62 TIPS AND TOE-WEICxHTS. 



accomplishing. But with these shoes she was inclined to hitch at 

 times, and I replaced them with others weighing 16 ounces on June 

 3d, and the inventer, H. L. McKinney, having sent me his "Eclipse" 

 weicht and fastener, I attached the fastener to the shoe. There 

 appeared to be an improvement, as on the 8th she trotted the quarter 

 in thirty-nine seconds — the toe-weights 9 ounces, making 25 ounces 

 on each foot. On the 10th of July she made the same time, and, 

 until she became accustomed to this weight, I thought it best to re- 

 strict her fast work to short brushes, for fear of injury to the legs. 

 On the 24th she trotted half miles in 1:23 — 1:2U, and on the 27th 

 three-quarters in 2:05 — 2:03^. The 1st of July I drove her three 

 heats of a mile, the time being 2:501 — 2:49 — 2:49;^. The work was 

 continued through the month, and on the 24th of July she trotted a 

 milein 2:47, the fastest she ever made with shoes on. 



On the 27th of July I put tips on her front feet weighing 6 

 ounces each, attaching the " Eclipse" fastener. This gave me the power 

 to keep quarter-boots in |)lace without the heels of the shoe, the iron 

 in front holding the strap, which came round the heel so that it 

 could not rise. The pattern of quartei'-boot was the one which is 

 something like a " tunnel " boot, with a strap going round the foot 

 to keep it from getting out of position. The 30th of July I drove 

 her a mile in 2:44|. She had the same toe- weight that she wore 

 with the shoe, and there was a gain in a few days of 2 J seconds. 

 On the 4th of Augtist I drove her a mile in 2:43|, and on the 8tli 

 in 2:44|. This established in my mind the fact that she could trot 

 faster in a 6-ounce tip than in a shoe weighing 10 ounces more; 

 though from wearing the shoes so long, her heels were not in the 

 best shape for the tips. There was another thing which caused me 

 a good deal of trouble. Her upper jaw is a trifle wider than the 

 lower, and this entailed a sharp edge on the " grinders " above, and 

 this edge had wounded the inside of the cheek so that she carried 

 her head much to the side, with a tendency to pull hard on one rein. 

 I filed the teeth as well as I could, but the injury was so far back 

 that it was difficult to get at the seat of the trouble, and it would 

 require an expert, like Di*. House or Dr. Clark, to make it eflfectual. 

 Still, the rude dentistry helped her, and she drove straighter after 



