12 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



horse has speed enough to make a racer, but lacks the 

 requisite courage and determination. " She was tried 

 a good mare, but never won anything," is a phrase 

 of frequent occurrence in William Day's reminiscen- 

 ces. There are cases in which thousands of dollars 

 have been spent for fast trotters that were afterward 

 sold for a few hundreds, simply because they were too 

 sluggish and faint-hearted to keep on after they be- 

 came tired. On the other hand, almost all the fastest 

 horses, the "record breakers," whether among racers 

 or trotters, have been remarkable for their nervous, 

 "high-strung" constitutions. The trainer of Sunol 

 (the California filly, who has a three-year-old record 

 of 2.10, and who at four years of age trotted a mile 

 upon a kite-shaped track in 2.0SJ), after describing 

 the great difficulty that he experienced in breaking 

 her, says : " Xot that 'she w T as actually vicious, but 

 she had and has a will, a temper, and a determina- 

 tion of her own, and at that time every individual 

 hair seemed to contain a nerve." 



Even among the best breeds of cart horses, such as 

 the Percherons and Clydesdales, the same quality is 

 not altogether wanting, and in general it distinguishes, 

 as I have said, the horse from all other dumb animals. 

 It follows, of course, that the horse is the most irri- 

 table of creatures, the most easilv worried and dis- 

 tressed. Little things, such as no other animal, man 

 included perhaps, would mind, annoy and exasperate 

 him. If, for example, you notice a row of express- 

 wagon horses backed up against the curbstone, you 

 will easily perceive that every horse there has his 

 temper permanently ruined by the frequent passing 

 of vehicles before him, thus obliging him to turn 



