RECOLLECTIONS OF MEN AND HORSES 



him to Jock Bowen of Boston, who drove him, on 

 June 29, 1872, a trial in 2.15^ the fastest mile ever 

 trotted up to that time. All these performances were 

 made after he was shod under my direction. If I 

 should be equally successful with Praytell, after the 

 experience of all these years, I ought to be abundantly 

 satisfied. It is true Joe Elliott got ' off,' to use a 

 horse phrase, after his great performance in Boston, 

 but when he was brought home he regained his great 

 speed, and I drove him on the road and on Fleetwood 

 Park for several years with great pleasure. 



" Now, as to Praytell, let me say that I have driven 

 him nearly every day, when the weather would per- 

 mit, since I purchased him. He is a model road 

 horse. The windgalls on his hind legs which pre- 

 vented my friend, Mr. Nathan Straus, the owner of 

 Cobwebs, from bidding on him have nearly disap- 

 peared. They were caused by his toes being too 

 long, and the outside of his off hind foot growing 

 faster than the inside, and the inside of the near 

 hind foot growing faster than the outside of that 

 foot. I have asked Mr. Straus to come to my stable 

 and see for himself the great improvement in Pray- 

 tell's ankles. Mr. Tanner, from whom I bought him, 

 has sent me a paragraph from a Cleveland paper, 

 in which it is stated that it is nearly a quarter of a 

 century since I bought Dexter, and refers to him and 

 other horses that I have owned as * so-called road 

 horses/ It is well known that, instead of nearly a 

 quarter of a century, it is over 31 years since I 

 bought Dexter, and that he proved to be a great road 

 horse. I could drive him anywhere and any place 

 where a horse could go. He could be driven down 

 the road, for instance, in a rain storm with one hand, 

 while an umbrella was held up with the other. Times 



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