temiy, whose plate, round and large, measured 4 14-15 in width. Ileiirv of Navarre s plate is perfect in shape, 4 10-10 across-ll.t!l.V?rYi ,tous- Te I-irds plate would in- dicatc a well-shaped foot, but rather small 4 3-10 .YrV1-?"16 !Iinl01 was 4 11-10; Troubadour, the Suburban winners plate, measures 4 10-10 inches; hisk Broom II.s is 4 8-10; Himyars 1 "a i.. "!,-Ilos; btrombolis 4 C-10 inches; Kingstons f V.V,. 1.l,cts: Kysonbys 4 0-10 inches; Paroles i-1b .luclies; Dominos 4 13-10 inches; Imps .-10 inches; Miss Woodfords plate indicates a peculiarly long foot. 4 10-10 inches, in length and 4-"1 "u,1 at "s greatest widtli across. .. "r,e 1S V Bt"Lra "Pinion that the cannon bones r of a horse race should be, short, both the metacarpus front and the metatarsus hind that the closer to the ground a horses knees and hocks are so much the better. The late B. G. Druce saw i A"strnhan at Lord Loiidesboroughs sale in : ISdJ ,o-; and said he never saw a horse whose knees and hocks were so far from the ground. The late Harry Hall s picture of the first hero of the tlde crawn" rather beai-s this out. Isonoiny I was also noticed as having this peculiarity, as was Salvator in tins country, and it was said also of all our ,!"! thoroughbreds. L"sf horse Eclipse, the progenitor of ! Now the hare and the rabbit, on one hand, and the treyhoiinil on the other, represent two distinct J .Mf l,n..d U:f lKk of t,,e Ilare i Priced 1 high, while that of the. greyhound is ex- .mi. L 0W low,cr Uia" a"y otI,-r animal. A grev hound can always outrun a hare or rabbit. M...!IL!iy , Ui!,t ,tnc. Kreyhound is five or six parisoii between them for speed, even allowing , the difference in size. The action of the hare 11 a leaping one, and such as might be expected v fiom such a conformation. The action of the grev-!?.wiMli IS i"ore ve1 a.I,d. tIlu creat length of his hind leg from hip to hck gives him n length of a at stride and an enormous propulsive power such as could not be expected in an animal of the hares conformation. In brief, the conformation of the " of greyhound approaches nearer wiiat is wanted in the v race horse, and. despite the long cannon bones of s West Australian, Isonoiny and Salvator, the low knee and hock are preferable, although there is e; little difference between horses in the length - I0lr k,".es !"a hocks from the ground. f The drooping rump is a feature in more horses today than I can ever remember seeing it. Years there were more horses whose back presented a I nearly horizontal line from the withers to the root the tall. No doubt the droop enables a horse to egiii quickly m his gallop, as his legs are farther inder him. According, to their photographs. Gay el rusuder, the Derby winner or 1!17. lias a slightly ci Irooping rump, while Gainsborough, the hero of :!1S, has more of the straight line of back, with ti to tail set on high. And thus it is that, dogma- w as we wai, good race horses run in all saayes. ti
