148 ORANGE COUNTY 



AN EDITOR'S TROTTERS. 



Robert Banner's Stables. His latest purchases. Gossip ^dowt 

 famous Ifoadstera. 



There is a widespread passion in America for the ownership of trotMng 

 horses, and in this respect Mr. Bonner, the editor of the New York Ledger, 

 is unusually fortunate. The perfection of his stables is a matter of na- 

 tional comment, for, with beauty of architecture, they combine every 

 requisite for the health and comfort of the horses. The ventilation and 

 drainage are excellent. Every stall has a false floor, through which all 

 refuse passes to a sub-floor of cement, whence it Is carried into the sew- 

 ers. The floor on which the horse stands is perfectly level, thus avoid- 

 ing that straining of the tendons of the legs consequent upon the stand- 

 Ing on an inclined surface. The sides of the boxes are of smooth wood- 

 en panels, which present no hold for the horse to seize with his teeth, and 

 thus prevents his acquiring the habits of biting and " cribbing." The par- 

 titions are carried high enough to prevent the horses from annoying each 

 other; the doors are or ornamental iron work, and around the building, 

 outside, is a tan-bark walk for exercising thp horses in bad weather. Ev- 

 ery appliance that could possibly reduce labor and Improve the condition 

 of the horses has been adopted. 



The first horse the visitor inquires for is Dexter, undoubtedly the high- 

 est type of the American trotter. He is a brown horse, with white legs, 

 stands 15^ hands high, and is 13 years old. His head and neck are finely 

 formed, his eyes brilliant, his shoulders well placed, his legs and feet 



