EVERY MAN HIS OWN TRAINER. l6l 



course space here will not admit of giving minute instructions. 

 Suffice it to say that the colt soon learns to trot around this 

 ring, free and untrammelled, with the steadiness of a track- 

 horse, and he shortly becomes quite obedient to the voices 

 and whips of the men in the center. He learns to regard the 

 men as teachers and the whips not as' instruments of torture. 

 It requires a good" deal of skill, practice, and judgment to use 

 the minature track successfully. You must learn how far to 

 go and how far not to go, which is largely a matter of judg- 

 ment differing with different colts, knd which only experience 

 can teach. The benefits of the work on the colt-track are 

 manifold. Briefly, it -^eawis the colt to trot, and that he is 

 wanted to trot ; to stick to the trot, and to do it in his free 

 and natural way ; it develops wind and muscle and is healthy 

 exercise ; and last, but not least, it enables the trainer to see 

 what the colt's action is, how he is balanced, how he carries 

 himself, and what checking, if any, will be necessary later on. 

 More than this, it enables the trainer to pick out the promis- 

 ing ones. If he is training at a large establishment he will 

 soon see the importance of this. Where there are so many 

 colts that to train all is practically impossible it is a matter of 

 no small importance to be able to tell at the outset what colts 

 are the most likely to repay you for the time and trouble ex- 

 pended upon them. We hear a great many stale remarks in 

 these days about the worthlessness of " lot trotters." The 

 philosophers of the barn-yard who indulge in this talk, would 

 have one believe that the colt that is a natural born trotter 

 is less likely to be a success than the one whose speed is ham- 

 mered into him through his back. This is on a par with a 

 great deal more of the stock-in-trade of the more ignorant 

 class of horse-handlers, who have never deserved the name of 

 trainers. From Fred Crocker down to Sunol every one of the 

 Palo Alto stars, was a star among the youngsters in the lot 

 and on the colt-track. 



The colt should have his daily lessons in the track until 

 he is from twelve to fourteen months old, when he should be 



