148 LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 



through the middle of the season. His ajopetite was poor, 

 and he seemed nervous and irritable with strangers or at 

 noise of any kind. My first idea Avas to take him to Cali- 

 fornia, and winter him there, thinking the warm climate 

 and plenty of grass would be beneficial. I finally decided, 

 however, to take him to Chester Park, Cincinnati, my reason 

 for selecting that place being that I had been there the 

 previous winter with my horses and found it one of the 

 most comfortable places in winter there is in the northern 

 country. On reaching Cincinnati with Johnston, I called 

 in a veterinary, and had the horse examined. The doctor 

 23rescribed some gentle physics and tonics, and suggested 

 that he be turned out in a field of grass whenever the 

 weather permitted. I took off his shoes and started on this 

 treatment immediately. It was quite a Avhile before John- 

 ston showed any improvement in his condition or ai)petite, 

 but after being on the grass about thirty days, I saw a slight 

 improvement. The veterinary still continued his tonic treat- 

 ment and gave him some more medicine for his blood, which 

 he decided was out of order, from the effects of his last year' s 

 illness. About the first of January the horse commenced to 

 put on fiesli. I had a large paddock built for him, and every 

 day, unless there was a storm, gave him a run of about thirty 

 minutes in it. By this time he had got to be a good-feeling 

 horse and took a great deal of exercise. His appetite kept 

 increasing and I gradually added to his allowance of food. 

 Up to this time I kept him in a comfortable stall with plenty 

 of bedding and moderate clothing. If the thermometer fell 

 I increased his clothing, and immediately reduced it when 

 the weather moderated. 



About this time we had a good fall of snow and I had 

 a boy lead Johnston, by the side of a saddle horse two or 

 three miles on the track every day. I kept his feet nicely 

 rounded off, but had no shoes on him. I followed this treat- 

 ment until the first of March, by which time he had grown 

 and filled out into a very handsome horse, and weighed a 

 hundred jjounds more than he did in the fall of the year. 



