208 PETERSBURG IN WINTER 



Starr, who is a correspondent to one of the American sport- 

 ing papers, writes strongly on the subject, and characterises 

 this system of protection as merely encouragement to in- 

 competent Russian drivers. 



It o-ave me great pleasure while I was in Petersburg 



O O 5 



to meet Mr. Caton, the American trainer ; for he is a man 

 full of original ideas, and has had a long and very intimate 

 experience among horses. I was in his company one 

 evening with some other American trotting men, when the 

 subject of hard pulling came under discussion. One man 

 recommended one bit, and another another bit, while I kept 

 waiting for someone to give vent to the idiotic remark that 

 there's a key to every horse's mouth. At last Mr. Caton 

 came to the rescue of my feelings by explaining that pulling 

 was a fault in the brain of the animal and not in its mouth. 

 He gave an instance of a wise horseowner in New York, 

 who, whenever he got a bad puller, straightway sent him off 

 to tram work, which soon taught him the error of his ways. 

 The same thing, I might have chimed in, occurs with London 

 cab horses and Leicestershire hunters. As these animals 

 when at work never know when they are to go home, they 

 soon stop pulling, if they are that way inclined, provided of 

 course that the man on their back rewards their obedience 

 by marks of approval. I can easily understand how Mr. 

 Caton happens to be the best trainer and driver that has 

 ever been in Russia. As no horse can be properly trained, 

 driven or ridden in exactly the same manner as any other 

 horse, it follows that to be a fine horseman one must think 

 for one's self. 



The trotting at St. Petersburg is a very slow affair ; 

 because all the races are against time, on account of the 

 course being too small to admit of the field being started 

 together or even in heats. Each competitor therefore starts 

 himself by brea.king a piece of thin string that, is stretched 



