CONVERTING SMUGGLER. 37 



I tried the plan of placing rails on the ground at such 

 intervals as would compel the horse to put his feet 

 down in the diagonal order ; tried weighting in every 

 way, and all availed nothing. Finally, by a sort 

 of inspiration, I struck on a plan which perhaps 

 found its first growth in the knowledge that a horse 

 cannot turn short at the pace. I would start him 

 up slowly and rather suddenly throw him off to one 

 side at a pretty sharp angle, compelling him to change 

 his gait, and the new gait he would keep for a 

 few steps. As soon as he came back to the pace I 

 would swing him off sideways again. Of course this 

 was virtually driving around in a small circle, until he 

 began to go a considerable distance trotting. At each 

 time he would remain at the trot a little longer, and 

 after the long, tedious and discouraging experimenting 

 the reader may well understand how glad and encour- 

 aged I was when one day, after going around in a 

 circle for eleven times, Smuggler struck a trot and 

 kept it up for a quarter of a mile. Before this I had 

 unsuccessfully worked with him for twenty-eight days. 

 The third day after this evidence of a change of heart 

 he went a full mile, trotting, in 4:20, and two days 

 later did a little better, trotting the mile in 4:00. The 

 seventh day after showing his first inchnation to trot 

 he showed a mile in 2:59, and the rapidity of his im- 

 provement is shown by the fact that on the thirteenth 

 day he trotted the mile in 2:41-1 ; the twenty -first day 

 he worked three heats in 2:48^, 2:38^ and 2:32, and 

 the twenty-eighth day miles in 2:32^ 2:30^. This 

 ended the work for that season, and during the winter 

 Smuggler suffered from an attack of epizootic. He 



