44 TIPS AND TOE-WEIGHTS. 



I'oads witli tips, in order to test them where there wouhl Vje the max- 

 imum of wear. Since writing the former articles, I have used him 

 with various tips, and changed him to shoes in order to see if the 

 additional weight would not influence his trotting action more favor- 

 ably. Desiring that Lady Amanda should have company when gal- 

 loping last spring, I gave him a rough preparation, and ran him 

 against Emma Skaggs and John Funk, a race of niile heats. This 

 he won in 1:.50 — 1:50|, and could have run something faster. When 

 in training I commenced with tips, and as they wore out let him 

 gallop barefoot, and he ran in the race without anything on his feet. 

 The tendon which was sprung got a little " hot," and he was slightly 

 lame in that leg, but afterwards we galloped him in a sulky when 

 the heat and tendei*ness diminished, and with the resumption of road 

 work it got appai'ently entirely sound. He has never been really 

 well, and though a package of Professor Going's worm powders 

 brought away a great many of these troublesome parasites, there 

 appeared to be a fresk recruit ready to take their place. His ajipetite 

 was voracious, and though fed very high, when his grain and hay 

 were consumed he would attack his bedding, the soiled portion being 

 devoured with as much avidity as the best Oregon oats, or the 

 brightest provender. When at Palo Alta, not long ago, Governor 

 Stanford informed me that Jiis colts were ridden of worms by using 

 lime-water, and X. X. has, since his feed has been wetted with it, 

 done much better. 



Still he did not improve in his trotting, and when urged to go 

 faster would hobble behind, and mix his gait. When galloping him, 

 harnessed to a sulky, he was shod with very light steel tips, scarcely 

 heavier than plates, on both fore and hind feet, and he was driven 

 with them on the road. These I replaced with a heavier set, but he 

 still persisted in hobbling. I then had him shod with the ordinary 

 shoe, weighing 18 oz., and still he hobbled when driven beyond about a 

 four-minute gait. I applied toe-weights of from six to twelve ounces, 

 without improvement, while his knees went over more than they had 

 ever been. He had the least knee-action of any horse I ever saw, 

 almost dragging his toe along the ground, with a sort of twist when 

 he took his foot up, turning it to the inside as though he did it to 



