Table of Contents
Fredirico Caprilli (1868-1907) became an officer in the Italian cavalry in 1888 and very soon distinguished himself as a most unorthodox rider, jumping fences in a manner altogether untraditional. Encouraged by General Luigi Berta, Caprilli refined his ideas regarding cross-country riding. In 1894, Caprilli was appointed an instructor at Ror di Quinto, and later became an instructor at Pinerolo, the famous Italian cavalry school near Turin. For riding over fences or cross country, he altered traditional methods of equitation which were used throughout continental Europe. Instead, he devised his idea of the "forward seat. " By 1904, his theory of riding was officially adopted by the Italian Cavalry, and cavalry officers from throughout Europe came to Pinerolo to learn his methods.
Caprilli Believed the Horse Should Be Allowed Its
Natural Balance When Jumping
The horse should be allowed to jump according to its own
instincts and natural gaits. Caprilli advocated a system whereby
the rider's knees and thighs prevented the rider's seat from ever
contacting the back of the saddle. The knees and thighs were to
be kept in close to the saddle with heels down, toes up, and the
foot turned outwards. The genius of Caprilli's system lies in the
coordinated and sympathetic movements of man and horse. The
freedom of his method brought equitation to, quite literally,
spectacular heights in the twentieth century. Caprilli ranks
among the great innovators in the history of equestrian training.
1872 - Equine Animation Four Feet Off the Ground
In 1872 Eadweard Muybridge was working on a government-sponsored
photographic survey of the Pacific Coast. At the same time, a
controversy arose which involved one of the pioneer California
horse breeders, Governor Leland Stanford. Stanford had bet
someone $25,000 that when a horse is at a fast trot, all four of
its feet were off the ground. To prove his point, he contracted
Muybridge to make a photographic study documenting animal motion.
At an elaborately designed experiment station on Stanford's farm
(later site of Stanford University), Muybridge set up a series of
stereoscopic cameras connected to a timing apparatus which
electrically tripped the cameras' shutters at specific intervals
of time. Muybridge's photographs were then mounted in sequence on
a paper strip and viewed in a "Zoetrope," a forerunner
of the movie projector. Stanford won the bet, and Muybridge
continued his research into various forms of animal locomotion,
from crawling infants to elephants.
The twentieth century brought radical changes in the world of
the horse. With the steady rise of technology, the horse was
eclipsed by the internal combustion engine. In 1915, the horse
population in America peaked at over 21 million. Immense numbers
of horses were sent to the battlefields of Europe during World
War I. This export decreased America's horse population which
steadily declined until recently, when the horse entered new
arenas as a pleasure rather than work animal. Equine numbers now
continue to grow rapidly. Instead of being a beast of burden, the
modern horse enjoys a major role in recreation and organized
competition. Many breeds of horses are now being revived, and
systematic breeding is raising the quality of horses to heights
unknown in the past. The future promises a continued increase in
the world horse population. Perhaps the ultimate "Age of the
Horse" is, in fact, yet to come.
The Evolution of the Racing Sulky
The smooth gait of the trotting horse established its popularity
as a road horse many centuries ago. Man's competitive instinct
being what it is, trotters inevitably were raced against one
another by their owners. The sport of trotting has always enjoyed
a large following, particularly in the United States. Originally,
trotting matches were raced from the saddle. But greater use of
vehicles - due primarily to improved roads - put the racing
trotter between the shafts, and harness racing was born. The
vehicles used in harness racing were, in the early years, of two
types: the two-wheeled sulky and the wagon. Both of these
vehicles roughly corresponded to types of vehicles in every day
use, although they were greatly reduced in weight and simplicity
of construction. The greater speed available from the sulky
ultimately assured its role as the most favored vehicle in
harness racing. The racing sulky in the mid-nineteenth century
was what we now call a high-wheeled sulky. It had a straight iron
axle and had wheels which were about five feet in diameter,
therefore, positioning the driver high above the horse. These
early sulkies weighed about 100 pounds. Various innovations
throughout the 1800s reduced the weight of the sulky to about
half that. In 1878 the bent axle was introduced which allowed the
use of shorter shafts, since the horse's hind legs no longer
risked hitting the axle. This made for a more compact and
therefore stable vehicle, although the high-wheels still had a
notorious tendency to slew in turns. In 1892, a radical
innovation was made in sulky design which created the ancestor of
today's sulky by placing pneumatic-tired bicycle wheels on a
high-wheeled sulky frame. This ingenious move greatly increased
the potential speed of the trotter by lowering wind resistance
and by increasing stability: therefore the
"bike-sulky," as it was named, quickly replaced the
high-wheeler in harness racing. Subsequent innovations in
materials and design have brought the sulky to its current weight
of about 40 pounds.
1897 - 1916: Twentieth Century Harness Racing has
Known Many Celebrated Horses: Greyhound, Bret Hanover, Nevele
Pride; but Their Reputation Cannot Match the Astounding
Popularity of the Great Dan Patch
Dan Patch was bred in Indiana by a country storekeeper named Dan
Messner, Jr. The big, light bay colt was foaled in 1897. His sire
was the noted Joe Patchen and his dam was a $225 mare. Dan Patch
first raced on August 30, 1900, when he lost only one heat. In
1901, he was on the Grand Circuit and caught the eye of a
sportsman from Buffalo, New York, named M. E. Sturgis, who bought
him for $20,000. Driven by Myron McHenry, a famous driver of the
day, Dan Patch created a brilliant record losing only two heats
in 56 starts by July 1902. Again Dan Patch was sold, this time to
M.W. Savage of Minneapolis for $60,000. Savage owned a large
stock food company, and he restricted Dan Patch's schedule to
public exhibitions in which the big pacer would pit his speed
against the clock. In 1903 at Memphis, he paced a 1:56 1/4 mile
to sulky and on the same day did 1:57 1/4 to wagon. In 1904, Dan
Patch did a 1:56 mile, again at Memphis. At the Red Mile in
Lexington, he went an incredible 1:55 1/4 mile.
Dan Patch, Beloved Super Star
Dan Patch became a national celebrity. There was Dan Patch
smoking and chewing tobacco, a Dan Patch washing machine, even a
dance named the Dan Patch Two Step. He earned his owner $17,000 a
year in stud fees, and as much as $21,500 for a single
exhibition. In all, Savage's horse made him perhaps $3,000,000
richer. Dan Patch had his own private railway car to travel in,
and at home he lived in a huge barn that was so grand it was
called the "Taj Mahal." Savage, indeed, cherished his
champion pacer. Dan Patch died on July 11, 1916, and the next day
he was followed by his owner.