EVERY MAN HIS OWN TRAINER. 6/ 



seven or eight miles in the morning on a jog I would give her 

 three to fOur miles, according to the weather and roads. I 

 found she was better, that is, she had more speed and was in- 

 clined to be steady. Then I put winkers on her, and she 

 seemed to say to me, " Now I am right," and in fact I had 

 another horse. She would rarely break, in fact, I cannot re- 

 member her making a break without a real good cause the 

 balance of the season. The fact was the weight she was car- 

 rying caused her to hit the ground hard it stung and hurt 

 her feet. I soon found I could take her tail up and sit on it ; 

 it was big and heavy and would dangle between her legs, 

 which annoyed her. A man should always put the tail under 

 him, being careful not to draw it too tight. I started her 

 again in the fall over the same battle ground, and in seven 

 races won all of them. She proved to be as good a race horse 

 for what she could do as any animal I ever handled, and re- 

 quired as little work, in fact, I gave her hardly any work be- 

 tween her races. She was a high-strung mare, when I got her 

 right she seemed to be as level-headed as any horse could be. 

 I gave her a record of 2:2G, but trotted many heats much 

 faster, and I sold her in the fall to Mayor Dickson, of New 

 York, for $5,000. She has since trotted in 2:21. 



Another particular case was the noted stallion King Al- 

 mont. When he came into my hands he was considered of 

 very little account ; that is, he was speedy, but not a good 

 race horse, as he was thought not to be able to go the route 

 out. He had a record of 2:32 or 2:33 at that time, but seemed 

 to be sore and was all tied up. The fact was his feet were 

 hurting him. His feet looked good, but they were not. They 

 were pinched from bad shoeing, heels were very high and in- 

 clined to be narrow, the sole of the foot was very high and 

 cuppy — in fact, I had him fully two months before I was able 

 to drive him a mile in 2:40. I finally decided the whole 

 trouble was in his feet. I commenced moderately letting 

 down his heels, using the leather and sponge — Lookey pad — 

 which kept the sole of his foot moist. They commenced to 



