232 TRAINING THE TROTTING HORSE. 



opinion tljat when the record of Maud S. was broken 

 it would not be by a horse that beat the world's 

 record at two or three ^^ears old. T cannot agree with 

 Mr. Browne on that point; buc, even if his opinion 

 Avere right, it would not be a point against earh^ train- 

 ing, but rather, against asking a great effort of an im- 

 mature horse. If I owned a yearling that I knew had 

 in him the making of a world-beater, and if I did not 

 want to trot him in public until he was fully matured, 

 I would work him from his yearling form up, and 

 would feel sure that he would ultimateh^ be a greater 

 horse than if he was allowed to grow up loose and un- 

 educated until four or five 3^ears of age. Another fact 

 is that horses in trainino^ are more carefully watched 

 as regards health, and are generally under better hy- 

 gienic conditions than those that grow up rough and 

 untutored. Then again, with the latter, their tempers 

 may develop in the wrong direction ; the}^ are not used 

 to control, and they resent it, becoming so strong- 

 headed that they ma}^ be phj^sically as well as men- 

 tally ruined in breaking. A case in point : After 

 Capt. Smith had gone a mile for me in 2:21 at four 

 years old and the gelding Clay had shown great speed, 

 I began to try to Avork a mare we had out of the same 

 dam — Maid of Clay. At four years old this mare was 

 unbroken, and we had to lariat her to catch her. She 

 would kick, bite and fight whenever we tried to do 

 anything with her ; but after long and patient work I 

 got her to drive double and single prett}^ well, and she 

 acted like a trotter. One day I took her to a tem- 

 porary blacksmith-shoj) to have her shod. Between 

 two posts there was fastened, about four and a half 



