About the time I became possessed of this colt I 

 attended our county fair and for the first time in my 

 life witnessed a trotting race, which so filled me with 

 enthusiasm that I resolved in the not distant future to 

 own a trotter ; and as my colt had no speed at the trot- 

 ting gait I resolved to trade him for one that did. I 

 knew of a farmer in the neighborhood who had a nice 

 little bay mare that could trot quite fast under the 

 saddle, but had never been broken to harness, and I 

 concluded it would be a good thing for me to trade 

 my colt for her and see what I could make out of her. 

 I approached the farmer upon the subject, and he 

 wanted my colt and $20 for the mare. I made up my 

 mind to trade if I could raise the $20, which I did not 

 have. I submitted the proposition to my father and 

 appealed to him for the money, which he gave me, 

 and that day I traded for her, and she was the first 

 trotter I ever attempted to handle for speed. I was 

 then about seventeen years old. The first thing I did 

 was to break her to harness, which was not difficult, 

 as she was a good-tempered animal. We had a light 

 open buggy on the place and it was only a few days 

 before I was driving her quietly to it ; and as her 

 breaking progressed, my love to ride fast began to as- 

 sert itself, and I would urge her to step along every 

 time I came to a smooth piece of road. She soon 

 learned to speed in harness, and it was not long before 

 she could outbrush any of the horses encountered upon 

 the road. I was very proud of her and took the best 

 care of her I knew how. She was very handsome and 

 much admired, and I sold her for $225. After her 

 sale I was anxious to get another and faster one. I 

 knew of a plain-looking horse in the neighborhood, 

 owned by a butcher, and used upon the butcher's cart, 



