186 APPENDIX. 



CHAPTEE II. 



SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS RESPECTING PACERS. 



In the original edition of this work I omitted an item 

 that is very important to a man who attempts to handle 

 pacers that are not confirmed in their gait, and that 

 will change legs in front, putting one foot ahead first, 

 and after going a short distance change and put the 

 other one forward, out of its turn, and change almost 

 immediately the hind legs to correspond with the 

 motion in front ; or change and trot or rack, or foxtrot. 

 All this is very annoying and very difficult to overcome, 

 and will generally exhibit itself in double-gaited horses 

 that have been "saddled" some, or that some one has 

 attempted to convert to trotting. To overcome this 

 trouble, in the first place, see that the horse is shod as 

 near right as possible, and that he is not soro or tender 

 in his feet or tendons, which, would make him unsteady 

 in his gait. After getting him balanced up with ten 

 or twelve-ounce shoes in front, and six to eight-ounce 

 shoes behind, commence to jog him slowly two or three 

 davs, and see if he will not go square at a slow gait, 

 which he may do. But compel him, (after you are sat- 

 isfied he will not go square) by wearing on him a set 

 of pacinsj hopples, which will compel him to pace and 

 do nothing else. The hopples will not interfere with 

 him in any way, and a horse can pace a mile in 2.12 

 with a set of hopples on, if he has got that amount of 

 speed. 



The hopples you will expect some information about, 

 so I will describe them to you : They are the same as 

 used on trotters, only applied differently. You hopple 

 the front and hind leg together on the same side, instead 

 of crossing them as in case of a trotter, you would like 

 to square. You can take up the strap that connects 

 the front and hind leg together, so the horse c^in just 



