LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 325 



his utmost capacitj^, no matter how game he is, it will have 

 a tendency to discourage him, and when you want him he 

 will fail to give you his best efforts. Keex) a little siDeed 

 bottled up in him, never let him know just how fast he can 

 go, and when it comes to a case where you need it he will 

 make a better effort for you than he otherwise would. 



After you have given your horse all the working miles 

 you think it is necessary for him to have and you are think- 

 ing about getting him ready to enter in races, my idea is to 

 give him all his fast work then in the form of a race — that is 

 to set a day, have your track and everything put in order, 

 make up your mind about what you want to do with him, 

 how many miles he ought to have and how fast he ought to 

 go, whether you want to score him or not, etc. My advice 

 is to always score a horse; that is the first thing you have to 

 do when you go in a race, and if you do not teach him that 

 in his work, you are at a disadvantage when you start in a 

 race. If you have ahorse that has any weakness in his legs, 

 instead of driving that animal at a high rate of speed to 

 condition him drive him slower and farther, or to explain 

 it, instead of driving him one mile in 2:30, drive him a two- 

 mile lieat in 5:20, that would be each mile in 2:40, which 

 would condition his body and help to strengthen his \veak 

 legs, where a mile in 2:30 might strain the legs and retard 

 his training. It is not the distance that a horse goes that 

 tires or strains him; it is the high rate of speed. When you 

 have decided how fast a mile to give your horse and how 

 fast he ought to be sent each quarter of it, then drive him 

 there and take pains to see how close to the mark you can 

 go each time. I have seen men go out and drive a horse 

 five or six seconds faster than they intended to. If I sent a 

 man out to drive one of my horses and he should make such 

 a mistake as that he would lose his position. I might for- 

 give him for driving his horse too slow, but never for going 

 too fast. In being careful in training your horse not only 

 will the horse do well but you will make a very much better 

 driver of yourself. 



