LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 301 



I often think, cuts a very important figure. I am sure that 

 not one man in a hundred driving a trotter ever realizes 

 liow hard he pulls the horse. A good way to find that out 

 is for a man to step into some gymnasium where they 

 have a pulling machine and j)ull against it about as hard as 

 he does a horse in a race, and in that way, if he is in the 

 habit of i)ulling his horse hard, he may learn something 

 that Avill be to his advantage. I drive all my horses with 

 holders on the reins, and I think no man should ever drive 

 in a race without them. A great many say: " Why, if your 

 horse doesn t pull, do you use holders ? ' ' For the reason 

 that I can drive a horse easier to myself and him also with 

 holders than I can without. If you drive the horse without 

 holders you will have to grasp your hands so closely about 

 the reins that it will stop the circulation so that before you 

 have gone a half-mile you will have to change the x)osition 

 of your hands; then if the horse makes a break you are 

 obliged to take a wrap on the reins before you can catch 

 him. You do not have to pull a horse any harder with 

 holders than is necessary, and if it comes to a desperate 

 finish where he makes a break the advantage is all on 

 your side instead of his. In working your horse, alvfays 

 try to see how little you can possibly pull him, as it will 

 help make him a better race-horse and you a much better 

 driver. 



In the training of a horse to bring him to his highest state 

 of condition what he eats and drinks cuts a very important 

 figure. There are some horses that from one cause or 

 another, Mill not eat enough to stand the severe x)repara- 

 tion, but as a rule I think most horses eat too much. I 

 think eating gets to be a habit with some of them, and a 

 bad habit at that. If a horse is inclined to be "washy," 

 sweat freely and lose his flesh, that horse, I think, needs 

 more feed than one of the opposite disposition. While 

 Rarus was a delicate-looking horse and people often asked 

 me if he was a good feeder, he Avas the greatest feeder for a 

 race-horse I ever saw. Through all his severe campaigns 



