AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 



It was not my good fortune to have been born in a palace, nor with 

 a "gold spoon in my mouth," but in a humble log cabin on a farm in the 

 forest, one mile south of Palestine, Shelby county, Ohio, November 7th, 

 1837. My baby cradle was a sugar (sap) trough, and my advantages 

 were such as nature furnishes in the timber. School sessions were of 

 short duration and the teachers of the "beach-gad" order. My parental 

 grand parents emigrated from near White Hall, Baltimore county, Mary- 

 land, about 1810, to Ohio, and my maternal grand parents came from 

 Vermont. My association with and attachment for the horse, began 

 very early in life. Father being a stock dealer in horses, cattle, sheep 

 and hogs, I frequently accompanied him in gathering and taking his" 

 purchases to market. 



I remained upon the farm until twenty-five years of age, when I stud- 

 ied medicine and dentistry ai-id practiced the latter for nearly a quarter 

 of a century, but during all the time, was never without from one, to 

 Over one hundred head of horses. With the exception of about five 

 years of all time, I have been closely connected with the farm, in breed- 

 ing horses, cattle and hogs, but principally the first, as my interest nat- 

 urally centered on the horse. 



During 1887 I was prevailed upon to aid in the establishment of Min- 

 nesota Farmers' Institutes, with which I have been connected ever since. 

 My first work in this respect was in representing the horse interests on 

 the institute platform, in relation to breeding and educating the horse. 

 And as our work was new to the people, more or less prejudice ex- 

 isted against it. I volunteerd to handle any unbroken horse during the 

 noon hour to show the intelligence of the horse and how much could 

 be taught him in one hour. Out of one hundred and fifty-three horses 

 handled in this way, but one was made warm enough to sweat. The 

 streets during these exhibitions were generally crowded with the people 

 of the town and country to see what they pleased to term "the fun," but 

 they were often disappointed in this respect, as it was the invariable rule 

 to first gain the confidence of the horse, and the balance was so easy 

 that there was but little or no excitement about it. 



Much of my life lias been spent in studying breeding questions and 

 the means, and especially the methods of controling our horses in ac- 

 cordance with the natural laws governing their actions, with a view of 

 aiding owners and handlers in getting along with their horses with the 

 least trouble and punishment, as well as to relieve the faithful horse of 

 much suffering from abuse. 



