VIII.— TRAINING EXPERIENCES 



It is a common saying that good horses make 

 good trainers, and what bad horses make — well, 

 the subject is too painful to contemplate. One 

 may have, for instance, a good horse or two with 

 bad legs ; they could win anything if it were 

 possible to train them ; but back tendons and 

 suspensory ligaments are a constant difficulty — 

 something is always going wrong with those 

 works, and the most drastic remedies are often 

 useless. It is then a trainer begins to tear his 

 hair, or what is left of it ; he is reckless as to 

 hirsute damages. His life would be a sort of 

 sporting elysium, with a winner here and there, 

 with wagers landed, if it were not for bad legs. 

 Not his own, bien entendu ; he may be person- 

 ally immaculate in that department, with calves 

 massive enough to excite the admiration of a 

 large number of foolish females ; but when the 

 " flyer " of his stable develops a " swinger " just 

 as he is being wound up to win a valuable stake 



87 



