grab on the front shoes. Shoe the hind feet with a light 

 shoe with toe and heel calk, drive him as low headed as 

 possible even if you have to use a standing martingale, 

 bring him along slow, by degrees, for as it effects a change 

 of muscles it is something new to the horse and the more 

 time you take in bringing along trotting, the more you will 

 be perfecting the gait. Don't hurry matters. After a few 

 weeks he will have more growth of foot and can lower his 

 quarters and heels a little more giving his feet a longer 

 angle to leave the ground from. In converting a pacer to 

 trot, a four-inch toe is not too long on some horses, but on 

 yearlings and two-year-olds their feet will be shorter, but 

 the closer you get the angle of front and hind feet to 50 

 or 51 degrees with same length of toes hind and front, the 

 better, to confine him to the trot, and keep him trotting. In 

 some cases the angle needs to be 48 or 49 degrees in front, 

 and as near to that as you can get the hind feet. 



XXXI. CONVERTING A TROTTER TO 

 THE PACE. 



Shorten and lower the toes of all four feet, do not 

 touch the quarters or heels of front or hind feet. The 

 weight of the shoes will vary on different horses. On a 

 youngster I would put a five or six-ounce concaved shoe in 

 front, and about nine or ten ounces behind, with toe and 

 heel calk. On an older horse the weight at both front and 

 hind can be correspondingly heavier, about eight ounces 

 front and eleven or twelve ounces, with heel and toe calks 

 behind. Now when hitched ready to go for the first lesson, 

 check the head as high as the horse or colt can carry it 

 without causing pain and misery to the neck. If he paces 

 any, a half mile up to a mile and a half is enough for the 

 first three or four lessons. If he acts good do not let him 

 go too fast for the first week or ten days, you must take 

 two or three weeks before asking him to step. The angle 



-40- 



