THE TWO-MINUTE TROTTER 159 



the point of view; undoubtedly, in the eyes of 

 many it is. But considering the low records with 

 which we are dealing and the fact that the breed 

 of American trotters must still be classed as a new 

 one and therefore of less prepotency and fixity of 

 type than it will ultimately have, I do not think 

 that the time can properly be considered a long 

 one, but rather the reverse. 



So much wonder is often expressed by those 

 unfamiliar with the education of the horses at the 

 amount of training bestowed on a trotter — 

 " especially," as they say, " as he was bred for a 

 trotter and so ought to trot fast of his own ac- 

 cord " — that I think I should add a few words on 

 this point. Trotters often require considerable 

 training chiefly because, though the trot is un- 

 doubtedly a natural gait, it is not the gait at 

 which the horse naturally goes at his greatest 

 speed. For the same reason it is often necessary 

 for a horse to get thoroughly over the flightiness 

 and giddiness of youth before he is fit for great 

 performances on the track. There are, of course, 

 cases of phenomenal precocity, just as there are 

 in the human race, but it may be doubted whether 

 great precocity, in either horse or man, is ever 

 desirable in the long run, and the saying of Hiram 

 Woodruff, many years ago, that " the best 

 trotters never reach their best speed without a 



