EARLY EDUCATION. 231 



to when you intend to start him, but even if you don't 

 propose to do so until he is seven years old, to secure 

 the best results you will find that worlv at an early age 

 will be necessary. As previously remarked, the colt 

 ofrows better and harder under the athletic trainino^ we 

 have recommended. The lungs will develop with the 

 muscles, and even the legs will attain a harder, cleaner 

 substance. I believe it to be a scientific truth that the 

 physical development of animals is modified by the use 

 or exercise to which they are subjected during the 

 period of growth. The boy who practices writing 

 early has the advantage over a man who starts in late 

 in life in more than the purely mental ground. The 

 muscles that "push" tlie pen grow to better answer 

 that requirement than if they receive no ti*ainiug until 

 their growth is done. The boy who aims to shine, say, 

 as an acrobat, will reach a higher point if he begins 

 his training young, for the physical structure will 

 during growtli accommodate itself to the training, 

 those muscles most brought into play increasing in 

 bulk as well as in strength and tone, until the ease and 

 deftness of the physical machine in a certain direction 

 renders that order of exercise ^' a mechanical mode of 

 life," or as we more commonly say it, second nature. 

 Therefore it seems so clear to me that intelligently 

 directed exercise, such as moderate training on the 

 track, is superior to the impulsive, purposeless, and 

 often violent exercise taken by a loose and untrained 

 colt, that I cannot but wonder that there are those 

 who do not see it. Some time ago Mr. S. A. Browne, 

 the prominent Michigan breeder, who once owned 

 Bell Boy, expressed, if I rememb^^ aright, the 



