170 LIFE WITH THE TIIOTTEUS. 



a very small percentage of the great number of races that 

 she took part in, always being in the thickest of the fight, 

 and I think, with the exception of once or twice, getting 

 some share of the purse. She wore no boots of any kind, 

 and paced all her races with an eight ounce shoe in front 

 and five ounces behind. I wore leather pads on her all 

 around, had a bar-shoe on in front, with calks at the toe 

 and heel. I know it is rather unusual, either with a trotter 

 or pacer, to use calks, but I have done it with a number of 

 horses, with success. Mattie's feet had been neglected in 

 her early life, had gotten out of shape and were very much 

 bruised, she having what people term corns, but which are 

 neither more nor less than severe bruises, on the heel. When 

 you .shoe a horse with a very light shoe, without any leather 

 or other protection, and drive him over a track as hard as 

 they have them nowadays, the result is almost sure to be 

 that the horse' s feet will become more or less bruised and 

 very much inflamed. I think that a small calk helps to 

 break the concussion, and for that reason I have often used 

 them. I drove Mattie with an open bridle, long martingales, 

 and an easy over-check and check bit. She drove very 

 straight, never pulled, and never wanted to break. After 

 her turf career Mr. Emory put Mattie to breeding. He 

 mated her with strictly trotting-bred horses. I have watched 

 all her colts with a good deal of interest, and have never 

 seen any one of them strike a pace under any circumstances, 

 but, on the contrary, every one of them trotted naturally, 

 right from the start, without shoes or weight of any kind. 

 Mattie herself had a nice, open gait at the trot, and I have 

 sometimes seen her strike at least a three -minute gait at 

 that way of going. I always felt that, if she had been 

 weighted and trained to trot, she would certainly have gone 

 very fast, and I jDredict that some of her colts will prove 

 winners at that gait, and, in fact, one of them has already 

 done so, as her daughter, Mattie Mentone, as a two-year- 

 old, in 1887, captured a stake and beat 2:40. 



One other pacer I had that had a good deal of speed, but 



