" CONVERTED PACERS. XXVU 



There was a pacer owned in Chicago which liad a pacing record of 

 2:30, though he could go very much faster in a brush than that rate. 

 He was driven by the side of Prairie Boy, a trotter with a recoi'd of 

 2:32. The owner of the team had a f;xrm some twelve miles from 

 the city, and, returning from thence the same day he drove there, the 

 horse was wearied. Part of the distance there was deep sand, which 

 increased the weariness of the pacer, and, before he got home, he 

 chansred his ffait to a trot. This was the first instance when he had 

 shown any ca})acity to leave his natural method of progression, and 

 his driver was a good deal astonished at the change. The next day 

 he drove him and his mate to the track — the Chicago Driving Park — 

 and, much to the surprise of every one who witnessed the perfor- 

 mance, he not only trotted, but could carry Prairie Boy oflT his feet 

 and force him to a sharp run. After that display, he was bought by 

 some parties and put in training, and there was not the least difii- 

 culty in making him trot. It was claimed that he showed a quarter 

 in thirty-one seconds, and it was cei-tain that there was not a hoi'se 

 on the track which he had the least trouble in beating a long way off 

 through the stretch. From some internal trouble, he could not keep 

 up his rate further than half a mile, and was entirely useless for 

 track purposes. This was before the era of toe-weights, and there 

 was no change from the shoes he wore on the road. In those same 

 shoes he paced until he became wearied from the journey, and the 

 deep sand completed the lesson. 



In this case there was a preternatural adaptation to benefit at once 

 from instructions — something of the same character which enables 

 Blind Tom to play a difiicult piece from hearing it once — and is such 

 an unusual occurrence that it may never be witnessed again. Still, 

 it has a bearing on the question, for it is palpable that there was 

 nothing in the waj of this horse trotting fast excepting the knowl- 

 edge of the proper action which was requisite to enable him to do so, 

 and this knowledge came as nearly intuitively as it could. There 

 was no " balancing " necessary, no change of centre requii-ed ; the 

 machinery was there, ready to run whenever the brain took the 

 direction. The case of Defiance presents some similarity to the one 

 recited. He had paced in races for yeai-s, gaining his reconl of 2:1 7 J 



