274 HANDLING AND MANAGING TROTTERS. 



As stated in " Breaking and Training " (Chap. XXYIII), I 

 believe in commencing the education of all coifs at an early- 

 age, and believe their teaching should be in harmony with the 

 business afterwards expected of them ; but to hammer the life 

 out of the poor things when they are but mere babies, as is 

 often done, seems to me to be both cruel and inhuman. 



If, as in " Training for Speed " (see Chap. XXIX), the train- 

 ing can be slowly and carefully conducted, it may be com- 

 menced at a comparatively early period in the life of the 

 youngster, who, if not pushed beyond his strength and capacity, 

 may, in some respects, be advantageous. 



Now as to managing the trotting horse at the track; Our 

 old-school doctors and farriers used to consider it necessary to 

 first bleed their patients for all the spare blood there was in 

 them ; all the early trainers and managers of trotters thought 

 it necessary to first sweat, scrape, and physic the animals under 

 their charge j but time has changed their views on those sub- 

 jects, and doctors now first experiment with their patients and 

 " bleed them " afterwards, and so modern trainers have changed 

 their minds as to sweating, scraping, and physicing. 



As to shoeing and properly balancing, much depends on the 

 speed procured and the ease with which it is obtained. My 

 views on shoeing may be found in full on page 319, Chapter 

 XLI ; but I will here remark that the nearer you imitate nature 

 and the least possible weight with which you can balance the 

 colt, you should carry. 



As a rule, I would recommend the discarding of toe-weights 

 altogether in training and managing horses on the track ; still, 

 their use may be admissible in some cases, as there are gener- 

 ally exceptions to all rules. 



I would, however, recommend the training of the coming 

 trotter to trot in light shoes, and not ask him to go at a faster 

 gait at first than he could be made to trot level and square in 

 that way of going, and then increase the speed gradually ; but 

 in this matter, as in so many others connected with the horse, 

 there can be no definite, positive rules laid down to govern in 



