LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 321 



of them in a manner to make them hit him. Toomey & Co. 

 made for me a forty-pound sulky strong enough to drive 

 any ordinary horse to. In ordering a sulky tell your maker 

 the size of your horse, the j)eculiarities of his gait, if any, 

 how tall you are yourself, which will give him an opi^or- 

 tunity to build you a sulky that will be comfortable for you 

 and the horse. In sitting in your sulky you want your 

 stirrups long enough to give you an easy x)osition. If you 

 have your stirrups short it cram]3s your body and limbs in 

 such a manner as to make it hard work for you, and if the 

 horse pulls the least bit, you are at a disadvantage. Never 

 throw your weight on one side or the other of the vehicle; 

 distribute it as evenly as possible over the whole. Never 

 use a sulky after it gets old and worn out, as it draws hard 

 and you are liable to meet with an accident which will cost 

 you both your life and money. 



In training horses, always have some fixed plans or rules 

 and train them according to those rules until you are satis- 

 tied you have found out some better ones. Never train him 

 in a haphazard way, as you will find that horses are like 

 men, creatures of habit to a large extent. The old-fashioned 

 idea of guessing how fast you are going has gone out of 

 date. I train my horses with a watch; it is a good thing for 

 the horse aiid the driver too. It teaches the driver to be a 

 good judge of pace, which is a very essential thing in a race 

 and a very vital point if you ever have Maud S., and want 

 to beat the watch. Don't be satisfied with any cheap watch 

 or timer; go to some first-class maker like Giles Bros., of 

 Chicago, tell them what you want and what you want to use 

 it for, and they will furnish you with something that will 

 help yoii train your horse right to the letter. When I decide 

 just what work I want my horse to have, I go about it with 

 just as much care and attention as if I was going to drive in 

 a race for money. Never allow yourself under any circum- 

 stance to become careless. Remember that you not only 

 want to train your horse, but you also want to keep your- 

 self on edge. In these times when you have to contend with 



