360 LIFE WITH THE TROTTEES. 



I thoiiglit ailed her. I told him I was sure she was checked 

 in a manner that caused her to choke, and suggested that he 

 rest her twenty minutes and try again, which we did, when 

 I gave her a long check, made one or two other slight 

 changes in the harness, went out and drove her a mile in 

 about 2:24, and as she had never before beaten 2:29f, the 

 audience and Mr. Wilson were very much surprised. Some 

 of them were disposed to give me a great deal of credit for 

 my driving. Anyone could have driven the mare the same 

 mile, as she was very steady and it required no particular 

 skill to manage her. She simply wanted to be properly 

 harnessed. It is just as easy to choke a horse by checking 

 them too high and forcing the tongue back into the entrance 

 of the throat, as it would be in any other way. I have seen 

 one or two horses die in harness that I am sure were choked 

 to death. 



The bay gelding Wilson, owned by Mr. Z. E. Simmons, 

 sired by George Wilkes dam Miss Coons by Clarke Chief, 

 was a horse that took all his education at the hands of Gus 

 Glidden, who won a good many races with him and gave 

 him a record of 2:22. He was different in shape, disposition, 

 etc., from any other Wilkes I ever saw. The first race I 

 ever drove AYilson was in Chicago, and as there was a good 

 deal of talking and betting about this race, I will give a 

 slight sketch of it. 



At that time Mr. William Dunn of Cincinnati, a man 

 famous as having bred and o^vned Guy Wilkes and several 

 other valuable trotters, owned the gray gelding Joe Bunker, 

 another horse he bred, and had been trotting him with a 

 good deal of success. This year Bunker started in at Louis- 

 ville in the sirring, making an early campaign and winning 

 all his races, beating among others the stallion Director, 

 that at that time Johnny Goldsmith did not have keyed up 

 to a winning point, he having just brought him from Cali- 

 fornia. Bunker also defeated Overman, a horse owned at 

 one time by Orrin Hickok, and sired by St. Elmo, one of 

 Hickok's early performers. Joe Bunker came to the Chicago 



