36 TRAINING THE TROTTING HORSE. 



I tried every knowa method of conversion Avith 

 Smuggler, and at times I despaired of ever teaching 

 him to trot. He Avas a pacer through and through. 

 First I shod him with an ordinary shoe, but had to in- 

 crease this again and again until he finally wore two 

 pounds on each front foot, his hind shoes being ordi- 

 nary five-ounce ones. It has been contended, I be- 

 lieve, that Smuggler was injured by carrying excessive 

 weight, and that is possibly true. He had the best of 

 feet, joints, cannons and tendons, and had it been 

 otherwise he might not have stood what seemed neces- 

 sary to be done. If the reader Avill follow me, after I 

 have done with my story-telling, into the discussions on 

 shoeing and weighting, he will discover that I am, on 

 principle, opposed to heavy shoes and " dead against " 

 weights. But all cases cannot be treated alike ; excep- 

 tional cases require exceptional treatment, and the case 

 of Smuggler certainly was an exceptional one. It 

 should be remembered that he was not the only horse 

 that carried such weight. Xettie, 2:18, carried ten 

 ounces more than Smuggler ever did, and so did the 

 little mares Lula, 2:15, and May Queen, 2:20. IS'one 

 of these could compare with Smuggler in muscular de- 

 velopment, and another thing greatly in his favor was 

 that he was a mature horse before the task was asked 

 of him. In many cases the end justifies the means, 

 and those who criticise the methods pursued with 

 Smuggler have in 2:15^ a stubborn obstacle to brush 

 away. 



As I have said, I tried every known method of 

 conversion with this horse. I tried the cross-strap 

 by which it is made impossible for a horse to pace; 



