216 TRAINING THE TROTTING HORSE. 



He is now a yearling past — it is the early summer of 

 his second year — and all the preliminary lessons hav- 

 ino" been learned while he was at the same time takinoc 

 his regular work on the miniature track, the time has 

 arrived when his regular track work will begin. But 

 before you begin you will do well to know just what 

 you want to do. Do you want to trot him as a year- 

 ling ? or do you propose to go easy, give him a gradual 

 and safe education, and not start him until the fall he 

 is two 3^ears old, or perhaps not until he is three? 

 Map out your programme so that you can work intelli- 

 gently. Knowing what you are going to do and pre- 

 paring to do it is half the battle. There are a great 

 many Wilkins Micawbers handling horses, who are 

 always waiting for something to turn up, and who 

 think they are always ready for it, when in fact they 

 are never ready for anything. The sailor who sails by 

 chart and compass and ahvays has in mind the course 

 he is steering and the port for which he is bound, will 

 make a better trip than the one who is drifting with 

 the current and waiting for a favoring wind or tide. 

 The famous recipe for cooking the hare began right : 

 "First catch your hare." So at the beginning of train- 

 your colt in earnest, make up your mind what you are 

 going to do before you try to do it. If you are " lay- 

 ing for " a two-year-old stake work him with an eye to 

 that stake, and don't be distracted from your purpose 

 by the little things that come along in the meantime. 

 I^eep your eye on that stake, and in the immortal 

 words of an American philosopher "Say nothing but 

 saw wood." In short, adopt a programme and stick 

 to it. 



