LOU DILLON 15 



illustrated by an incident which occurred at Lexington, Ky., 

 the fall of 1903. 'Uncle' George J. Fuller, noted as the 

 trainer of many good horses, dating his career back to the 

 time of Scott's Thomas and including the great four-year-old 

 Patron 2:1414^ came to my stable for a brief visit. When 

 he came in he said to me: 'Millard, I came from my home 

 in Tennessee, to see what I never expected there would be — 

 a two-minute trotter. I want to look at her and lay my hand 

 on her and then I will be content to go back to my home.' 

 There were many of the old guard who felt about it as he 

 did, which was that the impossible had come to be possible, 

 but when it came to pass they were just like the rest, wildly 

 enthusiastic and they helped make me believe what I had 

 done was worth while. 



'T first saw Lou Dillon at Santa Rosa Stock Farm. She 

 was then three and the farm trainer, who was driving her 

 had her fitted up with all kinds of rope rigging. She was a 

 great one to shake her head and to be controlled was often 

 thrown. Mr. Henrv Pierce came to me and asked if I could 

 drive her without fighting her or throwing her. I did not 

 know that I could but I agreed to try and so she came into 

 my hands. I harnessed her without a check, drove her on 

 the road for a while, cured her of her worst habits and 

 started to train her to trot the spring she was a four-year-old. 

 Almost at once she contracted pneumonia and for three 

 weeks lay at the point of death, coming through a mere 

 skeleton. When she had regained some of her strength she 

 was again put in training. She acted kindly but she would 

 not score — would just go on a little gallop and that she per- 

 sisted in for nearly a month. Then I made up my mind I 

 had to do something to cure her of 'acting up' when she was 

 turned at the wire. This was at the Pleasanton track and one 

 day there I tried for two hours to get her away on a trot. No 

 one may believe it but in all that time I did not lose my 

 temper for as much as an instant. I then drove her off the 

 track and into the stable and got a good whip then drove back 

 to the track for another half hour of refusing to score on a 

 trot. Then I decided on what to do. Turning her at the usual 

 place for scoring I hit her six stout raps with the whip, just 



