HIRAM WOODRUFF. xix 



But HIRAM WOODRUFF brought something more tc fcis vocation 

 than a mere intuitive perception of the new principles by which 

 the trotter was to be improved. He brought a generous, cheerful, 

 kindly nature ; and his faculties were insensibly buoyed and sus- 

 tained by that invariable accompaniment of true genius, a good 

 heart. He had, moreover, one of those happy dispositions of 

 mixed simplicity and candor, which commands at once the confi- 

 dence of men, and which, when its influences are applied to the 

 secondary animals, fascinates and subjects them completely to the 

 owner's will. There is nothing which recognizes the subtle in- 

 stincts of affection so quickly, and which knows them so unmis- 

 takably, as a horse ; and much of HIRAM'S facility of communica- 

 ting his purpose to the animal he rode or drove or trained pro* 

 ceeded from his power of making it love him. Like RAREY, his 

 doctrine was kindness ; and, when he walked through his stables, 

 the undoubted accord which he had established with its glossy in- 

 mates was at once evinced by the low whinnies of welcome which 

 would greet his kindly presence as he went from stall to stall. 

 They knew him for the friend who mixed among them, almost as 

 if he were an equal, and who never ceased to talk to them as if 

 they were his equals when he took them out for their exercise, or 

 even when he encouraged them during the strife of the arena. 

 What would they not do for that man, which he could make them 

 understand ? and how could they fail to know his wish, when, in- 

 spiring them with his chirrup, and shaking the bit in their mouths, 

 he " lifted " them, as it were, and sent them whirling with an unknown 

 velocity along the course ? Perhaps Flora Temple was the most 

 remarkable instance of the great horseman's conquest over animal 

 affection during his career. She loved him with an unmistakable 

 cordiality ; and when he and she were engaged in some of their 

 most notable struggles, the man and horse seemed to be but parts 

 of the same creature, animated by the fury of a common purpose. 

 Many drivers have been heard to wonder how it was that HIRAM 

 obtained such a mysterious mastery over his horses on all occa- 

 sions ; but the secret was, that he gained their confidence through 

 their affections ; and, after that, every thing was easy. The reason 

 why women so easily fascinate a horse is because of the tenderness 

 of their approach ; and, so far as gentleness went, HIRAM WOOD- 

 RUFF had the nature of a woman. 



Commanding the horse, therefore, to the absolute extent he did, 



