102 PREPARATION. 
company she ran equally badly. Yet this worst of all per- 
formers comes to me, and a few months after these wretched 
performances, wins the Czsarewitch in a common canter by 
ten lengths, giving weight to both the second and third horses 
—conceding to the latter, a four-ycar-old, 11 lbs. If we con- 
sider the way in which this race was won, it may safely be 
assumed to be the shortest time race on record, being given 
in Bell's Life as 4 minutes I second. 
The reader may think that in this long chapter I have dwelt 
too much on the advantage of training horses light, especially 
as the matter has already been dealt with at p. 47 e¢ seq. 
in the chapter on “Condition.” There, however, it was 
intended to show the difference between horses “ big” and 
“light” ; here, how to prepare them “light,” and the results 
of the preparation. 
But my faith in my system, trebly tried as it has been by 
practical results, will, I trust, warrant my insistence on this one 
point. I can hardly believe that an unprejudiced mind would 
refuse to believe, after the experiences here set forth, that a 
horse will run better light than big. There are cases, I admit, 
of horses running well when big, and of improving year by 
year when so treated; but they are too few and far between 
to recommend such a system for general adoption. 
I do not say, in spite of all I have adduced, that the 
system of training I recommend is perfection ; on the other 
hand, I do not admit that any other is. But I venture to 
submit that it is clearly the best, and if so, it ought to be fol- 
lowed. In truth no one can attain perfection, and for venial 
faults excessive blame should not be awarded; for trainers, 
however fortunate they may be in individual cases, are fallible 
like all human beings. We see an analogy to this in hus- 
bandry. The agriculturist who mismanages one field of 
