CARE AND TRAINING OF TROTTERS AND PACERS. 



take and thrive. It stops his growth and muscular 

 development to strip him of his tiesh, for the growing 

 body, the maturing muscle and bone, need that nour- 

 ishment which is only afforded in a condition of 

 marked thriftiness. Only in this condition will the 

 colt be in good fettle and spirit, and capable of taking 

 his work with relish and being benefited by it. It 

 therefore behooves the trainer to watch constantly 

 that the colt does not go back in condition, for this 

 loss of condition may be at first almost impercept- 

 ible. It is all the better if the colt carries a fair de- 

 gree of flesh, which will not be of the soft kind with 

 the work here prescribed. Keep him in good, vig- 

 orous condition, so that he will perspire freely with 

 work, but leave heavy blankets, hoods, sweating and 

 scraping alone. 



"The first day's training in harness should be ad- 

 hered to without any increase for the first ten days 

 or so. From four to six brushes will be sufficient at 

 first, but in say, two weeks, it can be increased a lit- 

 tle. Don't increase the length of the brushes, but the 

 number and speed of them, but this increase must be 

 slow and gradual, according to the size and capacity 

 of the colt, and the relish he shows for the work. 



"It is a good plan to let the colt up for two or three 

 days, every three or four weeks, for a run out and a 

 rest. This will freshen him up, and these breaks in 

 the monotony will, if he is not overdone or harshly 

 worked be an effective preventive of track sickness 

 and staleness. After each little let up he will go to 

 work again with more keenness and vim. Barring 

 these rests, the colt's work will go on every day — 

 Sundays excepted — presuming that he has been kept 

 well and right. When he is two years old he will 

 take more work, but not a greatly increased distance. 

 I am not prepared to say that the length of the brush 

 should ever be increased to over a quarter of a mile. 

 We are now, mark you, working our colt for speed. 

 You will, no doubt, inquire how a horse can trot a 

 race without being worked mile heats. You cannot 

 cut much of a figure in a race without speed, and, 

 after you have developed speed sufficient to go a\vay 

 from home with, it will be time enough to condition 

 him to carry it. You must have the speed before you 



