PREFACE 



TF the author of this book were to say that he had 

 ■*■ been engaged in writing it, or at least in preparing 

 it, from his earliest childhood, there would be no exag- 

 geration in the statement, for he cannot remember the 

 time when he was not deeply interested in horses and 

 everything that relates to them. There is a great deal 

 of horse lore that does not find its way into print, but 

 can be gathered from the lips of long-experienced 

 grooms and hostlers, from stablekeepers, dealers, 

 farmers, and farriers, from fox-hunters, veterinary sur- 

 geons and trainers, and the author has never, he 

 trusts, neglected an opportunity to profit by their 

 suggestions. 



He is especially indebted to Dr. Frank J. Sullivan, 

 to his brother-in-law, George W. Harrington, and to 

 those experts in the science of horse-shoeing, Charles 

 A. McLellan and Gilbert Tompkins. 



But many, indeed most, of those horse-lovers with 

 whom the author has exchanged ideas have passed 

 away, and their faces rise before him as, not without 

 reluctance, he commits to the printer and the public 

 this work with which he has long been occupied. One 

 typical figure, especially, stands out in his recollection. 

 It is that of an old Irish groom, a small, but muscular, 

 trim-built man, with white hair, and well-cut features, 



[vii] 



