230 TRAINING THE TROTTING HORSE. 



replace it by a new shoe, if the colt is going well, have 

 the new shoe made, not the weight the old one Avas 

 when it was new, but the weight it now is after being 

 reduced by wear. All the young stars of 1S89 — Sunol, 

 Axtell, Lillian Wilkes, Margaret S. and Regal Wilkes — 

 carried light shoes. When horses were not born 

 trotters, but were made to trot artificially, balancing 

 by great weight was, in some cases, necessary — but 

 now our j^oungsters are bred to trot, are foaled natu- 

 rally-balanced trotters, and the nearer we keep to nature 

 the better. Other things being equal, the horse that 

 carries the least weight will stay better, go faster and 

 remain sounder than the weight carriers. It is a point 

 the importance of which cannot be well overrated, 

 and now, when you are handling your two-j^ear old, 

 it is well to keep these facts in clear and constant 

 view. 



I am sometimes asked if, in the case of colts that are 

 not intended to start until they are three or four years 

 old, it would not be better to let them run out as year- 

 lings and two-year-olds, to grow up in their free and 

 natural way, and take just what exercise they like. 

 This is a very pretty theory, but it is not found true in 

 practice. I have already referred to the benefits of 

 early work, but just at the time of which we are now 

 writing, when you are working the tw 0-3^ ear-old, 

 another word may be in place. You may not intend 

 to start your colt early, and in reading these observa- 

 tions on training you may think that Marvin is only 

 writing for the benefit of men who want early records. 

 That would be a wrong conclusion. I have already 

 explained that the amount of work will vary according 



