316 LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 



to her and J. Q., the rest of their opponents having gone to 

 the hospital. Neither one of them was at an edge, being sore, 

 stale and short of speed. The public made J. Q. favorite 

 over the field. He broke and acted badly in the first heat, 

 but after that they fought it out, and it took all the aftei'- 

 noon to decide the race and in the last heat, after Sparkle 

 had been driven to the best of my ability from start to finish, 

 she did not beat the gelding over a head. This is the last 

 race Sparkle e^'er won for me. At Hartford Arab beat her 

 a five-heat race, and from there she was sent to winter quar- 

 ters. While this mare was not born in the purple, nor 

 fashionably bred, she proved to everyone by this campaign 

 that she had all the qualities that go to make up the first- 

 class race-horse. She was about sixteen hands high, a veiy 

 handsome upheaded mare, very steady, a first- class breaker, 

 and I drove her with an open bridle, long martingales and 

 an easy bit. 



The best time to commence to get a horse ready for the 

 summer campaign is the previous fall. After a horse has 

 closed a long and tedious spell of training if you expect to' 

 trot him the next year you do not want to neglect him 

 through the fall and winter. If you bring him home poor 

 in flesh, worn out in his nervous organization, more or less 

 sore and tired, pull the harness oil him, get a cheap boy 

 who doesn' t know or care anything to take care of him, and 

 leave him in that condition until spring, and then have a 

 good horse I shall be mistaken. My idea is to give the 

 trotter a short run at grass through the j^leasant days in 

 fall, take him up every night, give him just as good a bed 

 and just as much attention as you would through the sum- 

 mer, and give him what grain you think he ought to have. 

 If he has any weak or sore j^laces call in the veterinary and 

 try and get them strong and well before spring. Now is 

 the time to look after his feet. In the winter a horse's 

 feet will not grow as well as in summer, so you may have 

 to use some extra exertion in that direction. In regard to 

 the amount of flesh a horse should be allowed to put on in 



