386 LIFE V>'ITH THE TROTTERS. 



double harness have hi-n thoroughly tried in that manner. 

 I find that many horses that are pleasant to manage in sin- 

 gle harness do not always act as well when hitched double. 



In buying a horse for i^resent use, do not make the mis- 

 take of getting one that has been a fast horse, or one whose 

 owner says will in some future day be able to beat Maud S., 

 as in that case you are simply paying for his opinion and 

 not for the fact. The safest way is, I find, after thoroughly 

 trying the horse on the road as to his weight-pulling ability, 

 kindness, etc., to have the seller take him to some good 

 mile track, let him drive liim as fast as he can and you bold 

 your watch on him. Then pay for just what you have seen. 

 If you can not buy the horse on those terms you will be 

 better off without him, and will have the privilege of look- 

 ing farther. I have had some strange experiences in buying 

 horses, and this calls to mind an instance where an owner 

 of a trotter made a mistake of nearly a minute in the speed 

 of his horse, and when I proved it to him, he didn't seem 

 to think that it made any great difference. 



I was one day approached by a gentleman who asked me 

 if I would like to buy what was probably one of the greatest 

 trotters in the land. I told him I would. He went on to 

 say that he had a horse at his farm that was sound and all 

 right in every way, went without any boots or weights, and 

 tliut he would guarantee to show me with this horse a mile 

 in 2:20 by the watch. I had heard so many ghost stories 

 about horses that I generally divide the time stated by two, 

 but in this case the man's apxiearance and manners made 

 such a good impression on me that I arranged to go to his 

 country home, time the world-beater, and should he go in 

 2:20 and fill all the conditions, I was to give him for the 

 horse $7,500 in money. I had on my list of acquaintances 

 a very wealthy gentleman who was very anxious to own a 

 first-class trotter. When I told him the arrangement I had 

 made he was as much pleased as I was with my first drum, 

 and together we took a tedious railroad trij) to the home of 

 this going-to-be conqueror of Maud S., and on walking 



