EFFECTS OF A HEAVY SHOE. 59 



which extended half way up the hock. After returning from Buffalo 

 she increased her speed very rapidly. Before going there the fastest 

 half-mile she had ever shown on the track at Atwood Place was 

 1:1 1|^ — a quarter in 35 seconds. The next Summer she trotted at 

 several different times the half in 1 :08, and once she was timed the 

 quarter in 32|^ seconds, and could always move through the stretches 

 inside of 34 seconds. I could use a lighter shoe than those of the 

 season before, with the edge inside of the horn and rounded, and the 

 shin-boots much lighter, without extending above the hock. She 

 had a habit of lying with her foot under the elbow, and when I got 

 her she had a huge protubei-ance there, i. e. " capped elbow " which 

 the veterinarian had to dissect out. She wore a roll on her ankle to 

 protect it. The boy who had always taken care of her was so sensi- 

 tive about it that if any one moved toward her box he would slip 

 in and remove the unsightly appendage, and the consequence was 

 that just before the Buffalo meeting of 1872 he forgot to replace it, 

 and the next morning there was a swelling as large as a croquet- 

 ball. Another operation had to be performed, and she was laid up 

 when I anticipated her showing remarkable time. Had she worn 

 tips this could not have occurred, and I am satisfied that she would 

 have overcome the faulty action much sooner with them, and with 

 still lighter protection in the way of boots. 



Albatross I bought the Spi'ing she was six years old. She had a 

 record of 2:48, and two or three months after I bought her I trotted 

 her a race when she was beaten in 2:42. This race took place on 

 Saturday and the next Saturday the same horses were to trot again. 

 She had been wearing an 18-ounce shoe, and a few days before the 

 second race I had it replaced by one weighing 28 ounces and reduced 

 the weight of her hind shoes from 12 ounces to 6, Though a large 

 mare, she was a short strider, and as this was before I had any 

 acquaintance with toe- weights, to remedy it I could only increase the 

 weight of the shoe. She won the second race with ease, trotting in 

 2:35, and the following week she showed a mile in 2:31, a half mile 

 in 1:13. In 1863 I got Naboclish, with a record of 2:54. He had 

 torn the quarters of his fore feet neax-ly off, and would cut the leather 

 of th» boot as clean as if it had been done with a knife. He had a 



