view raw text
VALUE OF THOROUGHBRED Interesting Conclnsions of Cavalry Officer Major J A Barry Pure Blooded Horse Best Type for Army ArmyOfficer Officer Half or ThreeQuarters Bred BredHost Host Suitable for the Trooper NEW YORK N Yf January 27 During the National Horse Show in this city last November the opinion was expressed that the military classic contributed the most popular feature of an exhibition which has for many years been one of New Yorks most potent attractions not only for those living in or near the metropolis Tiut for horse lovers from Philadelphia Washington Boston Buffalo Cleveland Chicago Kansas City and other distant points pointsThe The showing made by the officers from Fort Myer Va and the cavalry school at Fort Riley Kansas elicited the commen ¬ dation of the press and public and the gener ¬ al improvement in the horsemanship of the units from these army posts was commented upon men and horses acquitting themselves day after day in a way to earn the plaudits of the most critical criticalThat That many of the officers and troopers mounts taking part in the various classes were thoroughbred half or threequarter bred gave an educational aspect to the ex ¬ hibition Major J A Barry director of the cavalry school at Fort Riley where the fin ¬ ishing touches are put on the horsemanship of our cavalry officers was conspicuous thioughout the National sweeping the plat ¬ ter clean with the grand thoroughbred geld ¬ ing Submersible by First Chip Grace Davis by L B Davis which was sold to Mrs Francis P Garvan of this city at the dcse of the show for 3500 tidy profit as the result of training from an investment of less than the 200 the grandson of Fonso cost when taken out of the picket line at Fort Sill two years previously previouslyMAJOR MAJOR BARRYS IMPRESSION IMPRESSIONMajor Major Barry was asked to give his im ¬ pressions of the thoroughbred when he was leaving for Fort Riley What he has to say about hereditary unsoundness will be dis ¬ puted by some of the experts of the country but Major Barry is a distinguished horse ¬ man and his opinion in this and other mat ¬ ters pertaining to the horse is entitled to consideration That the thoroughbred makes j the best officers charger is conceded by ex i perts the world over That the half or three 1 quarter bred is the proper type of troopers mount is likewise granted by the most com ¬ petent authorities This is the type that will soon be available thanks to the Federal Re mount Service which is distributing thor ¬ oughbred sires throughout the Union Major Barrys conclusions follow followI I will try and give you my impressions j of the thoroughbred horse the impressions i derived from daily experience with some five i or six hundred horses for five or six years At this school we work daily about five hun ¬ dred horses of all breeds shapes and kinds It is generally the opinion of student offi ¬ cers upon arrival here that the thorough 1 bred horse is some kind of a wild animal and very difficult to handle These same officers after a years experience are con ¬ vinced that the blooded horse is the most docile sensible and generous of all horses It is true that there are hot nervous thor ¬ oughbred horses It is also true that you have these hot nervous horses in all other breeds or mixtures of breeds and it is my opinion that you have fewer of them among thoroughbreds than among any other horses horsesQUALITIES QUALITIES OF THOROUGHBRED THOROUGHBREDThe The thoroughbred horse here as a rule is the only horse than you can gallop fast across all kinds of country and then turn him toward home drop your reins and have him walk without jigging I have seen m my instances of the proof of the nerve and senss of the thoroughbred horse as compared with the cold blood In high jumping contests where the bar is successively raised and where each horse is required to take itj itjpossibly possibly twelve or fifteen times before th2 limit is reached I have seen cold blooded horses become absolute maniacs where thej thoroughbred horse after his trial calmly and intelligently awaited the raising of the bar There is no question that where a rider asks or is liable to ask for all that is in a horse to get it he must have a thorough ¬ bred horse All people who do difficult rid ¬ ing realize this Many cold blooded horses are excellent jumpers when everything goes well but let them get a little mixed their takeoff a little wrong and then they fall down They havent the heart to get out of the traps that a thoroughbred finds easy I Ihave have used the word thoroughbred meaning1 the horse of blood We all know that there are horses ineligible to registration who have bigger hearts than their better bred brothers brothersI I would not like this letter to be coi strued that I favor the thoroughbred horse for the cavalry in the first place no cavalry cavalrycan can ever be mounted on thoroughbred horses there arent enough of them second such a large percentage of thoroughbred horses in this country are hereditarily unsound or acquire unsoundness that the majority of them would be perfectly useless in ranks I do say and practice what I preach that the proper kind of thoroughbred horse is the only horse for an officer who is a skilled rider to use and I further hazard the statement that no one who has ever ridden a good thoroughbred will ever be satisfied with any other kind kindAt At the close of the last school year we had a 55mile race at night over unknown country and this was won by a thoroughbred carrying about 165 pounds elapsed time 5 hours and 2 minutes I am absolutely con ¬ vinced that the thoroughbred sire of the proper conformation and temperament is the foundation sire for officers horses
