LOU DILLON 23 



town I went to a market and bought small quantities of 

 every vegetable there as well as every cereal in stock. Then 

 I went back to the track fairly loaded down with the truck. 

 The first thing we did was to spread a blanket in one corner 

 of the stall and on it we put a small quantity of everything 

 I had bought, all in separate piles. I had three or four 

 cereals, apples, peaches, pears, potatoes, turnips and carrots. 

 There never was man or horse that would not eat the thing 

 that struck his palate or taste. Lou nosed the food and 

 when she came to the carrots ate them up clean then smelled 

 everything else, turned and left it. In my joy I said to 

 Tommy: 'We have the greatest trotter in the world right 

 now.' 



"I bought a half-bushel of carrots and a coarse vegetable 

 grater, took them back to the stable, grated two quarts of 

 carrots and mixed them with two quarts of oats. She cleaned 

 the feed box and looked for more. From that day on until 

 she trotted her record mile in 1:581/4 her regular ration 

 w^as two quarts of oats and three quarts of grated carrots 

 mixed. She had this feed four times every day and the 

 day she took her record she had two quarts of oats and 

 three quarts of grated carrots for breakfast and also for 

 dinner. 



''If I had a hundred horses I would certainly feed them 

 some carrots, especially to delicate feeders. They are veiy 

 strengthening and just as nourishing as any feed that can 

 be given a horse. I found many years ago on a horse-buy- 

 ing trip through Missouri that the farmers who fed carrots 

 had by long odds the sleekest and best looking horses. 



"There were two causes for Lou Dillon's poor perform- 

 ance at Brighton Beach. The first has already been named, 

 that she was feeding badly and did not have sufficient strength 

 and vitality to go a great mile. The second cause arose 

 at the start of the mile and was a misunderstanding between 

 Mr. Tanner and myself regarding the speed, or rating. 

 When we scored for the word she was trotting veiy fast, 

 in fact too fast and as we struck the first turn I shouted 

 to Mr. Tanner to take the runner back. He misunderstood 

 me and came on and we trotted the first eighth in thirteen 



