G4 TIPS AND TOE-WEIGHTS. 



can be wlien thei-e is a sharp bending of the knee, and the veteran 

 trotter has certainly proved that he has strong chxims to be consid- 

 ered one of the foremost of the celebrities of the tracks. Until he 

 came to California he carried a fore shoe weighing nineteen ounces, 

 and then he had to wear a breast-pad to keep him from pounding 

 his chest. Under Hickok's charge the weight has been gradually- 

 reduced until that of the front shoe is twelve and a half ounces 

 and the hind one six ounces. It was conceded that he faltered 

 somewhat in finishing the mile with heavier iron, while at San 

 Jose and Stockton it seemed as if he had a world of speed 

 left, and came from the distance home with as much energy 

 as he exhibited when he took the lead around the first turn. The 

 pad on the brisket is not required, and altogether the reduc- 

 tion has been beneficial. He picks his fore feet up so truly, and 

 places them so s{juarely on the ground, that a pair of front 

 shoes will wear him a long time, while nearly every two weeks 

 a new set are made for the hind feet. The bar-shoe is used in front, 

 and this partial bearing on the frog may have a good influence. 

 Notwithstanding his seven years of trotting in many races per an- 

 num, I am of the opinion that he could have trotted three faster 

 heats at San Jose than ever before in his life, and to the difference 

 in shoeing may be ascribed much of this improvement. 



A portion of this was due to the lightening of the iron, a part to 

 the "frogpi-essure" arising from the bar-shoes. But I am well satis- 

 fied that tips would have been still more beneficial, notwithstanding 

 Fullerton's feet have thin walls, and all of them white in -color. It 

 may be prejudice which ascribes a greater weakness in Avhite horn 

 than is found in the darker shades, though the idea is so general ' 

 that it has probably good grounds to sustain it. "White horn is more 

 easily cut with the knife, and easier broken when a shoe is worn, 

 but as Naboclish's hind feet were white, and they endured fourteen 

 hard races, and training from Spring until Fall, there is little ques- 

 tion of the heels standing when the toe is jH-otected from wear. In 

 all probability a very light tip would have been found suflicient in a 

 horse with so much knee-action as Fullerton, and one weighing from 

 four to six ounces enough for him to wear. Doubtless the heavy 



