Tom Bass and Miss Rex

in an animated and powerful medium trot. The sweettempered Miss Rex carried Bass to numerous championships, and her spectacular wins at the 1893 Chicago Exposition—in both high school and five-gaited competition—kickstarted his career as showman, trainer and breeder. Horse shows in the Gay Nineties normally included classes for “high schooled” horses, the style being influenced very little by Germany but greatly by the French school of François Baucher, whose numerous students in 19th century America were popular riding instructors. High-schooled horses were ridden to music, which at the bigger shows was provided by a live orchestra. Riders choreographed individual programs; there were no “tests” or required movements, but no competitor could hope to win if he or she did not exhibit correct collection, smooth transitions and numerous changes of tempo. They performed figures, passage, half-pass, Spanish Walk, Spanish Trot, sequence changes of lead, bows and either a pesade or high rear. Sometimes “tricks” performed on a circus platform or drum were added, i.e., “The End of the Trail” or “Salute the Crowd.” The lovely Miss Rex could not canter or trot backward (Tom Bass had two other horses, the gelding Columbus and the mare Belle Beach, who could), but she won thanks to an elegant combination of great power, deep obedience and as Bass chronicler Bill Downey puts it, “the lightest step anyone ever saw.”