BREEDING THE TROTTER 



AGED HORSES. 



I will give no advice on the care of aged race- 

 horses because that is a matter which should be 

 left to the horse's trainer. Aged horses will be 

 carried through the winter with jog work very 

 much the same as two-year-olds and three-year- 

 olds except that they should be jogged longer dis- 

 tances, say from four to seven miles, as mentioned 

 in connection with stallions. Right here I might 

 advise especial care being given a horse in its four- 

 year-old form. Very few horses are at their best 

 then, perhaps partly because of shedding more 

 teeth at that age than at any other time. One of 

 the most important things in caring for a horse is 

 to see that its teeth are well looked after. A com- 

 petent man should examine all of your horses once 

 a year, either in December or January. 



The colt that was not thought fast enough to 

 start in the futurities may, when it reaches five 

 years, be fast enough to race in stakes or classes, 

 in which event it may be expected to show con- 

 siderable promise in its four-year-old form and 

 should be given special preparation. This prepa- 

 ration, if correctly given, should leave the horse 

 clean and sound. It will have had considerable 

 fast work, even up to full miles, but it must not 

 be trained to death, and should have a lot of fast 

 miles left in it to use later on to get the money with. 



It is significant that only a small proportion of 

 the horses that have been trained with a view of 

 giving them fast trials in the fall previous to their 

 prospective Grand Circuit campaign have reached 



