130 EVERY MAN HIS OWN TRAINER. 



very fast, much faster than the trotter, yet it seems to be 

 more tiresome than the trotting gait, and they seem to re- 

 quire more stiff work to stay them up to go the race out tlian 

 it does a trotter, and there are very few of them that can 

 carry much weight in the shoe and go a race of heats. You very 

 seldom see a successful race horse in a pacer that wears 

 heavier than a twelve ounce shoe in front, many of them go 

 with less. In February, 1888, I bought the chestnut horse 

 Edwin, 2:24^, of Mr. Baker of Watkins. He had been ex- 

 perimenting considerable to make him trot. He had sho\\n 

 him a mile in 2:34 over a half mile track at that gait. He 

 had given him a record of 2:40 as a four-year-old. I expected 

 to make a trotter of him, still he could show flights of speed 

 on a pace. I used him along until the track got good in the 

 spring on a trot, as in all of his slow work he trots and never 

 offers to pace unless he goes fast. I was using about a four- 

 teen ounce shoe on him in front, and when I would allow him 

 to pace he would brush a little ways fast and then break. He 

 did not seem to be balanced. As soon as he got in condition 

 to take any fast work I put a seventeen ounce shoe on him in 

 front and a six ounce toe weight. When I would start him 

 up on a trot with this weight he would go a short distance at 

 a two-forty gait, then, as soon as I would commence to force 

 him, he would go into a pace and would go fast and steady, so 

 I made up my mind that was just what I wanted to make a 

 pacer of him. The weight kept him steady. I went upon 

 the principle that if a little was good more would be better, 

 so I took off the toe weights and put on a twenty-five ounce 

 shoe, with the weight all in the toe that I could get. Then 

 I gave him two slow repeats, neither mile better than two- 

 forty, with a sharp brush at the finish of the mile, and it 

 seemed as though he could fly. In ten days I removed his 

 shoes and cut two ounces out of each shoe. Then 1 worked 

 him a week more. I would give him an easy mile and a re- 

 peat, going away slow the first c|uartcr in fort}'-f()ur seconds, 

 then let him increase his speed and finish the last cpiarter 



