40 BREEDING AND REARING OF 



I sold half interest in Snow Heels to my brother, 

 General J. M. Knight, and he was taken by the Con- 

 federate soldiers and was carried to Canton, Mi^s., 

 where my brother got him and brought him back to 

 Marshall County, Tennessee. There is quite a history 

 connected with those two saddle stallions and their 

 descendants. Sweepstakes as a breeder of pacing 

 horses sired by Snow Heels has never been equaled 

 in America. Her dam, I think, was sired by Mc- 

 Minn's Traveler, another well bred saddle stallion with 

 good thoroughbred blood crosses. You will perceive 

 that the crosses of the thoroughbred blood stock are 

 essentially necessary to give bottom or stamina to the 

 pacer, trotter or running horse. 



But with all that is so fascinating and alluring 

 about the fine speed horses in every line I want my 

 friends to understand that I do not advise them to 

 get in that line of business. In my younger days I 

 was associated with race horses and was very fond 

 of seeing them run. My father was engaged in breed- 

 ing fine stock and he gave me an interest in a fine 

 colt that was sired by Thornton's Old Ratler, by Sir 

 Archer, by imported Diomeed. I rubbed this colt 

 and imagined that we had in him a world beater. 

 Jeffrey Beck was our trainer. He was an uncle of 

 General Bedford Forrest, and esteemed as a trainer of 

 horses in his day, that is, about 1837. While we 

 were campaigning with our horses I witnessed so 

 much gambling with cards and heard so much pro- 

 fane language, that I had such a disgust for cards 

 that I did not want to learn anything about them. 

 Now in my eighty-sixth year of age could not tell the 



