DEVELOP SPEED IN HORSES. 4o 



Trotting Association, you will find is one of the require- 

 ments. You will now attend to the wants of your horse. 

 Slip him out of the sulky, slip off the harness, and cover 

 him up so as to insure a scrape; pull off the boots and 

 have a set of wet bandages (not cold) and do up his legs 

 immediately. Shower some water, with a sponge, on his 

 poll and forehead, sponge out his mouth and move him 

 until you get a scrape, when you can proceed to dry him 

 out some with the rubbers. You will have ample time 

 without any need of hurry or confusion, to get your horse 

 ready for the next heat, as you will have twenty minutes 

 any way, and if two races are sandwiched, you will have 

 half an hour. A few sweet apples are the finest thing 

 you can have to give him while he is walking — two or 

 three between the heats — and a little wisp of hay. You 

 can give him a couple of swallows of water and sponge 

 out his mouth the last thing after having hitched up for 

 the next heat. 



You must pay attention to his legs and see that the 

 boots have not chafed him. The wash you have must be 

 used on his legs, and can be used over his shoulders and 

 loins when you strip those parts to scrape him. You 

 will cool out in the open air, and in the warm season of 

 the year there is very little danger of his getting chilly; 

 the sun will not hurt him unless he is very much fatigued, 

 in which case you may walk in the shade. 



This is the general way of conducting a race, and you 

 will by this time have accumulated considerable experi- 

 ence of your own. If your horse is strong in his legs 

 and not very much fatigued by the heat he has trotted, 

 there may be no real necessity for bandages, but they 

 will do no harm, are put on in a moment, and may be of 

 service ; and if weak in any of his legs they are positively 

 necessary. Before you put the boots back onto him 

 brush all the sand out of them and scrape off with a knife 

 any accumulation of sweat that will come in contact 

 with the skin. A boot that chafes a horse may make 

 him unsteady and flighty, and practically defeat every 

 other effort you have made to win the race. 



