378 LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 



from three minutes to 2:08|, and a first-class road horse 

 to-day will command a greater price for that use than he 

 will for track purposes. Another reason why the trotter is 

 bound to succeed is that foreign countries are commencing to 

 buy from our market, and as there is no other country in the 

 world that can at present compete with America it looks as 

 though in the matter of trotting horses we should certainly 

 have the call for along time to come. One can hardly realize 

 the amount of money that has been paid for trotting horses 

 that are used by gentlemen on the road. In a great many 

 cities and towns there are either tracks or roadways arranged 

 expressly for this kind of travel. In New York City there 

 are whole families from the father to the youngest son each 

 of whom has his own private turnout of trotters and light 

 wagons, and drives them with as much regularity as he 

 looks after his business. 



In Commodore Vanderbilt's day that gentleman drove 

 his trotters with as much regularity as it was possible for a 

 man to look after any department of his business life. He 

 had good ones, and occasionally sent them out to take a 

 whirl on the turf, but as a rule confined himself entirely to 

 road driving. He thought a great deal of trotters as a 

 medium of amusement, so much so, that he gave his minis- 

 ter, the Rev. Dr. Corry, a man whom he was very fond 

 of, a X)air, and I have often seen the Commodore and the 

 preacher having a brush together down the road, and they 

 appeared to enjoy it wonderfully. His sons had the same 

 love for the trotter, and William H. was considered a good 

 judge of a trotting horse, and a first-class road driver. 

 When he owned Maud S., he was not averse to having her 

 appear in public, which she often did, and he must have 

 enjoyed it, as I have known him to take very long trips to 

 see her perform. The Bonner family, father and sons, have 

 been regular road riders as long as I can remember, and 

 while the boys are not quite as well known to the public as 

 their father, they love a horse just as well, are good judges 

 of them, and I never saw one of them that could not drive a 



