CHAPTER XII. 



TIPS FOR TROTTERS. 



This Method Growing in Favor — Diseased Feet Cured 

 by the New Method — The Simpson Tip — Toe 

 Weights and Tip Combined. 



Among- the problems which have engaged the attention 

 of horsemen the world over is how hest to protect the equine 

 foot, and at the same time interfere in the least possible 

 way with the natural condition of that valuable member. 

 In America, where the harness horse has been brought 

 nearer to perfection in grit and speed than anywherie else, 

 the subject of shoeing has been carefully studied, and, as a 

 result, many of the difficulties arising from old-time methods 

 have been sticcessfull}^ overcome. From the heavy draught 

 horse to the fast roadster or racing trotter, there has been 

 a general improvement in the fashioning and appliance of 

 footgear, so that to-day there is a vast difference between 

 the crude mass of iron used by the Arabs and Moors in the 

 middle ages and the neatl}^ turned pieces of steel or iron 

 forged by the expert horseshoers of the United States. 



Since races came in vogue the care of the animal's foot 

 has been more closel}^ studied than when the horse was sim- 

 ply a beast of burden, and the famous drivers of the last 

 quarter of a centur^^ have achieved much of their success by 

 giving special attention to shoeing the flj^ers they trained 

 and drove. The late Dan Mace, whose pre-eminence as a 

 reinsman earned him the soubriquet of the Wizard of the 

 Sulkey, was one of the first professional drivers to make a 



