6S CARE AND TRAINING OF TROTTERS. 



I 



out at all, but should be kept up all winter, and 

 carefully fed, perhaps jogged a little, and occasion- 

 ally turned out in a paddock. Even if turned out 

 in the fall, it is advisable to take the colt up 

 early (some advise January i) so that it will be- 

 come well-muscled and hardened in flesh before 

 the spring speed-work commences. 



Almost every trainer has a different way of 

 working colts, some give no jog work at all (only 

 brushing) , some jog a great deal, and others com- 

 bine or alternate jogging and brushing. We will 

 illustrate the various methods by citing specific 

 cases. 



One prominent horseman, who usually trains in 

 the South and who is too modest to allow the use 

 of his name, writes : "We begin as early as possi- 

 ble and jog and brush our two-year-olds, begin-' 

 ning with two mile jogs which include two or three 

 brushes of % mile. These jogs are gradually in- 

 creased in length and speed until we are jogging 

 four miles and brushing quarters. Then we begin 

 working miles around 3 :30 three times a week, 

 dropping down two seconds a week until we are 

 going miles in 2 40, when we begin repeating. Now 

 we work miles in 3 :oo and another one in the same 

 time. We gradually reduce the time of both miles 

 according to how the colts progress. We do not 

 work three heat repeats until about two weeks 

 before we expect to race, and not at all if we do 

 not expect to start." 



