ED. GEERS' 
 EXPERIENCE WITH THE 
 TROTTERS AND PACERS. 
 
'7rifs. —s 
 
TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 
 
 9090 014 563 130 
 
 Webster FamHy Library of Veterinary Mecfidoe 
 
 CunmMngs Sch'c' o' \ jtoinary Medicine at 
 
 TufiG University 
 
 200 Westbofo Road 
 
 NkMth Grafton MA 01536 
 
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 'JjyU 
 
ED. GEERS' EXPERIENCE WITH THE 
 TROTTERS AND PACERS. 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF HIS EARLY LIFE IN TENNESSEE, 
 
 WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME OF THE CUSTOMS 
 
 PECULIAR TO THAT STATE, AND A 
 
 GENERAL DESCRIPTION 
 
 MOST NOTED HORSES HE HAS DRIVEN, 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 A LIST OF THE HORSES HE HAS GIVEN FAST RECORDS 
 
 ALSO INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT 
 
 Conditioning and Caring for the Horse 
 
 BEFORE AND DURING RACING. 
 
 BUFFALO, N. Y, 
 1901. 
 
Copyright, 1901, by 
 E. F. GEERS. 
 
 THE M*TTHEW»-NORTHBUPCO., 
 OOMPLETE ART-PRINTINe WORKS, aUFFALO, 
 
 2ooro 
 
TO 
 
 MR. C. J. HAMLIN, 
 
 ONE OF THE PIONEERS IN THE BREEDING AND DEVELOPMENT OF 
 
 THE LIGHT-HARNESS HORSE, 
 
 AND 
 
 TO WHOSE LIBERALITY, INTELLIGENT INDUSTRY AND 
 
 UNSWERVING FIDELITY THE RACE-GOING PUBLIC 
 
 IS SO DEEPLY INDEBTED, 
 
 THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 FOR several years past friends and horsemen in 
 different parts of the country have importuned 
 me to give in published form my experience in train- 
 ing and driving light-harness horses, and as no work 
 of this character has appeared in this country for a 
 number of years, it occurred to me that if I was ever 
 to do so the present is a very proper time to com- 
 ply with this request, therefore I have rather reluc- 
 tantly decided to publish this volume. I am indebted 
 to Mr. P. M. Babcock, an old friend of mine, now re- 
 siding in Buffalo, for whatever merit the editorial 
 work of this book may possess, as the main part of it 
 has been written by him, aided by such suggestions as 
 I have been able to give. I have never kept a diary 
 or other memoranda and hence the dates herein given 
 are mainly from recollection, and, while some of them 
 may be wrong, I believe them to be substantially cor- 
 rect. With the expectation of a generous criticism of 
 its merits and defects this book is submitted to the 
 consideration of all who care to peruse its pages. 
 
 E. F. GEERS. 
 
 Buffalo, March i, 1901. 
 
INTRODUCTORY, 
 
 '"T^ RAINING horses for races, and the development 
 j^ of speed, are arts almost as old as history itself, 
 and, while different people at different epochs 
 in the past have employed different methods for 
 accomplishing the common object, the reader, in order 
 to form a correct judgment as to the success and 
 merits of one who has devoted the best years of his 
 life to the accomplishment of developing the light- 
 harness horse to his present high standard of excel- 
 lence, must necessarily understand and appreciate the 
 conditions surrounding his undertaking, and hence a 
 brief summary of the conditions which existed in 
 Tennessee at and prior to the time of my entering the 
 arena would seem to be desirable. 
 
 When Tennessee was settled, the lands were taken 
 up by comparatively few people. These few land 
 owners were a sport-loving people, and, to gratify their 
 pleasure, imported large numbers of thoroughbred 
 horses, some of which were among the best and most 
 distinguished race horses of their day. There were 
 very few regular racetracks in that State in those days ; 
 but these large land owners nearly all had private 
 tracks, or " rings," upon their vast estates, where the 
 neighbors of a community would occasionally meet in 
 friendly contests. It was soon demonstrated that, 
 owing to the hilly country and stony and muddy 
 roads, locomotion could best be accompHshed by 
 the use of the saddle horse, and hence it was that 
 
certain gentlemen imported from Kentucky a number 
 of highly-bred pacing and saddle animals, and these 
 being crossed with the thoroughbreds gave to the peo- 
 ple of the State the foundation stock of the great 
 families of pacers which have made the name of 
 Tennessee a household word wherever the pacing and 
 saddle horse is known and appreciated. This was the 
 condition of affairs when the clouds of civil war rolled 
 over this fair State and darkened nearly every home 
 within its borders. When the war was over, it was 
 found that most of the valuable and highly-bred horses 
 of the State had disappeared, and what remained were 
 the common-purpose horses used to carry on the 
 business of a pretty well discouraged and nearly 
 bankrupt people, and it may readily be imagined that 
 in this state of affairs the minds of the people were 
 upon something more substantial than racing horses. 
 So little attention had been given to the training and 
 development of harness horses for racing purposes 
 that when I commenced my career as a trainer and 
 driver, in 1872, there was but one old dilapidated mile 
 track in the State, and not a single horse bred or de- 
 veloped in the State had acquired a record below 2.30. 
 Another element that contributed to this result was 
 the fact that the only harness horses in the State 
 during this period possessing sufficient speed to engage 
 in turf contests were the pacers ; but at that time the 
 pacer was not recognized as being entitled to demon- 
 strate his merits upon the race tracks of the country, 
 and hence pacing speed was of no value, and the 
 horse that could pace a mile in 2.10 was worth no 
 more in the market than one that could not pace a 
 mile in three minutes, the only element of value being 
 his ability and value as a saddle horse. But when, in 
 
18/9) that great quartette, consisting of Blind Tom, 
 Mattie Hunter, Rowdy Boy, and Lucy, electrified the 
 race-going public by their brilliant achievements upon 
 the race tracks of the North, the broad minded and 
 generous hearted Colonel Edwards of Cleveland, then 
 the controlling spirit of that celebrated track, pro- 
 claimed that, at least upon that track, the pacer should 
 no longer be considered as an outlaw, and from that 
 period dates the value of the pacing horse in racing 
 contests upon the different American race tracks. 
 
 The first attempt to breed and develop trotting race 
 horses in Tennessee, within my knowledge, was about 
 the year 1868, when Rev. Talbert Fanning of Frank- 
 lin College, Tennessee, brought some Morgans from 
 Vermont. These horses were very beautiful in form, 
 and, like nearly all of that family, were great road 
 horses, possessing great endurance and plenty of speed 
 for that purpose, but not sufficently fast for first-class 
 track horses, and hence their breeding and training did 
 not accomplish much in the upbuilding of the reputa- 
 tion of the State as the home of the trotting race 
 horse. Soon after this. Colonel John Overton of 
 Nashville purchased and brought to the State the 
 trotting-bred stallion Chieftain, who, although a well- 
 bred horse, was not a great success upon the turf, nor 
 as the sire of speed ; but some of his daughters proved 
 to be good brood mares, and the blood of this horse is 
 found in the pedigree of a number of good turf per- 
 formers. Following the advent of Chieftain, Major 
 Campbell Brown of Spring Hill purchased the horse 
 Trouble, by Almont 33, and this horse also proved a 
 disappointment to the breeding interests of the State. 
 Blackwood, Jr., was next brought to the State by Mr. 
 Zell of Nashville, and, while a good race horse for his 
 
 II 
 
day, he failed to impress his speed and race-horse 
 qualities upon his get, and none, that I am aware of, 
 ever became distinguished upon the turf. Of the 
 other great horses that have since been owned and 
 bred in the State it is not my purpose at this time to 
 speak, but this summary should, I think, be sufficient 
 to show that, as regards material upon which to work 
 and facilties with which to accomplish results at the 
 beginning of my career, I at least enjoyed no advan- 
 tages not possessed by other drivers and trainers in 
 other and more favored sections of the country. 
 
 12 
 
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CHAPTER I. 
 
 BRIEF HISTORY OF MY EARLY LIFE — EXPERIENCE 
 DRIVING CALVES — SAW MY FIRST TROTTING 
 RACE — MY FIRST TROTTING HORSE — CONSTRUC- 
 TION OF MY FIRST RACE TRACK — OBJECTIONS OF 
 MY PARENTS TO MY BECOMING A TRAINER AND 
 DRIVER. 
 
 I WAS born on a farm about three miles from 
 Lebanon, Wilson County, Tennessee, January 25, 
 185 1. My father was a farmer in moderate cir- 
 cumstances, and during my boyhood, in addition to 
 this, he also carried on a small country store at the 
 place. 
 
 My ambition to drive something — such as horses 
 mules, oxen and colts — is associated with my earliest 
 recollection, and when I was a small boy my father 
 unwittingly placed in my hands the power to com- 
 mence the gratification of this desire, by giving me a 
 pair of calves which were the pride of my life, and 
 for the time being satisfied all my desires. Soon after 
 they became mine I commenced their education and 
 training. I first put a rope on the horns of each and 
 drove them around, one at a time, for a few days ; then 
 I thought them well enough broken to drive together. 
 Then I yoked them up, and, to make certain that they 
 would not get away, I tied their tails together hard 
 and fast, and started to drive them down through the 
 grove. They made a plunge or two, when one released 
 his head from the bow and became unyoked, and in 
 
 13 
 
this condition they started to run. They raced side 
 by side for a short distance until they came to a tree, 
 then there was trouble, and I must confess that my 
 inherited love for educating and training animals to 
 drive received a severe shock, which came near 
 dampening all the ardor which I possessed, as one calf 
 passed to the right and the other to the left of that 
 tree, and it did not require the wisdom of a philoso- 
 pher to see that either the tree or the tails must give 
 way, and it did not take long to determine the winner, 
 as the smaller calf emerged from the contest minus 
 about two feet of his tail, and bleeding as though his 
 life would ebb away right then and there; and when 
 I contemplated the awful consequences that would 
 surely come should this result be the crowning effort 
 of my first attempt in starting up the pathway I 
 hoped some day to follow, my blood was nearly frozen 
 with fear ; but the calf finally recovered and they grew 
 to be a fine yoke of oxen, and I spent many happy 
 hours driving them. After they had grown up I 
 traded them to my father for a two-year-old colt, 
 worth about $50. I took extra care of him and soon 
 had him thoroughly broken and looking well. 
 
 One of the first pleasures in which the farmers and 
 people in the country districts of Tennessee indulged 
 after the war was in holding local or county fairs, and 
 for many years thereafter this custom was, and to 
 some extent still is, observed in most of the counties 
 in the middle and western part of the State ; and 
 while the facilities for exhibiting stock, etc., and for 
 giving races at these fairs were, and are, inferior to 
 those in some of the other parts of the country, yet 
 they have undoubtedly been of material benefit in 
 helping to raise the standard of all live-stock interests. 
 
 14 
 
About the time I became possessed of this colt I 
 attended our county fair and for the first time in my 
 life witnessed a trotting race, which so filled me with 
 enthusiasm that I resolved in the not distant future to 
 own a trotter ; and as my colt had no speed at the trot- 
 ting gait I resolved to trade him for one that did. I 
 knew of a farmer in the neighborhood who had a nice 
 little bay mare that could trot quite fast under the 
 saddle, but had never been broken to harness, and I 
 concluded it would be a good thing for me to trade 
 my colt for her and see what I could make out of her. 
 I approached the farmer upon the subject, and he 
 wanted my colt and $20 for the mare. I made up my 
 mind to trade if I could raise the $20, which I did not 
 have. I submitted the proposition to my father and 
 appealed to him for the money, which he gave me, 
 and that day I traded for her, and she was the first 
 trotter I ever attempted to handle for speed. I was 
 then about seventeen years old. The first thing I did 
 was to break her to harness, which was not difficult, 
 as she was a good-tempered animal. We had a light 
 open buggy on the place and it was only a few days 
 before I was driving her quietly to it ; and as her 
 breaking progressed, my love to ride fast began to as- 
 sert itself, and I would urge her to step along every 
 time I came to a smooth piece of road. She soon 
 learned to speed in harness, and it was not long before 
 she could outbrush any of the horses encountered upon 
 the road. I was very proud of her and took the best 
 care of her I knew how. She was very handsome and 
 much admired, and I sold her for $225. After her 
 sale I was anxious to get another and faster one. I 
 knew of a plain-looking horse in the neighborhood, 
 owned by a butcher, and used upon the butcher's cart, 
 
that showed some speed at the trot. I bought him 
 for $125, and at this time I also bought an old high- 
 wheel sulky with springs, weighing about no pounds, 
 for which I paid $15, and with this outfit I deemed 
 myself fully equipped to commence preparations for 
 winning some harness races. But there was no race 
 track in that section, and a race track I must have 
 upon which to educate my promising campaigner ; 
 and, having heard that necessity was the mother of 
 invention, I proceeded as best I could to construct a 
 track, but as I never had seen a regulation track and 
 knew nothing of the procedure necessary to employ in 
 its construction, the affair that resulted from my 
 efforts was not such a one as Seth Griffin would ap- 
 prove. I selected the top of a hill as a site, then tak- 
 ing as long a rope as I could find I staked one end to 
 the ground and at the other end of it drove a stake, 
 then swung around in a circle, sticking stakes at dif- 
 ferent places. Then I plowed up a space wide enough 
 for me to drive, and when completed the track was 
 about one-third of a mile long, and so irregular and 
 crude that a horse would be justified in going any 
 kind of a gait to get over it, and I have often 
 thought I was exceedingly lucky in being able to 
 remain in the sulky while driving over its rough and 
 irregular surface. I was then attending school and 
 the only time I could get to devote to the construc- 
 tion of the track was out of school hours and on 
 Saturdays. At this time I was beset with troubles 
 and difficulties that for a time threatened to crush 
 my ambition, as my parents were greatly opposed 
 to my devoting my life to training horses, and 
 my father greatly desired my assistance in the store 
 and wished me to pursue a mercantile life ; and it was 
 
 16 
 
only after many spirited family consultations and my 
 persistent declarations to become a driver of fast 
 horses that the attempt to make a merchant out of me 
 was reluctantly abandoned by my parents, and I was 
 allowed to proceed with the education of my prospec- 
 tive race horse. But here I encountered difficulties 
 which I had not anticipated ; the horse was rather 
 long gaited, and by reason of my track being so short 
 and the turns so sharp, he could not extend himself, 
 and I was obliged to take him on the road every time 
 I wanted him to step fast, and for this reason his edu- 
 cation did not progress very rapidly, but I finally got 
 him in condition so that he could trot a mile in about 
 2.50, which was considered very good for a green horse 
 in those days, and I sold him for $400. After doing 
 so well with this horse and selling him for so good a 
 price, the farmers in the neighborhood seemed to 
 think I could make a race horse out of most anything, 
 and could sell any old plug for three or four hundred 
 dollars; and as at that time there were only two or 
 three men in Tennessee who pretended to condition 
 and handle horses for speed, I soon had several horses 
 sent me to break and handle, and I did very well with 
 some of them and sold them for their owners for 
 good prices. 
 
 17 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 MY FIRST RACE WITH LITTLE DAVE — REV. MR. 
 FANNING— GEORGE FULLER — MY FIRST TRIP 
 THROUGH THE GRAND CIRCUIT. 
 
 THE success which attended my efforts in break- 
 ing and training these few horses was known to 
 Reverend Talbert Fanning, of whom I have 
 spoken, and in the summer of 1871 or 1872 he wrote 
 me to come and see him. I did so, and made an 
 arrangement with him to go to his place and handle 
 his recently imported Morgan horses for one year. 
 One of these horses was a small chestnut stallion, 
 about 14^ hands high, called '' Little Dave." He 
 was a pure-gaited trotter, and we thought he could 
 trot quite fast for so small a horse, Mr. Fanning 
 also had a pair of gray geldings that were of fair 
 size, quite stylish, and matched well. They, also, 
 had quite a fair amount of speed. That fall there 
 were several county fairs in Wilson and adjoining 
 counties, and I expressed to Mr. Fanning a desire to 
 take Little Dave and the gray team to the fairs and 
 enter them in the show classes. He readily gave his 
 consent and I took them to Lebanon. I entered the 
 pair as a double team, also entered one of the geldings 
 as a single driver, and also entered Little Dave in the 
 stallion class, and took a premium with each entry. 
 On the last day of the fair there was a trotting race in 
 which I started Little Dave hitched to a skeleton 
 wagon and won the race, best time 3.04, and I 
 
 i8 
 
thought both the horse and myself were flying. That 
 was the first race in which I had ever driven, and not- 
 withstanding that I have since participated in many 
 of the fastest and most sensational races ever trotted 
 and paced in America, the pride I experienced in win- 
 ning that race yet lingers in my memory as among my 
 greatest triumphs. From Lebanon I went to Mur- 
 freesboro, and won at that place about the same as I 
 had done at Lebanon, and returned home as happy and 
 proud as I imagine a general would be after having 
 won a series of battles. But I was perplexed to know 
 what to do about telling Mr. Fanning of having raced 
 Little Dave, when I reported the result of my trip to 
 him. While I knew him to be a man fond of horses 
 and one that was as fond as any one of riding fast on 
 the road, yet the thought that he was a minister 
 made me feel that he might be offended because, 
 without his knowledge or consent, I had entered and 
 raced one of his horses, as I knew as a general 
 thing that ministers did not indulge in horse racing; 
 but when I frankly told him all I had done he smiled 
 and, although he said nothing, I could see by his looks 
 and actions that he was as proud and happy over the 
 success I had met with as I was. He died that fall or 
 early winter, and, as his family did not care to continue 
 the training of the horses, I returned to my home more 
 determined than ever to succeed in the vocation I had 
 chosen. I did not long remain idle, as some parties 
 near there soon sent me three or four horses to handle, 
 which I trained to the satisfaction of their owners, and 
 this kept me busy for some time. 
 
 It must be remembered that at this time nearly all 
 the horses in that vicinity which showed any speed 
 were natural pacers, and, as there were scarcely any 
 
 19 
 
sulkies, these horses were speeded at fairs and other 
 horse shows under the saddle ; and, as the pacing gait 
 was of no value, in order to realize anything out of 
 their development for speed the horses must be con- 
 verted from pacers to trotters, and to accomplish this 
 with the crude facilities then at hand and the limited 
 knowledge I had upon the subject many incidents that 
 now seem amusing occurred. I knew of a horse that 
 could pace fast under the saddle and I believed I could 
 break him to harness and convert him to the trotting 
 gait, and so I bought him for $200, which was a large 
 price for a green, unbroken horse. I soon broke him 
 to harness and commenced my experiment in teaching 
 him to trot. I understood that to make a natural 
 pacer trot he must carry an unnatural weight on his 
 front feet, so I went to work contriving how to accom- 
 plish this result. I had him shod in front with shoes 
 weighing one and a half pounds each, then I had a 
 pair of leather sacks made that would each hold a 
 pound of shot, then filled these sacks with shot, soaked 
 them thoroughly in water, then buckled them around 
 the front feet, thus compelling him to carry an extra 
 weight of two and a half pounds on each front foot. 
 With this weight he would square away and trot all 
 right on the road, but when I tried him on the track 
 it was so short that he would not, or could not, handle 
 himself, and would get tangled up, and I was compelled 
 to work him almost entirely on the road. He de- 
 veloped speed very rapidly and within sixty days 
 from the time I bought him I took him to Nashville 
 and started him in a trotting race against four or five 
 other horses, and, notwithstanding his handicap by 
 reason of this heavy weight, he trotted a good race, 
 winning second money, and undoubtedly had speed 
 
enough to have won the race easily if he had not been 
 thus handicapped. The best time, I think, in this race 
 was about 2.40. The day of that race I refused $1,000 
 for him, as I thought I had a world-beater. But I 
 gained some costly experience by this refusal, as after 
 keeping him and training him a year or two longer 
 I sold him for S300. His keeping and handling cost 
 me all the money I had made on the other horses. 
 This experience made me think I did not know as 
 much about conditioning and handling racehorses as I 
 supposed I did a few months previous ; but this sad 
 experience was not without its compensations, as it 
 taught me that it seldom pays to try and make a 
 fast trotter out of a natural pacer, as the weight re- 
 quired to make them trot is so great as to create too 
 much of a handicap to enable them to compete with 
 natural trotters. I am aware that there are exceptions 
 to this rule ; the most prominent, perhaps, is that of 
 Old Smuggler, a natural pacer who carried about two 
 pounds of weight on each fore foot during his trotting 
 races, and although he and some other natural pacers 
 have made successful trotting race horses, yet my ex- 
 perience and observation is that as a rule the horse 
 will do much better if allowed to go his natural gait. 
 About the time I sold this horse, Mr. George Fuller, 
 now in the employ of the Russian Government as 
 chief trainer of its trotting horses, opened a training 
 stable at Nashville, and among the horses he was 
 handling, was a mare called Tennessee, which he was 
 preparing for the Northern circuit. She was a fast 
 trotter. I arranged with him to go along and take 
 care of her. This was my first experience in taking 
 lessons of a competent man in preparing horses for a 
 campaign. I regard Mr. Fuller as one of the very 
 
best men to condition, train and drive horses I have 
 ever known. I went through the grand circuit with 
 him, and the lessons I received under his instruction 
 have been of great benefit to me in my career since 
 that time. This experience gave me more confidence 
 in myself, and the next season (1875) I opened a pub- 
 lic training stable at Nashville, where I handled a 
 number of horses and had several that could beat 
 2.40, and, as fast records were not as numerous in 
 those days as they have since become, I thought I did 
 pretty well. While training my stable that season I 
 met Major Campbell Brown of Spring Hill, Tennes- 
 see. He was the grandest and best-informed man in 
 everything that pertained to the breeding of fast har- 
 ness horses I have ever known ; and I deem it but 
 just to say that no man in the State of Tennessee has 
 done more than he did in raising the standard of the 
 light-harness horse in that State to the position which 
 it has since occupied. At that time I made an ar- 
 rangement with him to handle his horses that fall. 
 Among those he then owned was a black mare called 
 Alice West, by Almont 33. She was very handsome 
 and stylish and I soon found that she had a great deal 
 of speed. I took her to the fair at Columbia, with 
 several others, that fall, and took eleven premiums out 
 of twelve entries ; soon after this I took two or three 
 show horses and two trotters and went to the fairs in 
 Georgia and Alabama. One of the trotters was a 
 horse called East Lynn, who could trot in about 2.40, and 
 I sold him at the first place I went. The other was a 
 mare called Diana. I started her in the green classes 
 and wound up in the free for all. I gave her a record 
 of 2.33, and she never lost a race on the trip. I returned 
 to Major Brown feeling that I had been quite successful. 
 
 22 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ALICE WEST — LIZZIE THE SECOND — JOE BRADEN — A 
 QUEER ACCIDENT — AN UNFAIR RACE DECISION — 
 THE ONLY TIME I WAS EVER TAKEN OUT OF A 
 SULKY AND THE RESULT. 
 
 I LEASED and took possession of the old fair 
 ground about two miles west of Columbia, Tenn., 
 in the spring of 1876, and used the old track for 
 jogging and working the horses I had in training from 
 that time until the spring of 1889, when I was again 
 employed by Major Brown to train a large stable 
 he had at the Ewell Farm at Spring Hill, and 
 remained there until I went to Village Farm in the 
 early spring of 1892; and while at Major Brown's I 
 also trained at his track the horses I had been 
 working at my stable, and also took some additional 
 horses to handle. Commencing with the season of 
 1877, I went North with what horses I considered 
 good enough and raced over the different tracks 
 of the North, generally commencing in July and 
 ending in September, leaving a good man at home 
 to work the horses I did not take with me ; and 
 when my Northern circuit was over I went South 
 through the States of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia 
 and Mississippi, and sometimes extended my excur- 
 sions as far South as Florida and Texas, and wound 
 up the season late in December, when I would return 
 to my home near Columbia and turn the horses out for 
 a while. I continued this custom, from 1877, as long 
 
 23 
 
as I continued to reside in Tennessee. Early in the 
 season of 1877, Major Brown placed in my hands the 
 mare Alice West, of whom I have spoken, to condition 
 and prepare for the season's campaign. She was then 
 four years old, very speedy, and a game race mare. 
 I think I left Tennessee with her that season in July 
 and started her in a number of races through the 
 North, and at New York I gave her a record of 2.26. 
 She was the first trotter I ever marked below 2.30, 
 and this was my first experience in conducting a 
 campaign for myself in the North. I won several 
 good races with her, and returned to Tennessee and 
 took some other horses in my stable, which had been 
 worked some during my absence, and started for the 
 fairs about to be held in Alabama and Georgia. 
 While at Montgomery on this trip a very peculiar 
 accident occurred, which might have resulted seriously, 
 but which fortunately did not, and only added excite- 
 ment to the race. A Mr. Beebe, the driver and part 
 owner of a horse called Fred Tyler, entered his horse 
 in a race one day, and in the first heat of the race his 
 horse acted badly, and came very near being shut out. 
 I had an entry in another race which was being sand- 
 wiched in with his race. As I was about leaving the 
 track after a heat in my race, I met Mr. Beebe with 
 Fred Tyler coming onto the track ready to start in the 
 second heat, and he requested me to drive his horse 
 the rest of his race, which I consented to do. I sent 
 my horse to the stable and when about to get up 
 behind Fred Tyler I noticed that the sulky looked 
 weak and unsafe. I took hold of one of the wheels 
 and it seemed loose and anything but solid. I told 
 Mr. Beebe I did not like the looks of his sulky, and 
 did not think it was safe. He said it was all right, 
 
 24 
 
that he was a much heavier man than I was, that he 
 had driven a number of races with it, and if it would 
 hold him it certainly would hold me, and with this 
 assurance I reluctantly mounted the sulky and the 
 race soon commenced. It was a half-mile track, and 
 there were several horses in the race, but it soon 
 became apparent that the contest would be betvveen 
 Fred Tyler and another horse, who had full as 
 much speed as he had. When we reached the head 
 of the stretch in the last half of the mile, Fred Tyler 
 and the other contending horse were about on equal 
 terms, and when I called on my horse for an extra 
 spurt, he left his feet, and to get him back to his gait 
 I pulled first sharply on the right rein, and then on 
 the left. With the second pull he settled into a 
 square trot, but the effort in pulling so hard on the left 
 rein threw my weight on the outside wheel of the 
 sulky, and it instantly collapsed, the spokes leaving 
 the hub and the hub striking the ground, but, strange 
 as it may seem, this mishap did not cause the horse to 
 break and did not unseat me. This accident occurred 
 about 150 yards from the wire, and I drove to the 
 wire with one hub dragging on the ground, and Fred 
 Tyler, under the persuasion of the whip, won the heat, 
 amid the plaudits of as excited an audience as was 
 ever seen upon a race track. I stopped a few feet 
 beyond the wire, and some gentleman in the audience 
 ran up to the sulky and took hold of the hub and 
 raised it up, and carried it in his hand while I drove 
 back to the judges' stand. Another sulky was then 
 procured and I went on and won the race. While no 
 harm resulted to anything but the old sulky, I confess 
 I have never cared to repeat this experience. There 
 are hundreds of people still living in Montgomery who 
 
 25 
 
witnessed this thrilling episode, and I never go to that 
 city that I do not meet some one who speaks of it. 
 
 When I started upon my career as a trainer and 
 driver, I was impressed with the idea that integrity, 
 courtesy, and gentlemanly conduct should be carried 
 into the training stable and upon the race track to 
 the same extent that obtains in the court room, the 
 bank and the store; and I have ever endeavored to 
 observe this rule of conduct in the part I have taken 
 in training and driving horses during the past quarter 
 of a century. But while upon one of these Southern 
 campaigns — and I think it was in the fall of 1877 — 
 it was my fortune to come in contact with one who 
 did not seem to entertain the same ideas upon this 
 subject that I did. One of the horses I then had in 
 my stable was a mare called Lizzie the Second. She 
 was a strong, level-headed, good-gaited mare, and 
 speedy enough for anything in her class at these races. 
 At Americus, Ga., I started her in a race in which 
 was a Mr. Bradley driving a horse whose name I do 
 not remember. It was a half-mile track, and my posi- 
 tion in the race was next outside of Mr. Bradley. My 
 mare and the horse Mr, Bradley was driving were the 
 chief contending horses in the race. We raced along 
 close together and when the back stretch was reached 
 on the second half mile, my mare was up to his wheel 
 and, seeing that I was likely to pass him, he pulled his 
 horse toward the outside fence, and so close to it that 
 there was not enough room for me to pass between 
 his sulky and the fence. I requested him to move 
 over and give me room to pass. He paid no attention 
 to this request, but, if anything, pulled his horse still 
 nearer my mare. I called upon him several times to 
 move over, but he still continued to pay no attention 
 
 26 
 
to my demands, and I finally told him I should try 
 and go through. He said nothing, but kept his horse 
 in the same position. My inside sulky wheel was then 
 locked inside of his outside wheel. I braced myself 
 well, and threw my weight on the inside of the sulky 
 shaft, took a strong hold upon the mare, and clucked 
 to her and she responded to my urging. When he 
 realized the situation he turned his horse toward the 
 inside of the track, which brought the force of my 
 locked wheel nearly against the side of his wheel, and 
 the spokes of his wheel commenced to fly in all direc- 
 tions. His wheel was broken in many pieces and he 
 was thrown several feet in the air. My sulky wheel 
 passed over what remained of the wreck ; my mare 
 never broke her trot, and I easily won the heat. I 
 was then a young man and scarcely known to the 
 judges. He was an experienced driver, and the horse 
 he was driving belonged to a prominent and influen- 
 tial man, well known to the judges. After the heat 
 I went to the judges and explained the exact situa- 
 tion to them. Mr. Bradley and the owner of the horse 
 he was driving were also there. The judges heard 
 our statements and I think the owner of the other 
 horse must have exercised some hypnotic influence 
 over them, as they decided I did wrong ; declared the 
 heat off ; sent me and my mare to the stable, and 
 allowed Bradley to start again. I then thought, and 
 have always believed, that under the racing rules and 
 all rules of fairness I was in the right and clearly en- 
 titled to the heat. This is the only time in the his- 
 tory of my experience that I ever intentionally col- 
 lided with another driver, and the only time I was 
 ever sent to the stable for alleged foul driving. The 
 next day there was a free-for-all trot in which were the 
 
 27 
 
horses Hotspur, Flora Belle, Alice West and Tornado, 
 Alice West being my entry, and this same Mr. Brad- 
 ley was behind Hotspur. These horses all had records 
 ranging from 2.22 held by Hotspur, to 2.26 held by 
 Alice West. Hotspur drew the pole and was a very 
 fast scorer. Flora Belle and Tornado were slow in 
 scoring. I had by this time given Alice West suffi- 
 cient experience, so that she was a reliable race mare, 
 and very handy in catching after making a break. We 
 commenced scoring, and Mr. Bradley would rush Hot- 
 spur at the top of his speed regardless of where the 
 other horses were, and would not attempt to get a 
 fair even start. After several unsuccessful attempts 
 at starting I told the judges that Mr. Bradley was not 
 trying to score for a fair start, and that he should 
 come slow to the wire and allow the other horses that 
 could not score as fast as Hotspur to get on even 
 terms with him. But Bradley seemed to think he was 
 doing the proper thing. We went back to score again, 
 and, as usual, Bradley rushed Hotspur ahead of the 
 rest of us, and not wishing to be left entirely in the 
 rear, should the judges send us off, I clucked to Alice 
 West and she immediately broke into a run and over- 
 took Hotspur just before the wire was reached, when 
 I settled her in a trot, and she and Hotspur went un- 
 der the wire head and head, and the judges said "go," 
 both Flora Belle and Tornado being at least fifty 
 yards back. Alice West was at that time a new horse 
 to the race followers in that section, and every one, 
 knowing of the record and reputation of old Hotspur, 
 thought the race to be only a matter of form and that 
 Hotspur could not be beaten, but I did not share in 
 this opinion. We raced on about even terms until we 
 came to a part of the track that was very sandy, when 
 
 28 
 
old Hotspur began to tire, and I easily won the heat, 
 and won the race, and felt that I had been revenged 
 for the ill treatment I had received the day before. I 
 also won two or three other races at that meeting. 
 
 In 1884, I purchased Joe Braden, then a green horse, 
 that showed a good way of going under the saddle, and 
 when I took him his feet were in a very bad condition, 
 by reason of which he developed speed very slowly ; 
 but I believed if I could get his feet in condition to 
 stand work he would learn to pace fast. I resorted to 
 every device within my knowledge and spent many 
 sleepless hours trying to invent something that would 
 sufficiently protect his feet to enable him to endure 
 the hardships of racing. My efforts were at last suc- 
 cessful, and he became a good horse, and in his pre- 
 paratory work, one spring, paced a quarter of a mile to 
 a high-wheeled sulky, over the old, uneven, fair ground 
 track at Columbia, in thirty-one seconds. I cam- 
 paigned him through the North in 1885 and 1886, and 
 gave him a record of 2.15^. He developed into a 
 first-class race horse, and except for his tender feet, 
 which would occasionally cause him to suffer so much 
 pain that he would not extend himself and would 
 break, he would have been one of the best race horses 
 of his day. In the fall of 1886 I took my stable 
 South, and at Gainsville, Texas, entered Joe Braden 
 in the free-for-all pace. The track was very hard, 
 which caused Braden to be unsteady, but I think I 
 would have won the race had not Braden left his feet 
 in the second heat, which caused him to lose that heat. 
 After this heat the judges took me out of the sulky, 
 and put up a new driver, which did not improve mat- 
 ters, as the horse was more unsteady than ever, and, 
 with the best efforts the driver could command, Joe 
 
 29 
 
Braden finished the heat behind the flag, thus demon- 
 strating that my removal from the sulky was entirely 
 without cause. Of course, I felt mortified at being 
 thus removed from my sulky, and I am proud to say 
 that in all my experience as a driver this is the only 
 time I have ever been taken out of a sulky by the 
 judges in a race. 
 
 30 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MATTIE HUNTER — SOME OF HER GREAT RACES. 
 
 I FIRST saw Mattie Hunter in the summer of 1875. 
 She was then three years old. She was very hand- 
 some and stylish, a bright chestnut, with white 
 strip in face, white stockings behind, and one in front. 
 I do not think she had then been broken to harness, 
 but could pace quite fast under the saddle. Her con- 
 formation, style and gameness gave evidence of breed- 
 ing of a high character, but beyond her sire and dam 
 nothing can ever be known. At the close of the war, 
 the Government had a large number of horses at 
 Nashville, which had been gathered in by the soldiers 
 from different places, and no one knew from whence 
 they came or anything about their breeding. These 
 horses were sold at public auction, and among them 
 was a tall, rangy, chestnut colt, then three years old. 
 He was very poor, and had every appearance of having 
 been ridden hard and poorly taken care of. This colt 
 was purchased by Major Alman of Cornersville, Tenn., 
 and by him named Prince Pulaski. With rest and 
 care he improved rapidly, and when matured was one 
 of the handsomest and best show horses I ever saw ; 
 and while his breeding was, and probably will forever 
 remain, unknown, his style, beautiful head and neck, 
 perfect legs, and smooth conformation, furnished 
 indisputable evidence of royal breeding, and that he 
 possessed a large element of the best thoroughbred 
 blood then known in that section of the country. In 
 
 31 
 
iSyi, he was bred to a small chestnut mare with white 
 markings, of unknown breeding, the product being the 
 filly Mattie Hunter, foaled in 1872. I know that 
 many turf writers in speaking of Mattie Hunter have 
 said that her dam was a Texas pony, while others 
 have said she was by Driver, but I have never known 
 or seen anything to warrant these statements, and 
 from all the information I have been able to gather 
 upon the subject I believe she was a small chestnut 
 saddle mare and a natural pacer. Early in 1878 the 
 owner of Mattie Hunter brought her to me to train 
 and race that season. I had never ridden or driven 
 her before then. She had been broken to harness, but 
 had been speeded but little in harness. She developed 
 speed very rapidly, and I soon discovered that she had 
 more speed than any horse I had yet handled, and was 
 one of the purest-gaited pacers I have ever seen. Her 
 temperament was of the best, and it was not long 
 before she could show a 2.20 gait. In the fall of 1878 
 I concluded to take some of the horses I had in train- 
 ing to several fairs in the Southern States, among 
 them being Mattie Hunter. On this trip I met Sleepy 
 George in a number of contests. He was driven by 
 Mr. Crawford, known as '* Counselor " Crawford, who 
 was an accomplished reinsman. At that time Sleepy 
 George had a record, as I remember, of about 2.15, 
 and was considered the fastest pacer then upon the 
 turf. In the first race or two Sleepy George, by reason 
 of his being an experienced campaigner, was able 
 to defeat the mare ; but as soon as she had had a little 
 experience she could outpace him, and I won several 
 good races from him with her. She retired that fall 
 with a record of 2.19^. This does not seem to be 
 very fast time for a horse of her ability ; but it must 
 
 32 
 
be remembered that these races were over tracks that 
 were very sandy, and as a general thing not in first- 
 class condition. I concluded to winter my horses in 
 Montgomery, Ala., that winter, so as to get them in 
 good condition for the next season's campaign ; and 
 as I had done so well with Mattie Hunter, her owner 
 concluded to leave her in my hands to winter, and to 
 campaign the next season. The weather was quite 
 warm, and the roads and track were soft, and very 
 favorable for jogging horses. I took the shoes off 
 Mattie Hunter after her fall campaign, and jogged her 
 barefooted nearly all winter. She did not require any 
 boots in jogging, and scarcely any at all in her races. 
 While working her barefooted one day in the early 
 spring I drove her a quarter of a mile to a high- 
 wheeled sulky in thirty seconds, a feat I have never 
 known to be equaled by any horse. She came out 
 in the spring of 1879 ^^ splendid condition, and I 
 believed her good enough to go in any company. 
 While pacing races up to that time had not been 
 favored at the great race meetings of the North, 
 it so happened that season that there were a number 
 of fast pacers being worked and developed in different 
 parts of the country, among them being Blind Tom, 
 Rowdy Boy, Lucy, Sleepy George, and others. The 
 newspapers had printed so much about the ex- 
 treme speed each of these horses could show, that the 
 public clamored for their appearance in contests at 
 the different large race meetings, and public opinion 
 demanded of the different associations in the Grand 
 Circuit that purses sufficiently large be offered to ac- 
 complish their appearance ; and yielding to this de- 
 mand, the associations did offer very liberal purses for 
 a class of free-for-all pacers. I knew that the horses to 
 
 33 
 
be met in these races were experienced campaigners, 
 and very fast, game, and reliable race horses. I also 
 knew that in Mattie Hunter I had as good-gaited a 
 pacer and as game a race horse as the turf had yet 
 seen. So I concluded to enter her in these great con- 
 tests. The first of these meetings was at Jackson, 
 Mich. And in that race, as near as I can remem- 
 ber, were Blind Tom, Lucy, Rowdy Boy, Sleepy 
 George, and Mattie Hunter. This race was won by 
 Blind Tom, I think, in about 2.14, Mattie Hunter 
 finishing a very close second. From there we went to 
 Grand Rapids, Louisville, Toledo, Cleveland, Chi- 
 cago and other places. While Sleepy George was a 
 contending factor in the first few of these races the 
 pace soon became too warm for him and he dropped 
 out, leaving the great quartet to continue the battle. 
 These races were the sensations of the racing world 
 that year. I won some of the races with Mattie 
 Hunter, but Blind Tom carried off a majority of the 
 victories. I think one of the best races I have ever 
 witnessed was in Chicago, which was won by Blind 
 Tom. In the fifth heat of that race, which was paced 
 in about 2.12^, and was won by Blind Tom, Mattie 
 Hunter finished second, and was only about a neck 
 behind the leader. As near as I can now remember, I 
 gave Mattie Hunter a record in these races of about 
 2.13 or 2.14. While at the meeting in Chicago, Mat- 
 tie Hunter was sold to Mr. R. C. Pate of St. Louis, 
 who finished that season's campaign with her, and 
 raced her some time afterwards. She afterwards re- 
 duced her record to 2.12^, and was finally purchased, 
 after her racing days were about over, by Mr. Emery 
 of Cleveland, where she was used as a brood mare 
 until she died some time ago. 
 
 34 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 TENNESSEE PASTIMES — FIRST MONDAY — COLT SHOWS 
 — FOX HUNTING. 
 
 PEOPLE residing in the North who have not visited 
 or become acquainted with the methods pecu- 
 liar to the people of Tennessee, can hardly ap- 
 preciate some of the pastimes in which those people 
 indulge. The first Monday of every month in the 
 year has been a holiday nearly, if not quite, ever since 
 the State was settled, and on this day nearly all the 
 people in the county will go to the county seat and 
 spend the day. On these days every one who has 
 horses to sell or trade, cattle, pigs, machinery or pro- 
 duce to sell, will bring their stock and property to the 
 county seat to be seen, exhibited, sold and traded, and 
 it is not an uncommon thing for several thousand 
 people to congregate there on these occasions, and 
 amusing incidents are of frequent occurrence. Not 
 many years ago, on one of these occasions, at Pulaski, 
 Giles County, a man appeared seated in a wagon, 
 having in front of him a glass churn, three or four feet 
 high, filled about one-half or two-thirds full of cream. 
 He was seated in a large, easy rocking chair, reading a 
 paper and smoking a pipe. There was a rod running 
 from the churn to the rocking chair and so adjusted 
 that every time he rocked the dasher of the churn 
 would rise up and down, and so he continued to rock, 
 smoke and read, occasionally looking out from behind 
 his paper to see if the butter had come ; and many a 
 
 35 
 
boy, as he watched this process of butter-making and 
 remembered how his back and arms ached when pur- 
 suing the methods taught by his father, voted this the 
 greatest invention of the age, and that the man who 
 invented that churn ought to have cold watermelon 
 the rest of his days. Another feature of these days is 
 the horse trading, and in some counties it is known 
 as " Jockey Day," and every one who has a horse he 
 desires to sell or trade will bring him in and put him 
 in a yard known as ''Jockey Yard," and it is not un- 
 common to see several hundred horses of all kinds and 
 descriptions in one of these yards, and before night 
 they will generally be disposed of. If any are left 
 after the buyers and traders are through, an auctioneer 
 is brought in and the balance are sold under the 
 hammer. When night comes, every one who has 
 ** swapped " horses thinks he has made a small fortune 
 by his cleverness in outwitting the man at the other 
 end of the trade ; but I imagine they generally come 
 out about the same as the two men of whom a story 
 is told, who went into the woods in the fall of the year 
 to chop wood ; one of them had a watch and the other 
 a fiddle. The first evening after they arrived they 
 traded even, and each thought he had made several 
 dollars by the transaction ; and as this business seemed 
 to be much easier and more lucrative than chopping 
 wood, they did nothing all winter but trade the watch 
 and fiddle back and forth ; and when spring came each 
 claimed to have made a good winter's work, each 
 having the same property he had when winter began 
 and not a dollar had passed between them. In the 
 spring months stallions owned in the county, and 
 frequently those of an outside county, are brought to- 
 gether on these days for the inspection of farmers and 
 
 36 
 
breeders of the vicinity, and as the saddle and pacing 
 gaits are the ones generally desired in the country dis- 
 tricts, the horses are shown under saddle ; first show- 
 ing the saddle gaits, such as the fox trot, running walk, 
 single foot and canter, and then they will go up the 
 road a few hundred yards and pace down to a given 
 point, and sometimes these horses will show a great 
 turn of speed. I think one of the best exhibitions of 
 riding and speeding under saddle I ever remember to 
 have witnessed was at Lebanon, when I was a boy. 
 On one of these days, in the spring of the year, there 
 were a number of stallions exhibited, among them 
 being a gray or white pacing stallion, called Mountain 
 Slasher, a horse well known to Tennesseeans. This 
 horse was shown.by William Goldston, one of the best 
 riders and horsemen in the State. After the horses 
 had shown their saddle gaits they all went up the road 
 several hundred yards to pace down. When they 
 were ready, Goldston placed the riding whip in his 
 mouth, dropped the bridle rein on Slasher's neck, 
 placed his hands on his hips and, with arms akimbo, 
 started with the others ; and on they came, Goldston 
 sitting as erect as a piece of statuary, and every little 
 while sticking the spurs into the sides of Slasher, who 
 with the reins lying loose on his neck, and without 
 anything to steady him except his inherent pacing in- 
 stinct, regardless of stones and the rough uneven sur- 
 face, never broke his true even pace, and clearly out- 
 paced all his competitors and carried off the laurels of 
 the day. I mention this incident mainly to show how 
 intensely the pacing instinct is instilled in the pacing 
 horses of Tennessee, and how difficult it has been to 
 convert them to trotting. From the time the colt is 
 old enough to stand he knows nothing but pace, and 
 
 2>1 
 
I have seen dogs set upon colts a year or two old and 
 they would race across the fields and never break the 
 pacing gait. 
 
 In that portion of the State known as Middle Tennes- 
 see, and in other counties where the breeding of horses 
 is carried on to any considerable extent, the custom of 
 holding colt shows has been observed for many years. 
 These colt shows are generally held in August, and 
 concluded just before the beginning of the county 
 fairs, which commence early in September and con- 
 tinue through September and a large part of October. 
 They are held in or near the small villages and are 
 looked forward to by the farming community as one 
 of the chief events of the year. The "ring" is gen- 
 erally made in a shady woodland, and when the morn- 
 ing of the show arrives a sight is presented to one not 
 accustomed to it as picturesque as it is novel. Along 
 the road leading to the ring will come the owner of a 
 stallion leading or riding the pride of his life, all 
 bedecked with ribbons and groomed so slick as to raise 
 a suspicion that bear's grease has been used in his final 
 preparation. Next will appear a farmer leading a 
 mare, beside which is her off spring several months old, 
 and often the colt will be wearing a fancy bitting 
 harness, in which it seems perfectly at home. But 
 more curious than all these is the old colored mammy 
 mounted on the old reliable saddle mare, with one child 
 astride in front and several mounted in the same 
 way behind, so that this "beast of burden " is loaded 
 from her shoulders to her tail, and traveling in this 
 manner most of the community gather near where the 
 exercises are to be held. These shows commence in 
 the morning and frequently last all day, and no one 
 ever need be afraid that he will suffer from hunger in 
 
 38 
 
attending a show of this character, as the good and 
 thoughtful housewives of the exhibitors will prepare 
 a spread large enough to feed an army. Several thou- 
 sand people often attend these shows, and they are 
 not only very enjoyable but instructive to the breed- 
 ers who attend. Classes are made and premiums 
 offered for pretty much everything, including stallions, 
 brood mares, sucklings, yearlings, two and three-year- 
 old colts, etc. When the master of ceremonies is ready, 
 the judges enter the ring and class after class is brought 
 in and exhibited, and it will surprise a novice to see 
 how fast some of these colts can pace. Seated upon a 
 running or pacing horse the attendant will take the 
 reins attached to the colt's bitting harness and away 
 they will fly, the colt pacing up to the saddler's head. 
 This manner of exhibiting speed is observed with the 
 different colt classes, and when everything any one 
 desires to enter has been exhibited and passed upon by 
 the judges, the crowd disperses to assemble again in a 
 few days at some neighboring village, where the same 
 ceremony is repeated, and at these miniature fairs is 
 commenced the career of some of the great horses the 
 State sends out to the racing world. 
 
 Fox hunting is a custom common to most of the South- 
 ern States, and I know of no sport more enjoyable or 
 exhilarating, not even an exciting horse race ; and I 
 have spent many happy hours in this enjoyable pas- 
 time. Many of the prominent residents of these States 
 own packs of hounds, and when a fox hunt is desired, 
 frequently several neighbors will assemble together, 
 when the host will produce a fox-horn, blow a blast or 
 two, and the hounds will come running and baying 
 from all directions, ready and eager for the chase. 
 Then, mounted on saddle horses, the hunters with the 
 
 39 
 
hounds will start for some locality where the red fox is 
 supposed to have his domicile, and when that territory 
 is reached the fun commences. When the dogs strike 
 the trail there is no mistaking the fact, as their deep, 
 rich voices can be heard for miles, and, as soon as 
 they indicate the direction in which the fox is heading, 
 the hunters start at breakneck speed and endeavor to 
 keep within hailing distance of the hounds. These hunts 
 are often had at night when it is so dark that the 
 hunters can scarcely see ten feet ahead, and the course 
 pursued by the fox frequently requires them to ride 
 through the woods, over fences and ditches, logs and 
 rocks, up and down hills so steep, that serious injury 
 seems to await both horses and riders ; but these hunters 
 are fearless, and experts in the saddle, and the horses 
 are surefooted and courageous, and seem to enter into 
 the spirit of the chase with as much enthusiasm as 
 the riders, and accidents of any consequence rarely 
 happen. When the fox is caught or the chase aban- 
 doned, a blast on the horn will call the hounds to the 
 hunters, and another field will be invaded ; or hunters 
 and hounds will return to their homes, and, whether 
 laden with the trophies of victory or not, they have 
 enjoyed a most delightful outing. I recall one hunt of 
 this character which occurred when I was a boy, that 
 was so fraught with exciting and comical incidents I 
 cannot repress the impulse to relate it. One of our 
 neighbors was Squire Winford, whose son Alfred was 
 about my own age, and we were great chums. Squire 
 Winford had one of the best packs of fox hounds in 
 the State, and in this pack were two of the best 
 hounds I ever saw. Their names were "Troupe " and 
 " Flounce." I then owed five or six pretty good 
 hounds, and Alfred and I often went fox hunting with 
 
 40 
 
our combined forces. Some two or three miles from 
 our house one of the largest red foxes ever seen in 
 that locality had his habitation, and he was known far 
 and wide as "Old Spot," because he had a large white 
 spot on his right side, which was plainly visible to 
 hunters in the daytime. Old Spot was as game and 
 wily as any fox that ever led a pack of hounds a for- 
 lorn chase, and seemed to enjoy being pursued by 
 hounds better than stealing and eating a tender young 
 chicken from a farmer's hencoop ; and whenever Alfred 
 and I wanted some fun we would take the dogs down 
 to the domain of Old Spot, who seemed to anticipate 
 our coming and was always ready to mingle in the 
 sport. He had his regular runways, and had so 
 planned his course that it would describe the figure 8 
 and cross and recross his tracks, and when the hounds 
 would get tired of following him he would seek his 
 resting place and be ready for another chase. We had 
 chased him so much that we did not believe all the 
 hounds in the State could catch him, and so declared 
 to our friends ; and this declaration stirred up the 
 hunting blood of a number of sportsmen far and near, 
 who each claimed to have the best dogs in the world, 
 and ones that no fox could escape, and it was not long 
 before an organized effort was suggested to try and 
 catch Old Spot. The ones forming this sanguinary 
 syndicate were Mr. A., Mr. G., Mr. B., Mr. S., Alfred 
 and myself. Each of these gentlemen had a pack of 
 hounds, numbering about nine or ten, so that when 
 the hunters assembled there were more than fifty 
 hounds, each eager to get the first taste of blood from 
 Old Spot. At the head of Mr. A.'s pack was a hound 
 called " Ranger," that was celebrated for his fleetness 
 and staying qualities. The pack of Mr. G. was led by 
 
 41 
 
a hound called " Revenge," to whom his owner was 
 deeply attached, and who claimed that no fox in 
 Tennessee could outrun or outlast him. The pride of 
 of Mr. B.'s pack was a dog called '* Royalty," who had 
 never been defeated in a chase ; while Mr. S. was the 
 proud owner of a hound called '' Leader," who was at 
 the head of what he considered the best pack of 
 hounds in several counties. Arrangements were made 
 to start upon the expedition to exterminate Old Spot 
 between sundown and dark one evening, and at the 
 appointed hour the hunters, with their fifty or sixty 
 hounds, assembled, and at the word of command we 
 all started in quest of Old Spot. We soon arrived 
 upon his favorite racing ground, and it seemed as 
 though he must have intuitively known of our coming 
 and had already taken a warming-up heat, for we had 
 scarcely invaded his territory before up he jumped and 
 challenged the formidable array of death pursuers to a 
 test of skill, speed and endurance ; and as soon as the 
 race commenced the volume of noise that came forth 
 from the mouths of this army of fox destroyers was 
 sufficient to remind one of an artillery engagement, 
 and as pursued and pursuers sped over the hills and 
 the voices of the hounds echoed and reechoed 
 through the woods the voices of the different ones 
 could be clearly recognized. Alfred and I were so 
 familiar with the tactics of Old Spot that we could 
 tell about the course he would pursue, and at our sug- 
 gestion all the hunters dismounted, hitched their 
 horses, and we built a fire and prepared to make our- 
 selves comfortable during the night if the chase should 
 last that long, and Alfred and I believed it would. As 
 the race progressed and the voice of Ranger could be 
 heard, Mr. A. said that it was not possible for the 
 
 42 
 
chase to last much longer, as no fox ever lived that 
 could keep on earth before the terrific speed of that 
 dog. On they went, and as the voice of Revenge was 
 heard, his owner requested us to listen to the pace he 
 was setting, and assured us that Old Spot made a mis- 
 take when he entered the race in front of him. As 
 Old Spot circled round, and crossed and recrossed 
 his tracks, the well-known voice of Royalty was recog- 
 nized, close up to the leaders, and his owner said that 
 Old Spot would be obliged to find a hole of some kind 
 very soon, as no fox could stand the pace that 
 Royalty could set when he became thoroughly warmed 
 up, a condition to which he seemed to be fast 
 approaching. When the owner of Leader heard the 
 voice of his favorite dog, he poked the fire and lighted 
 his pipe, and offered to bet a mule against a jack- 
 knife that Old Spot would not last an hour. One of 
 the hounds belonging to the pack of Mr. A. was named 
 " Old Cuff," who had a voice like a calliope, which 
 could be distinctly heard above the roar of the other 
 voices ; and when the dogs were fairly straightened out 
 in the race. Old Cuff was a long ways behind the 
 leaders and seemed to be bringing up the rear, but his 
 owner said that if the chase should last all night Old 
 Cuff would be found in the front ranks in the early 
 morning, and so for several hours we sat around the 
 fire, smoked, told stories, and listened to the great feats 
 that each of these pet dogs could accomplish. Alfred 
 said nothing in praise of the ability of Old Troupe and 
 Flounce. Old Spot continued his usual tactics of 
 circling and keeping just far enough ahead of the 
 dogs to be cruelly tantalizing. About midnight a 
 number of the hounds came straggling into camp. 
 Old Spot, wishing to give his pursuers an enjoyable 
 
 43 
 
entertainment, changed his course and ran so far from 
 us that for an hour or two the dogs were entirely out 
 of hearing, and during this period Old Ranger 
 appeared, and when his owner saw him he said the 
 fox must either be dead or in his hole, as his old, 
 reliable dog would never have left him alive. Then 
 in succession appeared Revenge, Royalty and Leader, 
 and when they came their owners each said the chase 
 was all over, that the fox had retired for the night, and 
 we had better follow his example. Other dogs of less 
 celebrity than these also came straggling in and made 
 themselves comfortable by the fire. While Alfred 
 heard these suggestions about retiring he said nothing, 
 but kept up a lively thinking, and about two o'clock 
 in the morning went down a little ways from the fire 
 and listened, and heard the familiar voices of Old 
 Troupe and Flounce in the dim distance, apparently 
 heading towards us. By this time nearly all the dogs 
 except Old Troupe and Flounce had abandoned the 
 chase, and as Old Spot drew near to where we were 
 standing Alfred called upon the owners of the other 
 dogs, who had talked so loudly about their prowess, to 
 " call out their dogs of high-sounding names and royal 
 lineage and let them join Old Troupe and Flounce and 
 be in at the death." And these gentlemen did rally 
 their dogs, who once more joined in the chase, but 
 they soon tired and returned to camp. Old Spot, with 
 Troupe and Flounce close behind him, circled near us 
 several times, and each time the rest of the several 
 packs would join in the chase, only to soon return in 
 apparent disgust. Old Cuff, however, proved himself 
 a stayer, and although unable to keep near the leaders 
 his great voice could be plainly heard a mile or so 
 behind during the latter part of the chase. Finally, 
 
 44 
 

 b/3 ? 
 
 5 t/) 
 
 O s 
 
Old Spot, thinking he had afforded his intending cap- 
 tors sufficient amusement for one night, headed for his 
 old resting place, and just as the morning sun began to 
 gild the eastern horizon he appeared in sight running 
 easy and fast, and about a hundred yards behind him 
 were Old Troupe and Flounce running side by side, 
 the clarion tones of their musical voices mingling with 
 the songs of the wild birds, and thus they continued 
 for a short distance, when Old Spot entered his den to 
 rest and get ready for another entertainment. At the 
 closing hours of the chase all but about half a dozen 
 doofs had retired from the contest, and these few were 
 so far behind Old Troupe and Flounce as to clearly 
 show they were outclassed. The owners of these 
 much-touted dogs were honest in their belief that 
 their dogs were great, and able to catch any fox that 
 wore fur, but the contest to which they were invited 
 was essentially different from any in which they had 
 ever participated and Old Spot was a different racer 
 than any which their dogs had ever pursued. 
 
 The next year I was employed by Mr. John Harding 
 to break and handle some young animals he owned. 
 His place was on the Cumberland River, about nine 
 miles from Nashville. Near him lived Mr. David 
 Magavock, who owned a large pack and I often went 
 hunting with him. I told him of Troupe and Flounce 
 and what great dogs they were, and as Alfred had 
 married and moved away, and no one was left to hunt 
 with Squire Winford's dogs I recommended them to 
 him, and he purchased them and considered them the 
 best dogs he ever saw. Troupe got one of his legs 
 broken and was shut up in the carriage house. One 
 day while he was there the dogs started a gray fox not 
 far from the house, and, notwithstanding his broken 
 
 45 
 
leg, Old Troupe got out and joined in the chase. The 
 fox was soon caught, and one of the first dogs at the 
 death was Old Troupe, who stood over the fox holding 
 up his broken leg with the broken bone protruding 
 through the skin, and seeing him in that condition 
 Frank Magavock, a son of the owner of the dog, 
 thoughtlessly drew his revolver and shot him ; and 
 when I witnessed the death of that noble dog there 
 was something came up in my throat, and I experi- 
 enced a sorrow and grief I cannot express. 
 
 The horses ridden upon these occasions in Tennes- 
 see embrace the best and speediest that State has pro- 
 duced. Tom, Hal, Clipper, Brooks, Mattie Hunter, 
 Little Brown Jug, Joe Braden, Joe Bowers, Brown 
 Hal, Hal Pointer, Bay Tom, Duplex, Locomotive, and 
 Mountain Slasher have all participated in these hunts 
 and contributed to the enjoyment of their owners. 
 
 46 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE HAL FAMILY— KITTRELL'S HAL — GIBSON'S TOM 
 HAL — LITTLE BROWN J U G — LO C OMO T IV E — 
 BROWN HAL— HAL POINTER. 
 
 THE pacing interests of Tennessee were fortu- 
 nate in the quality of the horses which were 
 brought to the State at an early day, from 
 which sprung the great campaigners that have given 
 to the State its exclusive title of the mother of the 
 pacing family. Back in the fifties, Major Kittrell of 
 Taylorsville, Tenn., went to Kentucky, and purchased 
 a roan saddle stallion that was a natural pacer ; this 
 horse became known as Kittrell's Hal, and is the 
 foundation head from which has come nearly all the 
 celebrated horses from that State. Other pacing and 
 saddle liorses were brought to the State from Ken- 
 tucky about the same time ; but, as my name has been 
 associated to a considerable extent with the Hal family, 
 I shall confine my observations to it. Kittrell's Hal 
 was a horse about 153/j^ hands high, very heavily 
 muscled, and in the exhibitions of speed which he gave 
 under the saddle at fairs and other horse shows 
 proved him to be a fast, natural pacer, but he never 
 was handled for speed. The facts obtainable respect- 
 ing his breeding are so few and unsatisfactory as to 
 render any statement concerning it unwarranted, but 
 that he was a highly-bred horse there can scarcely be a 
 doubt. In 1862 he was bred to a mare called Betsey 
 Baker, the produce being Gibson's Tom Hal, Old 
 
 47 
 
Tom Hal, or Tom Hal, Jr., as he is known in the 
 registry. Betsey Baker was a mare fully one-half 
 thoroughbred. Gibson's Tom Hal was speeded under 
 saddle at the country fairs and spent much of his time 
 before the plow and the log wagon, and was never 
 hitched to a sulky. 
 
 He was a roan horse about 15}^ hands high, and 
 one of the strongest and best muscled horses I ever 
 saw; and when he died, in 1890, being then twenty- 
 seven years old, his back was as straight as a two-year- 
 old, and his muscular development showed no signs 
 of impairment. 
 
 43 
 
THE first of his get to attract the attention of the 
 country was Little Brown Jug, and his history 
 is so unique I think it well deserves to be 
 given here. In 1874, Mr. O. N. Fry, of Mooresville, 
 Tenn., was the owner of Gibson's Tom Hal, who was 
 making the season at $5 by the insurance, and if, 
 when the colt was old enough to wean, it did not 
 show the saddle gaits no fee whatever was charged. 
 A neighbor of Mr. Fry then owned a mare named 
 Lizzie, by John Netherland, a pacing-bred horse. Mr. 
 Fry happened to meet the owner of Lizzie one day 
 and suggested to him the advisability of breeding Liz- 
 zie to Tom Hal; but the owner of Lizzie demurred, 
 saying he could raise a mule, and that when the mule 
 was a year old he could sell it for $50, which was 
 much better than he could do raising colts. Finally, 
 Mr. Fry proposed that if he would breed to Tom Hal 
 he would pay him $50 for the colt when it was a year 
 old, if sound and all right. This proposition was ac- 
 cepted, and one day the next year the man appeared 
 at Mr. Fry's place leading a colt so thin that he would 
 hardly make a shadow, and in addition to apparently 
 being half starved, he was covered with lice, which 
 had eaten his mane and tail and nearly finished what 
 little vitality was in his body. This colt was Little 
 Brown Jug, which this man had brought to Mr. Fry 
 pursuant to their contract, as he claimed, and de- 
 manded the $50. When Mr. Fry saw the colt he re- 
 fused to receive him, and told the man he did not want 
 such a looking colt upon his place. The man said he 
 had no money and had relied upon the promised $50 
 
 49 
 
to buy necessaries for his family, and finally Mr. Fry, 
 out of sympathy but under protest, took the colt and 
 paid the S50. After a thorough cleaning and cleans- 
 ing the colt was given plenty to eat and improved 
 very rapidly. The next year Mr. Fry leased a por- 
 tion of his farm to a colored man to work on shares, 
 who had no horse, and in the spring that Little Brown 
 Jug was two years old he was sold by Mr. Fry to this 
 colored man for $75. The colored man broke him to 
 harness and used him to plow the land and put in his 
 crops ; and in addition to this work every Sunday his 
 wife and two or three children would get upon the 
 back of the colt and ride several miles to church ; and, 
 in addition to all this, the colored man's son had a 
 sweetheart who lived two or three miles from his 
 home, and he would take this colt, after having worked 
 him all day, and go across the fields to the home of 
 his sweetheart, hitch him outdoors, where he would 
 stand with nothing to eat, and often in the storms, 
 until the early hours of the morning. This per- 
 formance was repeated several times a week during 
 the entire season. When fall came the colt was in a 
 pitiable condition, and showed his hard usage very 
 plainly. That fall the wife of the colored man was 
 taken sick, and, after attending her for some time, the 
 doctor refused to come any more unless Mr. Fry 
 would become responsible for his bill, which he finally 
 consented to do, and the doctor attended her until she 
 died. The doctor's bill was $60, and seeing there was 
 no other way out of the difBculty the colored man 
 gave the colt to Mr. Fry and he paid the doctor the 
 $60. At that time the colt could not be sold for $60, 
 and Mr. Fry only allowed that amount for him be- 
 cause there was nothing else for him to do. The colt 
 
 50 
 
was then turned out and with rest and plenty of feed 
 soon commenced to improve, and in the summer and 
 fall of 1878, when the colt was three years old, Mr. Fry 
 rode him to the colt shows and fairs and soon dis- 
 covered that he could pace fast, and the next year 
 placed him in the hands of a trainer who trained on a 
 half-mile track near Lewisburg, Tenn. The rapidity 
 with which he improved was simply astonishing, and 
 in a few weeks that half-starved and much-abused colt 
 became one of the speediest horses that had up to 
 that time ever been seen in harness. I saw him at 
 Nashville the following spring, and gave him a work- 
 out, and I do not think I was ever behind a stronger, 
 easier going horse. His conformation was the most 
 remarkable of any horse ever seen upon the turf. He 
 was only about fifteen hands high, a rich brown in 
 color, his slim neck, small ears, large expressive eyes, 
 and finely-molded head, clearly showed the thorough- 
 bred blood which he had inherited ; but the most re- 
 markable thing about him was his abnormal muscular 
 development. His fore legs were large, flat and well 
 tapered, and his hind quarters were so immense as to 
 make him look like a deformity. What he was as a 
 race horse we know, but what he might have been had 
 he received the care and attention in his early career 
 bestowed upon promising race horses in modern times 
 is a matter of conjecture. It is claimed by reliable 
 people that he paced a trial quarter on a poor half- 
 mile track the first season he was handled in thirty 
 seconds, and that the next year he paced a half mile to 
 a high-wheeled sulky in one minute, and many people 
 still believe him to have been possessed of as much 
 natural speed as any horse that ever lived, and I am 
 not prepared to say but what this belief is well founded. 
 
 51 
 
ANOTHER son of Tom Hal, which, though little 
 known to the outside world, was, as many believe, 
 at least equally as fast as any of his get, was the 
 gray stallion Locomotive. This horse also has a pecu- 
 liar history. His dam was by a horse called Rock, about 
 half thoroughbred and quite a celebrated quarter horse. 
 Locomotive was bred, and all his life owned, in the 
 rural districts of Tennessee, and was never to my 
 knowledge hitched to a sulky nor conditioned for 
 racing. He was a very large, powerful horse, fully 
 15^ hands high, and would weigh about 1,300 pounds, 
 and his appearance more resembled that of a truck 
 horse than that of an ideal racer. If he was ever used 
 in harness it was before the plow, the log wagon, or 
 doing some other heavy work. He was in the stud 
 for many years and frequently exhibited at the differ- 
 ent horse shows under saddle, and many gentlemen 
 now living in Marshall and Maury counties, Tennessee, 
 who have seen him at these exhibitions, declare they 
 have seen him pace a quarter of a mile under saddle 
 in thirty seconds. I have often seen him at these ex- 
 hibitions, but never held a watch on him ; but this I 
 do know, that he was one of the most rapid-gaited and 
 powerful-going horses I ever saw, and seemed to have 
 as much natural speed as any of his distinguished 
 half brothers, and it is to be regretted that he did not 
 appear at a time when the pacing gait was appreciated, 
 and his speed ability properly developed. As a sad 
 illustration of the neglect to which this grand horse 
 was subjected, I will cite the following incident : In 
 1878 (I think that was the year, but am not entirely 
 
 52 
 
certain) a fair was held at the old fair ground near 
 Columbia, at which a race was arranged between Loco- 
 motive under saddle and old Joe Bowers in harness. 
 Near the track was a creek with quite a volume of water. 
 Two heats of the race were paced in the evening, each 
 horse winning one heat. After each heat the rider and 
 owner of Locomotive rode him into the creek to cool 
 him out. The water was up to about the horse's side, 
 and he cooled him out by splashing the water over his 
 heated body, and, as though this treatment was not suffi- 
 cient to ruin him, that evening he was fed twenty-two 
 ears of green corn for his evening's feed. It is a well 
 authenticated fact that the horse ate fourteen ears 
 of this corn, and the result was, what might have been 
 expected, the next morning he was not in racing con- 
 dition, and his racing days were practically over. Thus 
 ended the racing career of a horse that would have 
 added additional lustre to the name of his distinguished 
 sire had he been given the opportunity to demonstrate 
 the ability with which he was so richly endowed. 
 
 53 
 
T) ROWN HAL, a full brother to Little Brown Jug, 
 j J was purchased by Major Campbell Brown and 
 Captain M. C. Campbell when he was three years 
 old, and, by reason of the brilliant achievements of 
 Little Brown Jug, it was but natural to expect that his 
 full brother would prove to be a race horse of a high 
 order. His early training clearly indicated that this 
 expectation would be realized. In looks and conforma- 
 tion there is scarcely any resemblance between Brown 
 Hal and Little Brown Jug. Brown Hal has a long 
 body and rather a rangy conformation. He is about 
 15. 2J^ hands high, and wil Iweigh about 1,100 pounds. 
 One of the peculiarities of the Hal family is that they 
 are rather slow in developing speed, and it is rather 
 uncommon to find a young colt of this family show- 
 ing a fast gait ; but from the time Brown Hal com- 
 menced to be used under the saddle, when he was two 
 years old, he could pace fast ; and when he was pur- 
 chased by Messrs. Brown and Campbell he was recog- 
 nized as a very promising colt. At that time Mr. 
 John Bostwick, an experienced trainer, was handling the 
 horses in Major Brown's stable, and he gave him his 
 first education in speeding in harness. At one time it 
 was thought he could be converted to the trotting gait, 
 and Mr. Bostwick experimented with him the first 
 season he handled him in an attempt to make a fast 
 trotter of him. While this experiment was in prog- 
 ress I saw him trot a mile in 2.21, and I believe that 
 was about as fast as he ever trotted. He was a pure- 
 gaited natural pacer, and the weight required to make 
 him trot was so great it became evident that if he suc- 
 
 54 
 
ceeded in making a great race horse it would be as a 
 pacer, and all further attempts to make a trotting race 
 horse of him were abandoned. He was very fast in 
 the pacing gait from the time he was first handled 
 at that gait ; and the first year he was taken North 
 and started in the pacing races I do not think he lost 
 a race, and, as I remember, it was that year, or the 
 next, that Mr. Bostwick gave him a record of 2.13. 
 On Major Brown's place were several large paddocks 
 enclosed by high picket fences, where stallions were 
 turned when not in training; and the next winter 
 after Brown Hal made this record he was running in 
 one of these paddocks, and in an adjoining paddock 
 was another stallion. These two stallions commenced 
 fighting through the fence separating them, when 
 Brown Hal reared and caught one of his fore legs 
 between the pickets, and this accident sprained a 
 tendon of that leg so seriously that he never fully re- 
 covered from it. Brown Hal was placed in my hands 
 to train early in the season of 1889, ^.nd, although he 
 was in the stud, I gave him a long and careful prepara- 
 tion ; but from the time I first commenced to work 
 him I was fearful of that injured leg, and had my 
 doubts about his being able to stand the strain incident 
 to training and campaigning. I went along very slow 
 and careful with him, and did not attempt to give him 
 any fast work for several months after I commenced 
 with him, as I was satisfied that if his leg would only 
 stand the hardships, and I could get him in proper 
 condition, he had sufficient speed to wipe out all 
 pacing records and defeat any horse then upon the turf. 
 Along in June I had him in good racing condition, 
 and as his ailing leg still stood the work I think he 
 was then the fastest horse I ever saw. In one of his 
 
 55 
 
workouts that season, before leaving for the North, I 
 drove him to a high-wheeled Toomycart a quarter of a 
 mile in 28^ seconds ; but the hard work necessary to 
 properly prepare him for the coming campaign finally 
 began to affect that leg, and it was with many misgiv- 
 ings that I concluded to start him in the free-for-all 
 pace at Cleveland, in which he had been entered, as 
 he had already commenced to go lame in the fast 
 workouts I was giving him. But it was finally con- 
 cluded that he would probably never be in better 
 condition to go a fast race than he then was, and under 
 all the circumstances we had better start him. In that 
 race were entered several of the fastest pacers then in 
 training, among them being Roy Wilkes, whom I knew 
 to be a dangerous competitor, fori had on several occa- 
 sions met and defeated him with Duplex. In the 
 warming-up heat before the race, Brown Hal showed con- 
 siderable lameness. At the commencement of that race 
 the record of 2.13 held by Brown Hal was the pacing 
 stallion race record, but in the first heat of that race, 
 which was won by Roy Wilkes, the record was reduced 
 to 2.12^, and for a short period Roy Wilkes was the 
 king of pacing stallions. This heat satisfied me that 
 with Brown Hal's lameness increasing all the time, the 
 race would be a hard one, but I still thought that, if 
 he did not give out entirely, I could win the race. We 
 got a good start in the second heat and I called upon 
 Brown Hal for his best effort and he did not disappoint 
 me and won the heat in 2.12^, and thereby again 
 became king of this division. But this heat seriously 
 affected his leg and the next heat was won by Roy 
 Wilkes in slower time. I rushed Brown Hal for the 
 fourth heat, and, notwithstanding his lameness kept 
 increasing, he won the heat. When the horses came 
 
 56 
 
out for the fifth heat, Brown Hal was so lame that 
 he could scarcely touch the foot of his injured leg 
 to the ground, and when we were sent away I could 
 hardly get him to pace at all, and during the first few 
 rods he could not pace a 2.30 gait, and before the 
 eighth of the mile pole was reached he broke, and 
 before I could get him settled all the horses, with Roy 
 Wilkes in the lead, were at least 100 yards ahead of 
 me at the first quarter ; but about this time I suc- 
 ceeded in getting Brown Hal on his stride, and he 
 seemed to be inspired with a determination to win that 
 heat, even if he had but three good legs and his cour- 
 age with which to make the effort, and he seemed to 
 fairly fly in pursuit of the leaders. I soon over- 
 took and passed the rear horses, but Roy Wilkes still 
 maintained his lead until near the draw gate, when I 
 came up to him and saw he was so tired that he was 
 reeling and had had about enough. Brown Hal was 
 also in about the same condition and both horses 
 showed signs of distress. When within a few feet of 
 the wire I took a strong hold on Brown Hal, so as to 
 steady him, then shook him up and applied the whip 
 once or twice, to which he gamely responded and 
 forged ahead of his rival and won the heat by a head. 
 While there is no means of knowing exactly how fast 
 Brown Hal paced that heat from the first quarter, I 
 believe he must have paced the middle half of the 
 mile in about one minute ; and thus ended what was, 
 everything considered, the most remarkable race in 
 which I ever participated. But the great effort of 
 Brown Hal in his crippled condition put a final veto 
 on his further racing that season, and I shipped him 
 home, this proving the last race he ever paced. In 
 1890 I again prepared him for the campaign and he 
 
 57 
 
seemed to be faster than ever. I shipped my stable, 
 including Brown Hal, to Pittsburg, and in the work- 
 outs I gave him there, he went so lame that I con- 
 cluded it was no use trying to race him any more, and 
 shipped him home, and he has never been conditioned 
 for racing since then. He is now owned by Captain 
 M. C. Campbell of Spring Hill, Tenn., where he will 
 undoubtedly spend the balance of his life. He had all 
 the elements of a great race horse, viz : speed, game- 
 ness and endurance, and these essential elements he 
 transmits to his get in a remarkable degree. Nearly 
 twenty years ago, in a communication I made to one 
 of the turf journals, I prophesied that a horse would 
 go a mile in harness in two minutes, and that the first 
 horse to accomplish that feat would be a pacing horse 
 and a member of the Hal family ; and I rejoice 
 to know that I have lived long enough to see that 
 prophecy fulfilled, and that the horse that fulfilled my 
 expectations was a distinguished son of Brown Hal. 
 
 58 
 
HAL POINTER was foaled in 1884, and was bred 
 by Captain Henry Pointer of Spring Hill,Tenn. 
 He was sired by Old Tom Hal and his dam was 
 the grand old mare Sweepstakes, by Knight's Snow 
 Heels, dam of Star Pointer 1.59^. As a two- and three- 
 year-old he was used under saddle, and in 1888 it was 
 claimed he could show a 2.40 gait at the pace under 
 saddle, — a claim he could hardly justify. He is a bay 
 gelding with one white ankle in front and one behind 
 and has a small star. When matured he was a horse 
 of grand conformation, standing about 15^ hands high 
 and weighing about 1,100 pounds in ordinary flesh. His 
 legs were large and well shaped, and when in training 
 his muscles stood out like those of a trained athlete. 
 His beautiful and intelligent head plainly showed his 
 sixty or more per cent, of thoroughbred blood that 
 coursed through his veins. In June, 1888, Mr. Wal- 
 ter Steele of Columbia, Tenn., purchased him and 
 placed him in my stable to be trained. He had then 
 been broken to harness, but it cannot be said that he 
 was very handy at that way of going. He had been 
 used so much under saddle that his gaits were very 
 badly mixed. He would pace a little and single foot 
 a great deal. I experimented some time with him 
 trying to make him go square and finally shod him 
 with a twelve-ounce shoe in front and added a six- 
 ounce toe weight to each front foot ; this seemed to 
 improve him, and he would go square in front ; but 
 still he seemed to lack something, and to not be en- 
 tirely balanced ; finally, I put on long shoes behind, 
 that is, shoes that projected an inch or more beyond 
 
 59 
 
his heels, and this balanced him and he would pace 
 square. I worked with him about a month before I 
 went North with my racing stable. The first mile I 
 drove him it took him three minutes and thirteen 
 seconds to make the circuit, but before I went away 
 he showed me a mile in 2.30. He was then turned 
 out and not taken up again until about September ist. 
 During my absence he was started in a race at the 
 Columbia Fair in September, in which he took a record 
 of 2.29}^. When I returned that fall, I commenced 
 working him again and kept taking the weight off his 
 front feet and he kept increasing his speed. I finally 
 got him so he did not require any extra weight, and 
 during his races he generally wore a five-ounce shoe in 
 front and a six-ounce shoe behind. Before I turned 
 him out that fall he showed me a mile over my old 
 half-mile track in 2.17, and I became satisfied that I 
 had a first-class race horse if nothing happened. His 
 hind legs always had rather a curby look, and when 
 he paced this good mile that fall he developed a curb 
 on one leg that caused me much anxiety ; but I 
 blistered it and turned him out and he never again 
 showed any signs of weakness in it. I commenced 
 work with him early the next spring and he improved 
 so rapidly that I was more than ever convinced that 
 he was one of the coming turf sensations and I pur- 
 chased a half interest in him. I concluded to start 
 him first in the 2.30 class at Cleveland that year, and, 
 as he had never been on a mile track, I took him and 
 my other horses there some time before the meeting, 
 that he might get used to the track and surroundings. 
 His front feet were always flat and of a tender and 
 delicate formation. The track at Cleveland was very 
 hard and in the work I gave him before the meeting 
 
 60 
 
commenced his front feet became sore, a condition 
 which continued during the whole of that season. I 
 shod him with bar shoes and pads, which greatly helped 
 to break the concussion ; but still in jog work he 
 would nod, and a stranger would think him unable to 
 stand the hardships of a hotly-contested race ; but as 
 soon as the excitement of a race was on he seemed to 
 forget all about his tender feet, and his pace was as 
 even and true as any horse ever seen in a race. I won 
 the race at Cleveland and moved down through the 
 Grand Circuit and started him at every meeting ; and 
 after that I went to St. Louis, Terre Haute and other 
 places and he won every race in which he was started 
 that year, except at Rochester. 
 
 Everything considered, Hal Pointer was the greatest 
 race horse I have ever driven. I always drove him 
 with an open bridle, and as soon as he had had a little 
 experience he seemed to know how to rate his speed 
 just as well as I did ; and also that the purse belonged 
 to the horse that first passed under the wire rather 
 than the one that reached the quarter or half-mile pole 
 in advance of the field, and when in the lead he 
 would watch the attempts of a rival to pass him with 
 the same degree of interest as his driver, and was ever 
 on the alert to prevent another horse from getting 
 dangerously close. This characteristic was well illus- 
 trated in the race at Terre Haute, in the fall of 1889, 
 in which was the pacer B. B. who had been defeating 
 everything he had met that season, and many pre- 
 dicted that when these two horses met, Hal Pointer 
 would taste the bitter pangs of defeat. In one of the 
 heats of that race I had passed B. B. in the stretch 
 and, expecting him to make a rush near the wire, was 
 watching him and so was Pointer; and after the race 
 
 61 
 
was over, the driver of B. B. said he '' could stand it to 
 have me watching him, but when he saw Hal Pointer 
 with one ear laid down also watching him he saw it 
 was no use and that he could not steal a march on 
 him, and so abandoned the attempt." He retired that 
 fall with a record of 2.09^, which made him a candi- 
 date for the free-for-all class the next season. A long 
 run barefooted that winter cured the soreness in his 
 feet and he was in good condition the next spring to 
 commence his training. I anticipated a hard cam- 
 paign for him in 1890 and carefully prepared him for 
 it. I started him first at Pittsburg that season and had 
 no trouble in winning at that meeting; but at Cleve- 
 land, which is regarded as the great storm center of 
 the Grand Circuit, I knew I should meet a different 
 antagonist than I had yet encountered. Adonis was 
 at that time the pride of California's race goers and, 
 with the experienced and accomplished Hickok behind 
 him, he had been campaigning through the minor cir- 
 cuits without meeting defeat, and all horsemen 
 expected that when he and Pointer met there would 
 be a battle royal, and those who saw the race were not 
 disappointed. There were a number of starters in the 
 race, but, as expected, the contest for first place was 
 between Pointer and Adonis. In the first heat Adonis 
 led until the last quarter was reached, when I, having 
 succeeded in passing the other horses, moved up so 
 that as we entered the stretch Pointer's head was upon 
 the wheel of Adonis, both going true and very fast, 
 Pointer gaining at every stride, and when within 
 about fifty feet of the wire he was fully a neck in the 
 lead, without any known cause, he left his feet and 
 passed under the wire on a run, thus giving the heat to 
 Adonis ; but this mishap made no difference in the 
 
 62 
 
outcome of the race, as he won the next three heats. 
 We had several other contests during the Grand Cir- 
 cuit meetings, but Adonis did not succeed in winning 
 one of the races. The defeat of Adonis greatly- 
 agitated the horsemen and sporting element of Cali- 
 fornia, and the next year they sent over the fast and 
 almost unbeaten Yolo Maid to take the measure of the 
 great son of Tom Hal. Our first meeting was at 
 Cleveland, and the known speed and race-horse quali- 
 ties of these two contestants caused excitement to run 
 high. Yolo Maid could show a great burst of speed 
 and was very fast in getting away, and in every case 
 would lead Pointer to the first quarter by many yards; 
 but I never drove Hal Pointer in any race where if he 
 could get his nose to the wheel of the sulky of the 
 other horse at the head of the stretch he could not 
 beat him to the wire, and Yolo Maid proved no excep- 
 tion to this rule. She would rush away at a two- 
 minute gait for the first quarter, but Pointer saved his 
 fast rush for the home stretch and in his races often 
 paced the last quarter in thirty seconds ; and, like 
 Adonis, Yolo Maid returned to California without 
 having won a single race from Pointer, although she 
 attempted to do so all through the Grand Circuit. 
 But the Californians did not give up. I started Hal 
 Pointer that season (1891) in July, and raced him the 
 whole season over all kinds of tracks, some of which 
 were very hard and his feet became a little tender, so 
 much so, that he would not fully extend himself on a 
 hard track ; and while in this condition, Direct, who 
 had been brought from California early in the 
 season and given an easy campaign, was especially- 
 prepared to try and wrest the crown from Hal Pointer. 
 We first met at Terre Haute in October, where, after 
 
 63 
 
a very hot contest, Hal Pointer won. Our next meet- 
 ing was at Nashville, where the track was hard, and 
 Direct won. We met a few days later at the then new 
 kite-shaped track at Columbia, Tenn., and the track 
 was so hard that I could not get Pointer to do himself 
 justice, and he again suffered defeat ; but to accom- 
 plish this feat, he compelled Direct to pace the three 
 fastest heats that had up to that time ever been made 
 in harness. 
 
 The next season, when the horses were more nearly 
 on an equality, in a number of races Hal Pointer 
 clearly demonstrated his superiority as a race horse, 
 and defeated Direct every time they met. I cam- 
 paigned him during 1893, 1894 and 1895. In the free- 
 for-all pace at Philadelphia, in 1894, he was taken sick 
 during the race with an ailment that baffled all veter- 
 inary skill to diagnose. He had never been sick 
 before and showed no signs of illness until in the race. 
 Both he and Yolo Maid were taken sick in the same 
 heat with the same ailment, which gave rise to a sus- 
 picion of foul play on the part of some one. But 
 whatever it was, he never recovered from it. I win- 
 tered him with the rest of the Hamlin stable in Cali- 
 fornia during the winter of 1894 and 1895, and started 
 him in several races in 1895 ; but he still showed the 
 effects of that sickness ; and we gave up campaigning 
 him. After his race at Cleveland, in 1890, Mr. Steele 
 and myself sold him to Mr. Harry Hamlin of Village 
 Farm ; but he continued in my stable until I went to 
 Village Farm in 1892, and was after that in that stable 
 and was driven by me as long as he continued to race 
 through the Grand Circuit. I do not believe any 
 horse ever lived that possessed more racing sense, 
 gameness, and endurance than did this grand horse. 
 
 64 
 
I have often seen him, after a hard-fought five-heat 
 race, being cooled out when another race would be 
 called on, and he would commence to get restless and 
 uneasy and show by every action that he wanted to 
 get back to the track and take a hand in the excite- 
 ment. 
 
 Hal Pointer was a difficult horse to make score 
 fast, and was always slow in starting away. He did 
 not seem to be imbued with the necessity of winning 
 the heat until the middle or latter part of the mile had 
 been reached, and then he would bend all his mighty 
 energies in an endeavor to first reach the wire, and 
 very few horses were ever able to withstand his 
 terrific rush. He never required, and would not 
 endure, punishment. Once when I was giving him a 
 workout he did something I did not like and I struck 
 him with the whip twice, and, in spite of everything I 
 could do, he ran three miles before I could stop him ; 
 I never tried it again, and in all the races I ever drove 
 him I never did anything more than to carry the whip 
 over him, and when I wanted some extra speed I 
 would shake it at him. I gave him a record of 2.04^, 
 which was the world's record at that time. 
 
 It is a lamentable fact that many good horses after 
 their days of usefulness are over, and they are no longer 
 able to earn money for their owners, are, through 
 avarice or want of sympathy, either killed or compelled 
 to eke out a miserable existence doing drudgery for 
 strangers, when, by reason of their past services, they 
 should be tenderly cared for by those whom they have 
 faithfully served. I am glad to know that no hard- 
 ships of this kind are in store for grand old Hal 
 Pointer. I am giving him just enough light road work 
 for exercise, driving back and forth from Village Farm 
 
 65 
 
to the Jewett covered track. I generally drive him 
 over to the hotel at East Aurora and hitch him under 
 a shed when I go to lunch. He is very fond of carrots, 
 and I always intend to put three in my pocket and 
 feed him two before I go to lunch and the other when 
 I am ready to start back. If I have the carrots for 
 him, he seems perfectly happy and will be cheerful all 
 the rest of the day ; but if I happen to forget them, he is 
 mad and acts as ill-natured as does a smoker when de- 
 prived of his after-dinner cigar. The following article, 
 clipped from the columns of a recent number of the 
 '' Youth's Companion," very aptly illustrates different 
 dispositions respecting the fate of a faithful horse 
 after his days of usefulness are over : 
 
 " It was a mournful little procession which filed out 
 of the barn and took its way along the lane towards 
 the pasture. First came Azariah, with the old musket. 
 Then followed Thad, leading a horse, tall, gaunt and 
 aged ; and in the rear, with a shovel over his shoulder, 
 plodded old Benjamin Heminway, the owner of the 
 farm. 
 
 " No one said anything, but all three of the men 
 glanced furtively at the house, and Thad carefully 
 steered old Prince around some outcropping ledges 
 where his shoes would have been likely to make 
 a noise. When they reached the pasture they 
 halted. 
 
 *' ' I s'pose we might's well pull his shoes off,' sug- 
 gested Azariah. 
 
 *' *Yes,' said Thad. ' Three of 'em's nearly new and 
 the other ain't much worn. I brought the hammer 
 along.' 
 
 " He handed it to his brother, who took it and began 
 to pry off the old horse's shoes. 
 
 66 
 
" While the group was occupied with this task a voice 
 broke in upon them. A little old lady had come 
 quietly up the lane, and now stood nervously twisting 
 her apron and regarding them with reproachful eyes. 
 The men dropped the hammer and the two shoes they 
 had removed, and stood silent and shamefaced. 
 
 " * Father,' said the old lady, laying her hand on her 
 husband's arm, 'you know how I've felt about this all 
 along. The more I think of it the wickeder it seems. 
 I just can't stand it !' 
 
 *' * There, now, mother, don't take it so hard. It 
 ain't pleasant, I know, but what's a body goin' to do ? 
 He's past any kind o' work, an' it costs something 
 to keep him. Besides, the boys are all the time com- 
 plainin'.' 
 
 '''Well,' broke in Thad, 'we have to cut up all his 
 fodder an' take milk to him every day, and he's for- 
 ever getting into the corn-field or the garden.' 
 
 " ' Thaddy, it ain't what he is now but what he's been 
 that I'm thinking about,' said the boy's mother. 
 ' You don't remember, as I do, how he worked here 
 on the farm year after year, an' how willin' and gentle 
 he always was. You don't think of the time when 
 your father had the mail contract, and old Prince 
 traveled his forty miles a day, week in and week out, 
 summer an' winter ; or the day when the limb fell from 
 the tree on the mountain road, and knocked your 
 father senseless in the bottom of the sleigh. How 
 long would he have lived in that cold, or where would 
 you or any of us be, if Prince hadn't brought him home ?' 
 
 " Thad was idly kicking a hole in the sod with the 
 toe of his heavy boot, and Azariah shifted the musket 
 uneasily from his shoulder to the ground. The old 
 lady went on : 
 
 67 
 
" 'Father, old Prince has done his share to help us pay 
 for the farm. He wouldn't owe us anything for board 
 if he lived fiftyyears longer, but if he's got to be killed 
 because you think we can't afford to keep him, I've 
 got something to say. Here's eighteen dollars. It's 
 my butter money, an' I've been savin' it to carpet the 
 parlor with, but never mind. It'll pay for Prince's keep 
 while it lasts, and there'll be more when that's gone.' 
 
 "A crimson flush crept into the old man's sunburned 
 face. 'Stop, mother, stop !' he said. 'I'm a selfish 
 brute, an' I'm ashamed of myself, but I ain't so mean 
 as that ! Old Prince has earned the right to fodder 
 and good care the rest of his life, as you say, an' he 
 shall have it if he lives to be a hundred ! Thad, Az'- 
 riah, you go put him into the four-acre clover lot ; an' 
 if either of you ever pester me again 'bout killin' him, 
 I'll take one o' them new tug straps an' make you 
 dance livelier'n Prince ever did when he was a four- 
 year-old.' " 
 
 68 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 STRANGE INCIDENT IN HORSE TRAINING — THE TEN- 
 NESSEE PACING-BRED PACER. 
 
 I ONCE had a very remarkable incident in horse train- 
 ing occur. A gentleman by the name of Brown, 
 living near Lynnville, Tenn., owned the bay mare 
 Ella Brown. About the first of March, 1890, he sent her 
 to me to be trained. She had the reputation of being 
 quite speedy and much was expected of her. I worked 
 faithfully with her from the time she was first brought 
 to me until about the first of June, and the best I 
 could do with her was to drive her a mile in about 
 2.45 ; and as that was not fast enough to compete with 
 horses she would have to meet, I wrote Mr. Brown 
 that I did not think she had speed enough to make a 
 first-class race horse, and I would not advise him to 
 spend any more money on her, and that he had 
 better come and take her home, and if he would let me 
 know when he would come I would save her and work 
 her in his presence. He notified me of the time he 
 would call, and at the appointed time he came, and I had 
 her hitched up, shod, harnessed and hitched in exactly 
 the same way she had always been during the several 
 months I had been training her. After warming her 
 up I commenced to show her speed to Mr. Brown. She 
 seemed to take in the situation at once and instead of 
 pacing along at a 2.45 gait, as she had always done 
 before, she just let herself out and paced a quarter at 
 a 2.20 gait ; and when she showed this burst of speed 
 
 69 
 
I was so astonished that I nearly fell out of the sulky, 
 and Mr. Brown returned home without her. I am not 
 much of a believer in telopathy, but it has always 
 seemed to me that in some way she knew that if she 
 did not make a satisfactory showing that morning she 
 would probably spend her life working on the farm 
 instead of the glamor of the race track. She kept 
 improving and finally took a record of 2.11^, and was 
 a successful race mare. 
 
 While residing in Tennessee I campaigned quite a 
 large number of horses, other than those I have men- 
 tioned, through the Northern Circuit, including Joe 
 Rhea, Annie W., McCurdy's Hambletonian, McEwen, 
 Bay Tom, Joe Bowers, Jr., Joe Braden, Fred S. Wilkes, 
 Duplex and many others, and did fairly well with 
 them ; but the limits of this book will not allow any 
 attempt at a description of the races in which they 
 started. 
 
 The Hal family of pacers are preeminently the 
 great pacing-bred pacers of America. So far as I 
 have any knowledge upon the subject, I do not know 
 of more than a dozen of the get of Tom Hal that have 
 been conditioned and trained for racing, and of this 
 number I do not know of one that could not beat 2.30. 
 Of those that were trained I have already mentioned 
 Little Brown Jug, Brown Hal and Hal Pointer, and I 
 firmly believe that if I now had them and they were 
 in their prime and in perfect condition, I could drive 
 each one of these a mile in two minutes ; and it is 
 possible that Locomotive could be added to this list, 
 but his speed was not sufficiently developed to warrant 
 me in making the statement. Of the daughters of Old 
 Tom Hal I only know of two that were ever trained. 
 One was a roan mare called Sky Blue, that with a few 
 
 70 
 
days' training paced a mile on a half-mile track in 
 2.24 ; and the other, Bessie Hal, dam of Direct Hal, that 
 I trained a few weeks, and she paced a mile in 2.12. 
 What her ability would be if fully developed I cannot 
 say, as an accident to one of her feet compelled me to 
 cease her training before the measure of her speed had 
 been ascertained. How many others of the get of 
 Old Tom Hal that would have been sensational turf 
 performers had they been trained and given the oppor- 
 tunity the racing world will never know, as they spent 
 their lives at the plow and doing the drudgery of the 
 farm, and their possible brilliant achievements lie 
 buried beneath the dust that filled the eyes of a prej- 
 udiced and unappreciative public. Many people not 
 familiar with the form and beauty of the Tennessee 
 pacing-bred pacer have a wrong impression respecting 
 the conformation and qualities of that horse. From 
 what they have read, and been educated to believe, the 
 pacing-bred pacer is a horse carrying his head low, 
 with a steep rump, a ewe neck, crooked legs, and 
 sleepy-looking head, with no life or ambition except 
 what is injected into him by a vigorous application of 
 the whip ; whereas, the Tennessee pacer is a horse of 
 beautiful form and finish, with a head as intelligent 
 and showing as much fire and ambition as that of any 
 horse that ever looked through a bridle ; and in all 
 the qualities that go to make up an ideal race or 
 driving horse, they compare favorably with those of 
 any breed with which I am familiar. 
 
 71 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BELLE HAMLIN — DOUBLE -TEAM RECORDS — GLOBE — 
 HONEST GEORGE — JUSTINA — NIGHTINGALE. 
 
 EARLY in the spring of 1891, I made an arrange- 
 ment with Messrs. C. J. and Harry Hamlin, 
 proprietors of Village Farm, to drive their 
 stable of racing horses that season. I shipped the 
 stable I had been training in Tennessee that spring 
 North in July, and the horses I was to drive for the 
 Messrs. Hamlin were shipped to me after I got North, 
 and, combined with what I had, made quite a large 
 stable. Among those I campaigned that year belong- 
 ing to the Messrs. Hamlin were the trotters Belle 
 Hamlin, Justina, Globe and Nightingale, and the 
 pacers Hal Pointer, Moonstone and Glendennis. I 
 used Belle Hamlin in double harness, giving exhibi- 
 tions at most of the large race meetings. She was a 
 very handsome bay mare, about 15^ hands high, very 
 smooth and stylish, and her impressive way of going 
 made her a very attractive race horse. Her tempera- 
 ment was pleasant, and she possessed about as many 
 of the elements that go to make an ideal driving 
 horse as is ever seen. Without any exception she was 
 the best pole animal I ever saw. Her mouth was 
 neither too hard nor too soft. She had plenty of life and 
 spirit, but was perfectly tractable and easily governed, 
 and could always be relied upon to do her share and a 
 little more when driven with another horse. This 
 statement is proven by the following record : Her 
 
 72 
 
own record is 2.12^, yet hitched with Globe, whose 
 record is 2.14^, they trotted a mile in 2.12. Hitched 
 with Honest George, whose record is 2.14)^, they 
 trotted a mile in 2.121^. Hitched with Justina, whose 
 record is 2.20, they trotted a mile in 2.13. Hitched 
 with Globe and Justina, the three abreast trotted a 
 mile in 2.14. Speeding in double harness will prob- 
 ably always be more or less popular with the owners 
 of horses, as well as race goers ; but one effort in driv- 
 ing three horses abreast satisfied all the ambition I 
 had in that direction, and I never care to indulge in 
 any more sport of that character. 
 
 I regard the driving of Belie Hamlin, Justina, and 
 Globe abreast a mile in 2.14 as the greatest feat I 
 have ever accomplished as a reinsman. No one who 
 has not tried the experiment can appreciate the diffi- 
 culty he will encounter before the end of the mile is 
 reached. Any horse going at that rate of speed will 
 require the expenditure of much strength to steady 
 him, and when three are hitched together the amount 
 of this strength can be multiplied by more than three, 
 because they are racing with each other, and the 
 ambition of each to defeat the other two causes them 
 to exert their utmost strength, and if one or more of 
 them break, it is impossible to steady and settle them. 
 
 When driving these horses this trial, I was fortunate 
 in keeping them all on their feet, owing to which they 
 were able to make that record. 
 
 73 
 
WHEN Nightingale was placed in my hands, she 
 did not promise to be the great race mare she 
 afterwards became. Her gait was awkward and 
 rough and her feet in bad shape. She had run away 
 once or twice, which affected her disposition ; and when 
 I commenced with her she could not trot a mile in 2.20, 
 and to go anything like that fast seemed to be a labored 
 effort for her. I soon discovered that she was not 
 shod according to my ideas of shoeing, and after I had 
 shod her as I thought she should be, she commenced 
 to improve in her speed and, by kindness and patience, 
 she finally got over her cranky notions. She was 
 strong and game, but her speed was more the result of 
 patience and education than of a natural gift. I 
 started her in a great many races and defeated nearly 
 everything in her different classes. The most impor- 
 tant race in which I started her, in 1891, was for a 
 $10,000 purse for 2.20 trotters at Hartford, in which 
 were Little Albert, Abbie V. Reilman, Prodigal, Miss 
 Alice, and Frank F. As a test of speed, gameness 
 and endurance, this race will, I think, go down in turf 
 history as one of the most remarkable ever trotted. 
 It took nine heats to determine the winner, which were 
 trotted in 2.17^,2.181^, 2.18, 2.19^, 2. i8>^, 2.21^, 
 2.21 14^, 2.21, and 2.221^. Nightingale won the sixth, 
 eighth and ninth heats and trotted a dead heat with 
 Little Albert in the fourth heat. Her best race in 
 1892 was at Chillicothe, Ohio, in the 2.13 class. In 
 that race she defeated Little Albert, Ryland T. 
 Charleston, and Lakewood Prince. This was a six- 
 heat race, Nightingale winning the third, fifth and 
 
 74 
 
sixth heats In 2.12, 2.14^', and 2.14. One of her best 
 races in 1893 was the Consolation Race at Buffalo, for 
 a purse of $7,000, in which she met and defeated the 
 black mare Nightingale, the bay mare Alix, and the 
 bay gelding Greenleaf. It took seven heats to decide 
 this contest, the time being 2.121^, 2.12, 2.12^, 
 2.13^, 2.141^, 2.141^, and 2.18, Nightingale winning 
 the fourth, sixth and seventh heats. 
 
 The stallion Greenlander had justly acquired the 
 reputation of being one of the speediest, long-distance 
 race horses that had been upon the turf for many 
 years, and as Nightingale was an aspirant for first 
 place as a two-mile performer, arrangements were 
 made to bring these two contestants together. They 
 met at the Grand Circuit Meeting at Buffalo, August 
 9, 1894. Nightingale won the first heat in 2.36;^, 
 Greenlander was drawn after this heat and Nightingale 
 won the race. Her time in the first heat of this race 
 is the World's race record for two miles, but Green- 
 lander holds the trial record for that distance. 
 
 At Fresno, Cal., on February i, 1895, she defeated 
 Azote and Klamath by winning the first, third and 
 fourth heats in 2.14, 2.14, and 2.13^. This race was 
 trotted in the mud, when the track was several seconds 
 slow, and was a severe test of gameness and endur- 
 ance. She won the 2.10 class at Fort Wayne in the 
 fall of 1895, in straight heats, in 2.10^, 2.10, and 2.10. 
 No race ever seemed too long for her and she would 
 trot the third, fourth or fifth heat with the same ease 
 as the first. In October, 1895, I started her at Terre 
 Haute against Onoqua, Dandy Jim, and David B. 
 Nightingale won the third, fourth and fifth heats in 
 2.08, 2.10, and 2.09^. She also won the same year 
 at Louisville ; and at Lexington, in October of that 
 
 75 
 
year, in the 2.09 class, she defeated Lockheart, 
 David B., and Lesa Wilkes, in straight heats, in 2.11^, 
 2.11^, and 2.121/^. Before her racing days were over 
 she became one of the most beautiful-gaited and best 
 trotting race horses I have ever had anything to do 
 with. I do not think her record was the full measure 
 of her speed, as she constantly improved from the 
 time I took her until she died. That she was a mare 
 of great speed, gameness and endurance is evidenced 
 by the above record, and the further fact that I gave 
 her a three-mile record of 6.55^, which I believe is the 
 world's record for that distance. She was a very 
 smooth and stylish chestnut mare, about 1^% hands 
 high, and would weigh about 1,050 lbs. 
 
 76 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 LEAVING TENNESSEE FOR VILLAGE FARM — NEW FIELD 
 VERY LARGE — GET OF CHIMES AND MAMBRINO 
 KING — FIRST PNEUMATIC SULKY USED IN GRAND 
 CIRCUIT — PURCHASE OF ROBERT J. — HIS GREAT 
 RACE WITH JOE PATCHEN — USING SHEEP TO 
 DRY RACE TRACK — RECORD OF ROBERT J. 
 
 DURING the season of i89i,the Messrs. Hamlin 
 offered very tempting inducements for me to 
 move to Buffalo and assume the management 
 of the speed department of Village Farm, but I hesi- 
 tated long before thinking favorably of the proposi- 
 tion, as both my wife and myself were deeply attached 
 to our home and friends in Tennessee, and to sever 
 our relations with a people who had always treated us 
 with a kindness which we can never forget was no easy 
 matter; but the offer was so generous that I could not 
 afford to disregard it, and late in the fall concluded to 
 accept their proposition. As soon as my friends in 
 Tennessee became aware of my intention they offered 
 all kinds of inducements for me to remain in Tennessee 
 and suggested objections of a very discouraging nature 
 to my contemplated action. Among them was that 
 Mr. C. J. Hamlin was a very exacting man, and one 
 that scarcely any one was able to please in handling 
 his horses. While my acquaintance with him at that 
 time was very limited, I knew him well enough to know 
 that he was a thorough horseman and business man, 
 and I did not believe that I or any one need have any 
 
 77 
 
trouble with him if they did what was right ; and so, 
 against the protests, but with the good will, of my Ten- 
 nessee friends, I moved to Buffalo with my family in 
 February, 1892, under a five years' contract with the 
 Messrs. Hamlin, and have been here with them ever 
 since, and during all this time our relations have been 
 most pleasant and agreeable. 
 
 The new field upon which I entered when I came to 
 Village Farm is so extensive, the horses I have trained 
 and the races in which I have driven are so numerous, 
 that I can do nothing more than mention a few of the 
 most important horses and events with which I have 
 had to do. This statement will be appreciated when it 
 is considered that nearly one hundred colts are foaled 
 at this farm every year, which require training when 
 old enough, and that during the nine years I have been 
 at Village Farm I have driven on an average in more 
 than one hundred races each year. The horses with 
 which I have had most to do since coming here have 
 been the get of Mambrino King and Chimes, and they 
 are certainly two very remarkable families of horses. 
 Mambrino King was the king of show horses, and his 
 get generally possess the stylish conformation of their 
 sire, and no family of horses ever seen upon the turf 
 possess more gameness and endurance than they do. 
 I consider the cross of Mambrino King and Chimes to 
 be the acme of American trotting-horse breeding. I 
 am very fond of the get of Chimes, especially those 
 out of mares by Mambrino King. They possess some 
 characteristics peculiar to themselves, and which I have 
 never known in any other family of horses I have 
 handled ; they nearly all amble when first broken, 
 and, unlike any other horses I have ever seen, 
 weighting them in front does no good, and will 
 
 7^ 
 
not make them go square. I generally shoe them 
 light and when they commence to amble often rush 
 them to a break, and when settled from the break they 
 will trot or pace square and improve in their speed 
 very rapidly. 
 
 Soon after the bicycle craze became prevalent 
 I commenced to ride a wheel, and soon became 
 satisfied that if the ball-bearing pneumatic tire 
 wheel could in some way be made available for the 
 sulky it would be a great improvement, and I formu- 
 lated a crude sort of plan in my mind for their adjust- 
 ment to the high-wheeled sulky I then used, but did 
 not attempt to put my ideas into any practical shape. 
 There was a gentleman in the East who seemed to 
 entertain the same views, that had the genius to gratify 
 his ambition, and during the Detroit meeting of 1892 
 he shipped one of his contrivances to Budd Doble, and 
 requested him to try it in a race. It consisted of a 
 pair of pneumatic wheels adjusted to a high-wheeled 
 sulky frame, and made quite a grotesque appearance 
 when it first arrived. For some reason, Mr. Doble did 
 not care to gratify this gentleman's desire, and for 
 several days after its arrival the sulky stood unused. 
 I had in my stable that season the horse Excellence, 
 and one day I desired to work him four pretty stiff 
 heats, and hitched him to my high-wheeled sulky and 
 drove him a mile, and the time was 2.23^. I then 
 told Mr. Doble I would like to make the next trial in 
 that new-fangled contrivance of his, and he said he 
 would be glad to have me do so. I hitched to it and 
 drove him a mile in 2.21^. The next mile I tried my 
 own sulky again and the best he could do was 2.23^. 
 The next trial I again hitched to the new sulky, and 
 he again trotted the mile in 2.21^. This trial satisfied 
 
 79 
 
me that a horse could make faster time in the new 
 sulky than the old. That afternoon I was to start 
 Honest George in a race, and borrowed this pneumatic 
 sulky for that purpose ; and when I appeared on the 
 track with Honest George hitched to it, you could hear 
 the spectators laugh for a block, and so curious did it 
 appear to some that their comments would indicate 
 they thought I was the advance guard of Buffalo Bill's 
 show. But, notwithstanding the jeers and laughter, I 
 won the race, and this was the first time within my 
 knowledge that this modern invention that has been 
 such an important factor in revolutionizing track records 
 was ever used in a race in the Grand Circuit. The 
 next week I had Honest George entered in a race at 
 Cleveland and borrowed this sulky again in which to 
 make the race, and again won ; which I doubt if I 
 could have done in my own sulky, as Honest George 
 was a strong favorite and, as is usual in such cases, the 
 whole field was against me. After this race, Mr. Doble 
 became satisfied of the advantage of this sulky over 
 the high wheel and commenced to use it in his races, 
 and it was not long before they were in quite general 
 use throughout the Grand Circuit and elsewhere. 
 
 So 
 
IN a slow-pacing race at Philadelphia, in the early 
 part of that season in which I started Glendennis, 
 appeared a new horse to me. He was a bay gelding 
 about fifteen hands high, of very smooth conformation 
 except his knees, and they were so bowed as to give 
 him the appearance of being badly knee-sprung, and a 
 stranger would not think it possible for those legs to 
 stand the strain of a hard contested race. This horse 
 was Robert J., that afterward became one of the most 
 sensational and greatest turf performers ever known. 
 He was then four years old and this was his first racing 
 season. He was distanced in the race at Philadelphia, 
 but won a race in New York a few days later and soon 
 after that at Albany. Although he did not then have 
 a fast record and had not shown phenomenal speed, yet 
 there was something about the horse and his easy way 
 of going that caused me to like him ; and at my sug- 
 gestion, while we were at Albany, Mr. Hamlin pur- 
 chased him and also purchased his dam. As soon as I 
 commenced to work him I became satisfied that we had 
 a great horse if those bow legs would only stand the 
 hardships of fast racing, about which I had serious 
 doubts, and many times after I had given him a stiff 
 workout I would sit and watch those crooked legs to 
 see if I could discover any trembling or signs of weak- 
 ness in them ; but I never saw any indication that 
 they were not as strong as those of any horse in my 
 stable ; and in all the great races in which I afterwards 
 drove him he never weakened, and would stand the 
 strain of a long race as well as any horse I ever drove. 
 He was a very pure-gaited horse and I generally shod 
 
 8i 
 
him with a five-ounce shoe, both in front and behind, 
 and in his races he required no boots except to pro- 
 tect his quarters and coronets. We got him early in 
 the season of 1892, and I worked him some before the 
 meetings commenced in the Grand Circuit, and con- 
 cluded he was good enough to start in the great races 
 which are there given. I first started him at Detroit 
 in a slow class, which he won in straight heats ; and 
 the next week I started him in the free-for-all pace at 
 Cleveland, which he won without trouble ; and in the 
 different important races in which I started him that 
 season he won them all except at Buffalo and Lexing- 
 ton, where he finished second in each race. In 1893, I 
 started him at all the important meetings and do not 
 remember of his losing a single race. I started him, 
 in 1894, against the fastest pacers then upon the turf, 
 including John R. Gentry and Joe Patchen, and de- 
 feated them in many contests. John R. Gentry never 
 defeated him, and Joe Patchen never defeated him but 
 three times in all their numerous contests. I won so 
 many good races with him that it is difficult to say in 
 which race or races he most distinguished himself ; but 
 I think his best race was the special at Indianapolis, 
 against Joe Patchen. Robert J. was then six years old 
 and at his very best. The track was good and the day 
 favorable for fast time. The friends of the respective 
 horses were many, and all the elements conspired to 
 make it a most exciting and interesting contest, and 
 such it proved to be. Robert J. won the race, in three 
 straight heats, in the phenomenal time of 2.03^, 2.02}^, 
 and 2.04^, and his time in the second heat of that 
 race was the world's greatest race record. I gave him 
 a record that season of 2.01^, which was the world's 
 harness record. After the racing season of 1894 was 
 
 82 
 
over I concluded to ship my racing stable to California, 
 and try the experiment of wintering in that far-away 
 southern climate. Robert J. was one of those I took 
 along. The owner and driver of Joe Patchen were not 
 satisfied with the results of the different meetings 
 between Robert J. and that horse, and when they 
 found I was to take Robert J. to California they 
 shipped Joe Patchen there to continue the turf con- 
 tests. We first met in California at Los Angeles, 
 where Robert J. again defeated the fast son of Patchen 
 Wilkes. In February, 1895, a special race was arranged 
 for these two horses at Fresno, California. The date 
 set for this race happened to be in the rainy season 
 which every winter visits the just and the unjust of 
 that State. When the day of the race came it simply 
 poured, and the mud on the track and everywhere else 
 was ankle deep, so the race was postponed from day 
 to day, and the rain continued to come down in such 
 torrents as to dampen our spirits as well as the track. 
 Of course, we were familiar with the usual appliances 
 used in drying tracks, but they were of no use in face 
 of such a deluge as we were then experiencing. 
 Among the horsemen who were there were Monroe 
 Salisbury, Andy McDowell, Tom Raymond, Jack 
 Curry (driver of Joe Patchen), and myself. As we 
 were confronted with an unusual condition, unusual 
 methods must be employed to accomplish our purpose, 
 so we arranged for the use of 2,300 sheep owned near 
 there, and every day the gentlemen mentioned, includ- 
 ing myself, would gather these sheep together and 
 drive them several times over the track, and by night 
 the track would be in fairly good condition, but it 
 would rain again in the night, and the next day the 
 mud would be as deep as ever; then the sheep would 
 
 83 
 
be brought out again and raced over the track. We 
 continued this process for so long a period that I 
 became thoroughly tired of training and racing sheep. 
 The condition of affairs gave me no peace in the day 
 time and at night I would dream of bleating sheep, 
 and at breakfast imagined I could taste wool in the 
 doughnuts, and I scarcely dared venture on the streets 
 for fear of meeting an old ram with a wicked look on 
 his sobercountenance,as though hewaslookingfor some 
 one upon whom to wreak his vengeance for disturbing 
 his peaceful flock. Finally, one evening, we agreed to 
 have the race the next day, however muddy the track 
 might be ; and when the race was called the track re- 
 sembled a mortar bed more than a race track, and 
 every time a horse would pull one of his feet from 
 the mud it would sound like the good-night parting 
 of a young man and his best girl. The mud flying in 
 all directions subjected both drivers and horses to a 
 genuine mud bath, and made Robert J. nervous, and 
 he broke in the last two heats, and Joe Patchen won 
 the race. 
 
 After the race was over I returned to the stall of 
 Robert J. and endeavored to separate myself from a 
 portion of the real estate of Fresno, which covered me 
 so completely that I resembled a clay model of an 
 artist. John Easely, the colored groom who cared for 
 Robert J., fairly worshiped the little horse, and took 
 his defeat very much to heart. He said to me as I 
 entered the stall : '' Look dar, boss, no wonder dis hoss 
 couldn't win dat race," and looking up over the door 
 of the stall where John's finger pointed, I saw the 
 ominous figure 13, and John continued: "Dat is the 
 hoodoo what caused us to lose, and no hoss can eber 
 win a race hitched in dis stall; and old Joe Patchen 
 
 84 
 
never could beat Robert no how, if dis little boss has 
 a fair show," and, thinking of the combined misfor- 
 tunes of the mud and hoodoo, John refused to be 
 comforted. I won the free-for-all trot the same day 
 with Nightingale, which in part compensated for the 
 defeat of Robert. I drove him in many races after 
 this, and he won nearly all of those in which he started. 
 He combined the elements of extreme speed, game- 
 ness, endurance, and gentleness in a degree second to 
 no horse I ever saw. 
 
 The records show Robert J. has paced in races, one 
 heat in 2.02^, one in 2.02^, two in 2.03^, one in 
 2.03^, one in 2.04, two in 2.04^, two in 2.04^, two 
 in 2.05, three in 2.05^, three in 2.05^, four in 2.05^, 
 four in 2.06, one in 2.06%, four in 2.06^, three in 
 2.07^, five in 2.08, one in 2.08^, three in 2.08^, 
 two in 2.08^, one in 2.09, one in 2.09j{, one in 
 2.ogj4, three in 2.09^, and one in 2.10. Against time 
 he has paced one mile in 2.01}^, one in 2.02, one in 
 2.02^, one in 2.03, one in 2.03^, two in 2.04, one 
 in 2.04%^, one in 2.04^, one in 2.06, one in 2.06^, 
 three in 2.07, and one in 2.10. The sum of the above 
 is 6y heats in 2.10 or better, eleven of which were 
 paced in 2.04 or better; which were, at the time he 
 retired from the turf, five times more than had been 
 paced within the 2.04 circle by all the other pacers 
 that ever wore harness. 
 
 85 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SOME VILLAGE FARM RECORD BREAKERS — FANTASY — 
 BRIGHT REGENT — THE MONK — HEIR -AT- LAW — 
 AMERICAN BELLE — MILAN CHIMES — LADY OF THE 
 MANOR — LORD DERBY — DARE DEVIL — THE AB- 
 BOTT. 
 
 F^ANTASY, the great daughter of Chimes and 
 Homora, by Almonarch, foaled March 7, 1890, 
 was one of the first of the get of that sire that 
 was trained by me. She was broken and worked some 
 as a two-year-old and could trot fast from the begin- 
 ning of her development. She made her debut as a 
 three-year-old at a time when others of her age of 
 superior quality were numerous in different parts of 
 the country. Her first start was at Pittsburg, in July, 
 1893, in the 2.27 class for three-year-olds. She won 
 the last three heats of this five-heat race and took a 
 record of 2.18^. Among the fast and sensational 
 three-year-olds out that year, were William Penn, 
 Silicon, Margrave, Wistful, Elfrida, and The Con- 
 queror. At Buffalo, on August 8th, she started 
 against Margrave, William Penn, and Silicon, and won, 
 in straight heats, in 2.15^, 2.15^, and 2.15. At Evans- 
 ville, Indiana, the same year, she defeated The Con- 
 queror, Elfrida, and Wistful, in straight heats, in a 
 three-heat race, in 2.18^ and 2.21^. At Nashville, 
 October 7th, she defeated a field of ten three-year- 
 olds, in straight heats, in a three-heat race, in 2.i6}4 
 and 2.08^. Her record in the second heat of this race 
 
 86 
 
is the world's race record for three-year-olds. She also 
 won in straight heats at Detroit, Rochester and 
 Chicago, making a record for her first season's cam- 
 paign of winning every race in which she started and 
 all, with one exception, in straight heats. She 
 made several successful starts in 1894, and took a 
 record at Terre Haute in September of that year of 
 2.06, which is the world's record for mares of that age. 
 I took her with some of the other horses I had in 
 training to California in the fall of 1894, where she 
 wintered. Her first race in 1895 was the free-for-all 
 at Minneapolis, July 3d, where she met and defeated 
 Directum, David B., and Kentucky Union, three race 
 horses of the highest quality. This was a great race 
 and was desperately contested from start to finish. 
 Directum, by reason of his almost unbeaten record, 
 was looked upon by the public as the probable 
 winner ; while the reputation of David B. and Ken- 
 tucky Union was scarcely second to anything then in 
 training. Fantasy, while a nervous, high-strung mare, 
 was level headed, and up to the time of this race had 
 never made a break in all the races I had driven 
 her; but on the Minneapolis track was a roadway 
 across the track, used by carriages in crossing to and 
 from the inside enclosure of the track, and when she 
 came to that crossing, in the second, fourth and fifth 
 heats, she jumped and left her feet, and these were the 
 only times during her life that she ever broke in a race. 
 Fantasy won the first heat in 2.09, Directum the 
 second in 2.12^, Fantasy the third in 2.09, Directum 
 the fourth in 2.13^^, and Fantasy the fifth in 2.11^. 
 From Minneapolis I went to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, 
 where I started her in the free-for-all against the great 
 race horses Azote and Phoebe Wilkes, and here it was 
 
 87 
 
that the first defeat of her life was recorded. Azote 
 won the race in straight heats in 2.07}^, 2.12;^ and 
 
 2.09, Fantasy finishing second in each heat. She was 
 a great mare in 1896. In the free-for-all at Columbus 
 she defeated Beuzetta, Onoqua, and Lord Clinton, in 
 straight heats, in 2.06^, 2.08, and 2.09^. In the 
 free-for-all at New York she vanquished a great field, 
 consisting of William Penn, Kentucky Union, Onoqua, 
 and Beuzetta, in straight heats, in 2.og}4, 2.08, and 
 
 2.10. At Medford, Massachusetts, she made short 
 work of William Penn, Onoqua, and Kentucky Union, 
 by winning, in straight heats, in 2.1 1, 2.10, and 2.10^. 
 Perhaps the greatest race of her life was at Readville, 
 August 27th of that year, where in the free-for-all she 
 met her great rivals Kentucky Union, Onoqua, Beu- 
 zetta, and William Penn. This was at that time the 
 fastest four-heat race on record. Fantasy won the 
 first and second heats in 2.09 and 2.o8j^ ; Kentucky 
 Union won the third in 2.073^ ; and Fantasy ended the 
 agony by winning the fourth in 2.08. This was her 
 last racing season, as while being jogged on the road 
 at Selma, Ala., in the spring of 1897, she met with an 
 accident of so serious a nature that she could never be 
 trained again ; and thus passed from the race track one 
 of the greatest performers known in all its annals. 
 Fantasy is a very rangy, racy-looking mare, about six- 
 teen hands high, and in ordinary flesh will weigh 
 about 1,150 pounds. 
 
 88 
 
ONE of the best and fastest natural-gaited pacers 
 I ever campaigned was the chestnut gelding 
 Bright Regent. When I commenced with him 
 as a three-year-old he was a cripple, but I nursed his 
 ailing legs that fall and winter, and the next season(i895) 
 thought him strong enough to race. I started him first 
 at Minneapolis in the 2.23 class, which he won in straight 
 heats and took a record of 2aS%. I also started him 
 at La Crosse, Saginaw, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, 
 Rochester, New York, Louisville and Terre Haute, 
 and won every race in which he started, and all in 
 straight heats, except at Saginaw and Detroit ; and at 
 Louisville he took a race record of 2.085^, which I 
 considered was doing pretty well for a green four-year- 
 old in a partially crippled condition. His legs bothered 
 him more or less all the time, and it required constant 
 care and attention to keep him strong enough to stand 
 the strain. His legs were not very strong in 1896, and 
 I feared he would be unable to make much of a cam- 
 paign that year, and only started him twice during that 
 season. The first was at Detroit, in July, in the 2.09 
 class, in which he won the first two heats in 2.oS}4 
 and 2.09)^ ; but his legs weakened and he lost the 
 race. I then gave him a long rest, and did not start 
 him again until the Lexington meeting in the fall, 
 where he won the 2.09 class, in straight heats, in 
 2.06^, 2.o6j^, and 2.07 J^ ; and this, I think, was his 
 best race. In 1897, I started him in three races in 
 which he met defeat in each race, viz : Glens Falls, 
 Readville, and Portland ; but at Portland he won the 
 third and fourth heats, and took a record in the third 
 
 89 
 
heat of 2.061^, which is his record. After that race 
 his legs were so bad that I regretfully gave up training 
 and racing him. 
 
 90 
 
ONE of the bright stars of the Village Farm pro- 
 duction is The Monk, a bay gelding, foaled in 
 1893, sired by Chimes, dam Goldfinch by Mam- 
 brino King. This horse is the same age and bred in the 
 same lines as The Abbott, and at the time he met with 
 the accident hereinafter mentioned was a faster horse 
 than the now world's champion. He was taken up when 
 three years old, while I was away, and his speed at- 
 tempted to be developed ; but when I returned in 
 the fall he could not trot a three-minute gait, and 
 was as awkward and clumsy as any three-year-old I 
 ever saw. They had him shod with about sixteen- 
 ounce shoes in front, and he simply would not, or 
 could not, show any speed to speak of. I had those 
 heavy shoes taken off and shod him with eight-ounce 
 shoes in front and added a light toe weight, and 
 after he was thus shod he would shuffle and mix 
 his gaits for a little way, then strike a square trot 
 and go a few feet, then commence to shuffle again ; 
 but every time I drove him he would trot more and 
 more, until finally he quit shuffling and would trot 
 square, and after I got his gait straightened out he 
 could trot fast. I first started him at Detroit in July, 
 1898, when he was four years old, in the 2.27 class, 
 which he won in straight heats, the best time being 
 2.16^. I also started him at Cleveland, Columbus, 
 Fort Wayne, Glens Falls, Readville, New York, Hart- 
 ford, Portland, Louisville, in the 2.20 and 2.30 classes, 
 and at Lexington in the Transylvania Stake and the 
 2.17 class. He was first in every race in which he 
 started, except at Fort Wayne, Readville, and in the 
 
 91 
 
Transylvania Stake, in which races he finished second 
 and won two heats in each of these races. He won 
 the first two heats in the Transylvania Stake in 2.09^ 
 and 2.08^, but was defeated by Rilma the next 
 three heats. This was his first and last campaign, 
 as an accident to one of his forelegs has rendered it 
 impossible up to this time to train him again ; but 
 with the long rest he has now had, I hope and be- 
 lieve he will again be able to stand the hardships 
 of campaigning; and if he does, he will, I think, be 
 one of the best horses in his class. From what I 
 have said it will be seen that he started in thirteen 
 races, in which he was first in eleven and second in 
 two. What he would have been, except for this ac- 
 cident, when fully matured, is largely a matter of 
 conjecture, but my belief is that he would have been 
 in the front ranks of the greatest of turf performers. 
 
 92 
 
TH E black stallion Heir-at-Law, sired by Mambrino 
 King, dam Estabella by Alcantara, and foaled 
 May 20, 1888, I first started in a race as a trotter 
 in 1 894, and during that season he started at Chicago, In- 
 dianapolis, Rochester, Terre Haute, Fort Wayne, Lex- 
 ington, and Nashville. He took his first record at In- 
 dianapolis, where he won the second heat in 2.14^. 
 His best trotting race was at Nashville, in the 2.21 class, 
 which he won, in straight heats, in 2.i3i<(, 2.14, and 
 2.12. This was the only season in which he ever trot- 
 ted, as my work with him that season convinced me 
 that he could pace much faster than he could trot, 
 and his subsequent record shows the correctness of 
 that conclusion. He was in the stud in 1895, and 
 not started at all. His early work in the season of 
 1896 gave evidence of a first-class pacing race horse 
 at no distant day. I first started him in a pacing 
 race at Peoria, 111., July i, 1896, in the 2.40 class, in 
 which he won two heats and took a record of 2.13. 
 I also started him that season at Saginaw, Detroit, 
 Cleveland, Buffalo, Fort Wayne, Providence, Med- 
 ford, Mass., Portland, and Lexington. His record 
 when the season was finished was six times first, three 
 times second, and unplaced once. In 1897 I started 
 him at Cleveland, Columbus, Fort Wayne, Glens 
 Falls, Providence, New York, Portland, Louisville, 
 and Lexington. At Lexington I gave him a race 
 record of 2.05 J^. This was his last racing season, as 
 when running in the paddock the next year he acci- 
 dentally broke one of his forelegs, and, of course, his 
 racing days were over. Heir-at-Law is a very rugged, 
 
 93 
 
strong horse, and was a very speedy, game and reli- 
 able race horse, and his records of 2.0554! pacing, and 
 2.12 trotting, are, I think, the world's race records for 
 one horse at the two gaits. 
 
 94 
 
THE bay filly American Belle was a very success- 
 ful three-year-old campaigner. I first started her 
 at Readville in the 2.30 class for three-year-olds, 
 and she finished third in a great field. A few days later 
 I started her at New York in the 2.40 class, where she 
 finished ahead of a large field, but was beaten for first 
 place by Cresceus, the present champion stallion. These 
 two races did her much good, and she kept improving 
 very rapidly. Her first winning race was at Hartford 
 in the 2.40 class for three-year-olds, which she won, in 
 straight heats, in 2.17)^, 2.14^, and 2.19^. She also 
 won in straight heats at Portland, Louisville, Lexing- 
 ton, and in the fall meeting at Readville. At Port- 
 land she won the second, third and fourth heats in 
 2.i2j^, 2.14^, and 2.16. Cresceus winning the first 
 heat in 2.12. Thus in the only eight races I ever started 
 her she was first in six, second in one, and third in 
 one, and took a record of 2.12^ in the third heat of 
 a race, a record that few three-year-olds have ever 
 equaled. 
 
 95 
 
A COLT that gave promise of becoming one of the 
 best ever produced at Village Farm was Milan 
 Chimes. He was broken as a two-year-old, and in 
 the fall, when three years old, I took him with the pros- 
 pective campaigners for the next year (1898) to Selma, 
 Ala., and from the time I first commenced to work him 
 he was a pure-gaited and very fast trotter. I never tried 
 to drive him to his limit, and have no means of telling 
 what it was. His first and only race was at Hartford, 
 on July 5, 1898, in the 2.20 class. He won the second 
 heat in 2.13^ in a jog, and could have trotted that 
 heat several seconds faster. He was unsteady in the 
 third heat and lost it, but won the fourth in 2.165^. 
 He was leading in the fifth heat and when coming 
 down the home stretch, without any warning or known 
 cause, he fell and died almost instantly ; and by his 
 death I think the turf was robbed of one of its bright- 
 est ornaments. 
 
 96 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 < 
 
 M 
 
 X 
 H 
 
 o 
 
 Q 
 
LADY of the Manor, holder of the world's pacing 
 J record for mares, was foaled May 31, 1894, sired 
 by Mambrino King, dam Princess Chimes by 
 Chimes. She was worked some as a three-year-old, and 
 soon gave evidence of possessing great speed. I first 
 started her in the 2.24 class at the Detroit meeting, in 
 1898, where she won the first heat in 2.09 J^, but had to 
 be satisfied with third place in the race. Her first win- 
 ning race was at Cleveland, where she won the third, 
 fourth and fifth heats in 2.15^, 2.10^, and 2.1 1. She 
 also won at Hartford, Columbus, Fort Wayne, Glens 
 Falls, Fort Erie, Portland, Readville, and two races at 
 Lexington. 
 
 At Lexington she took a race record of 2.08^. She 
 also started at Louisville, but was unplaced. From 
 the above statement it will be seen that in her first 
 racing season as a four-year-old she was first in ten 
 races, third in one, and unplaced in one. Her record 
 of 2.08^ advanced her to a very fast class in 1899, but 
 she was first in three out of the six starts she made 
 that season, and they were all great races. Her first 
 winning race that season was at Glens Falls, where 
 she won the second, third, and fifth heats in 2.04^, 
 2.1114^, and 2.08^. She won at Hartford, in straight 
 heats, in 2.06 j4, 2.05^, and 2.08^. At Readville she 
 won the first and third heats, in a three-heat race, in 
 2.05 5i and 2.07^. I never saw a horse that possessed 
 more speed than did this mare. She had shown me a 
 half mile in one minute, and I firmly believe that she 
 would have made a record of two minutes or better 
 had she remained on the turf a season or two longer ; 
 
 97 
 
but in the fall of 1899, while being worked on the 
 track at Louisville, she met with so serious an accident 
 that she could never be trained again ; and when she 
 retired, another star of the first magnitude set before 
 it had reached its zenith. 
 
 98 
 
DEXTER was undoubtedly the greatest trotting 
 horse the world ever saw up to the time of his 
 retirement. He was foaled in 1858, and was first 
 trained for racing as a five-year-old in 1863. In Novem- 
 ber, 1864, when he was six years old, and after he had 
 been trained, and raced the whole season, by Mr. Hiram 
 Woodruff, the greatest trainer and driver of his day, he 
 trotted a trial mile driven by Mr. Woodruff, and his time 
 was 2.2314^, which was the fastest mile he had up to 
 that time ever trotted, and in speaking of this trial 
 Mr. Woodruff says : " Mr. Shepard F. Knapp and Mr. 
 Alley were present and they timed him. I knew all 
 the way round that Dexter was doing a great thing. 
 I had hardly ever then, if ever, except in the cases of 
 Flora Temple and the gray mare Peerless, that 
 belonged to Mr. Bonner, seen such a stroke kept up 
 from end to end. When I turned and came back I 
 lifted up my hand and said to the gentlemen, ' Oh, what 
 a horse !* ' What do you think you made,' said they. 
 ' Not worse than 2.24,' I answered. ' It was just 2.235^,' 
 they said, and I was satisfied. This was speed enough 
 for a six-year-old horse in his first season of trotting." 
 I mention this incident, not for the purpose of dis- 
 paraging the merits of Dexter but for the purpose of 
 calling attention to the mighty strides that have been 
 made since that time, both in breeding the harness race 
 horse and the appliances for his speed development. 
 
 Lord Derby was foaled May 26, 1895, sired by Mam- 
 brino King, dam Claribel by Almont, Jr. He is a dark 
 bay gelding with some white markings on his feet, 
 15^ hands high, and will weigh about 1,000 pounds. 
 In conformation. Lord Derby resembles a thorough- 
 
 99 
 
bred more than any trotter I ever handled. He is 
 slim and rather delicate in appearance, but in the races 
 he has trotted he has exhibited as much stamina as any 
 race horse need have. I first commenced to work him 
 in the fall of 1899, when he was four years old, and he 
 did not then give promise of such extreme speed as 
 he has developed. That fall he could not trot a half 
 mile better than i.io, but his gait was beautiful and in 
 the work I gave him he improved very fast. I started 
 him at different places in the Grand Circuit in 1900, 
 among them being at Lexington in the Translyvania 
 Stake, which I think he would have had a fair chance of 
 winning but for an accident which occurred in the first 
 quarter of the first heat ; the field was quite large and 
 just in front of Lord Derby two sulkies collided and 
 threw the drivers out, and to avoid the mix-up I had to 
 bring him to a complete stop, and thereby came very 
 near being distanced, and to get inside the flag he was 
 compelled to trot the last three-quarters of the mile at 
 such a terrific gait that he was unable to do himself 
 justice in the next heats. I think he trotted the 
 middle half of that heat in 1.02. His best race was at 
 New York, which he won, in straight heats, in 2.07, 
 2.07, and 2.08. This horse is now in perfect condition 
 and what he may accomplish in the future I hardly 
 dare hazard an opinion. That he is a great horse 
 there can be no question. Whether he will be the 
 greatest time alone can disclose. But measured by 
 the records of one season's racing, he is the greatest 
 trotting race horse I have ever driven ; and if Hiram 
 Woodruff were now living and compared his race 
 record of 2.07 as a five-year-old with the trial mile of 
 Dexter in 2.231^ as a six-year-old, is it not probable 
 that he would again exclaim, ** Oh, what a horse !" 
 
 100 
 
On 
 O 
 
MR. C. J. HAMLIN says that when he was a 
 young man he used to attend dancing parties, 
 and was very fond of dancing with a young 
 lady that was a good dancer, but he soon found that it 
 added much to his enjoyment to dance with one that 
 was beautiful to look upon as well as a good dancer; 
 and that when he commenced to breed trotters, having 
 in mind his experience in the gay whirl of his giddy 
 days, he determined, if possible, to combine beauty 
 with speed in the animals he should produce, and he 
 has consistently adhered to that theory during all the 
 long years he has been engaged in the business. 
 
 The black stallion Dare Devil is a product of this sys- 
 tem of breeding, and is one of the most beautiful horses 
 ever seen upon the race track or in the show ring. 
 He is a coal black, with three white ankles, a small 
 star, and snip foaled June i, 1893, sired by Mam- 
 brino King, dam Mercedes by Chimes. His first race 
 was at Detroit, when he was four years old, in which 
 he won the last three of four heats in 2.15^, 2.16^, 
 and 2.1 5 J^. He also won at Cleveland, Columbus, 
 Fort Erie, Glens Falls, Portland and Louisville, and 
 met his only defeat that season at Lexington, after 
 winning the first heat in 2.09^. His showing that 
 season was so good that it was decided to keep him 
 in the stud in 1898, which proved a very unfortu- 
 nate experiment, as, somehow, in his stall he 
 wrenched one of his hips, and he has never been 
 strong enough since to stand proper training. I 
 trained him the best I could in 1899, but he plainly 
 showed the effects of his injury. I started him in 
 
 lOI 
 
four races that season, in which he was second in 
 two, and third in one, and finished the season at 
 New York, where he was so lame that he could 
 hardly trot at all, and finished eighth in the first 
 heat, when I drew him. I trained him again in 
 1900, and started him in two or three races, when 
 he became so lame I had to send him home, and it 
 is not probable that he will ever again listen to the 
 admonitions of a starter. Dare Devil possesses all 
 the gameness of the family of which he is a dis- 
 tinguished member, and at the time he took his record 
 of 2.09^ could have trotted a mile in 2.06 or 2.07. 
 
 X02 
 
No ONE nowadays need think he has a sure 
 enough winner in the Grand Circuit, however 
 fast and promising his candidate may be, as 
 that great arena is like a mighty river fed by innumer- 
 able streams. It opens at Detroit late in July, and to 
 it come all the choice performers of the smaller race 
 tracks that have been campaigning the earlier part of 
 the season, as well as the great horses who have won 
 their laurels over its historic tracks in years gone by, 
 and have been specially prepared to continue their 
 triumphs amidst the scenes of their former conquests. 
 The world's champion. The Abbott, was foaled July 
 20, 1893 ; sired by Chimes, dam Nettie King, record 
 2.2034;, by Mambrino King ; second dam Netty Murphy 
 by Hamlin Patchen ; third dam by a son of Kentucky 
 Whip — thoroughbred. He is a dark bay gelding, 1 5 ^ 
 hands high, left hind foot white, and in ordinary flesh 
 will weigh about 1,050 pounds. He has an intelligent- 
 looking head, and his general conformation is smooth ; 
 while his legs are not unusually heavy, they are well 
 formed, and his feet are perfect. Taken as a whole, 
 he comes about as near being an ideal-looking race 
 horse of the modern school as is often seen. I first 
 commenced work with him in the fall of 1896, when 
 he was three years old. At that time he was rough- 
 gaited and inclined to amble and mix his gaits. I ex- 
 perimented with him for some time before he con- 
 vinced me that he possessed material sufficiently good 
 to be eligible to start in the Grand Circuit. I finally 
 shod him with eleven-ounce shoes in front and added 
 three-ounce toe weights, and put a square-toed shoe 
 
 103 
 
on the left front foot and the right hind foot, and 
 made the shoe on the left hind foot full at the toe 
 and a trifle longer than the shoe on the other hind 
 foot, and, shod in this way, he would trot square 
 after the preliminary amble in which he would usu- 
 ally indulge when first started — a habit he has not 
 yet entirely forsaken. His first start was at Detroit, 
 July 13, 1897, in the M. and M. stake, in which he won 
 the second heat in 2.1 Ij4, the fastest heat of the race, 
 and finished in fourth place. He started a week later 
 at the same meeting in the 2.20 class, and was unplaced. 
 But at Cleveland, the next week, he won the 2.18 class, 
 in straight heats, in 2.12^, 2.iij4, and 2.1414^. At 
 Fort Wayne he won the first two heats in 2.13^ and 
 2.13^, was third in the third heat, and distanced in 
 the fourth. At the August meeting, at Readville, he 
 won, in straight heats, in 2.14^, 2.13, and 2.14^^. He 
 also won at Hartford, in straight heats, in 2.15, 2.16'^, 
 and 2.16]^. At Louisville he won the first heat in 
 2.13, was second in the second and third heats, and 
 distanced in the fourth. At Lexington he won the 
 second, third, and fourth heats, in 2.13, 2.15^, and 
 2.15^. At the September meeting, at Readville, he 
 again won, in straight heats, in 2.15, 2.135^, and 2.1314. 
 At Portland he won the first, second, and fourth heats, 
 in 2.18%!, 2.131^, and 2.151^. Making for his first 
 season the following record : Six times first, fourth 
 once, and unplaced three times. His first start in 
 1898 was at Hartford, July 4th, where he won a three- 
 heat race to wagon in 2.14 and 2.123^. His record in 
 the second heat being the world's race record to wagon. 
 He next started at Detroit in the 2.10 class, which he 
 won, in straight heats, in 2.12^, 2.12, and 2.08^. In 
 the same class, at Cleveland, the next week, he met and 
 
 104 
 
defeated Eagle Flannigan, Pilot Boy, Don Cupid, and 
 Rilma, in straight heats, in 2.08^, 2.091^, and 2.095^. 
 He won the second and third heats at Columbus in 
 2.08^ and 2.08^, and finished in second place in the 
 race. He won the first two heats at Glens Falls in 
 2.1214^ and 2.11^, and finished in second place. At 
 Hartford he won the first, fourth, and fifth heats, in 
 2.11%, 2.10%, and 2.09^. He won at Fort Erie, in 
 straight heats, in 2.1214;, 2.14^, and 2.13. At Port- 
 land he finished in third place. At the fall meeting, 
 at Readville, he won, in straight heats, in 2.08^, 
 2.091^, and 2.o8j^. He closed the season at Lexing. 
 ton, where he won, in straight heats, in 2.151^, 2.08, 
 and 2.085^. His record for the second racing season 
 being seven times first, twice second, and third once, and 
 retiring in his five-year-old form with a race record of 
 2.08. He improved all during the season. I raced him 
 that season shod with ten-and-a-half-ounce shoes in 
 front and five-ounce shoes behind, and since then he 
 has worn nine-ounce shoes in front. He developed 
 speed so rapidly and showed all the elements of a first- 
 class race horse so plainly that before this season was 
 through I was convinced he would be invincible in the 
 free-for-all class whenever I should deem it advisable 
 to introduce him to that select company. He started 
 the campaign of 1899 ^^ Detroit, July 20th, in the 
 2.08 class, where he won the first, third, and fourth 
 heats, in 2.07^, 2.09, and 2.10^. In the same class, 
 at Cleveland, the next week, he met and defeated 
 Eagle Flannigan, Kentucky Union, Mattie Patterson, 
 and John Nolan, in straight heats, in 2.08^, 2.08^, 
 and 2.08^. He won in the same class at Columbus, in 
 straight heats, in 2.09^, 2.oy}^, and 2.07;^. His first 
 start in the free-for-all class was at Fort Erie, August 
 
 105 
 
7, i899> which he won, in straight heats, in 2.08, 2.09}^, 
 and 2.10^. In the free-for-all at Glen's Falls he de- 
 feated Bingen, Monterey, Kentucky Union, Directum 
 Kelly, and John Nolan, winning the first, third, and 
 fourth heats in 2.09, 2.093^, and 2.08^. He won in 
 the same class at Hartford, in straight heats, in 2.08 J^, 
 2.085^, and 2.07^. He repeated this performance at 
 Providence by winning two straight heats in a free-for- 
 all three-heat race in 2.08^ and 2.06)^. At New York 
 he started against John Nolan, in a free-for-all three- 
 heat race, and won in straight heats, in 2.09^ and 
 2.061^. He started at Providence in the free-for-all, 
 and had Bingen as his only competitor, whom he de- 
 feated, in straight heats, in 2.09^, 2.09^^, and 2.06}^. 
 He closed the season's campaign at Lexington, where 
 he defeated Bingen and Cresceus, winning the third, 
 fourth, and fifth heats in 2.oy}4, 2.08^, and 2.10%; — 
 Bingen winning the first two heats in 2.07^ and 2.09. 
 His record for the season being ten races won and not 
 meeting a single defeat. No other horse, living or 
 dead, ever made such a record as this. In a total of 
 thirty races, embracing all the races in which he has 
 ever started, he was first in twenty-three, second in 
 two, third in one, fourth in one, and unplaced in three. 
 In the thirty races in which he started he won seventy- 
 six heats, all below 2.20 ; sixty-nine of these heats 
 were better than 2.15, and thirty-eight were better 
 than 2.10. In 1900 there was no free-for-all class in 
 the Grand Circuit, and believing he had the ability to 
 trot a faster mile than any horse had ever yet done, I 
 took him along with my racing stable and gave exhi- 
 bitions at many of the large meetings. I first started 
 him at Detroit, and he trotted a mile in 2.07. Read- 
 ville next engaged his attention and he there trotted a 
 
 106 
 
mile in 2.05^. The next trial was at Providence and 
 here the time was 2.043^. When Hartford was reached 
 the race record to wagon was 2.121^, which he made 
 on this track in 1898, and the trial record to wagon 
 was 2.0914, held by Lucille. I therefore determined to 
 try and crown him as king in front of this vehicle, and 
 he easily demolished all previous records by drawing a 
 wagon a full mile in the phenomenal time of 2.051^. I 
 next started him against the Sickle Bearer,at New York, 
 where he trotted to a record of 2.04 ; and when Terre 
 Haute was reached, in the fall, all the conditions were 
 favorable for a fast mile, and I there drove him a mile 
 in 2.01%, and thereby dethroned Alix as Queen of the 
 trotting world. The fractional parts of this record- 
 breaking mile were made as follows, viz : First quarter 
 in 31^ seconds, 2d quarter in 30 J^ seconds, 3d quar- 
 ter in 291^ seconds, 4th quarter in 31^ seconds, and 
 the mile in 2.03 %!. It will be observed that the middle 
 half of this mile was trotted in exactly one minute, 
 which is much faster than any of his predecessors ever 
 trotted this particular part of the mile, and that while 
 several other champions have surpassed his time in the 
 first quarter, no one has ever approached the speed he 
 showed in the third quarter. It will also be observed 
 that in the five starts he made against time in harness, 
 he improved at every trial, from 2.07 at Detroit to 2.03%^ 
 at Terre Haute. The gait of The Abbott, when at full 
 speed, approaches perfection as nearly as we are likely 
 to see in any horse for some time; there is just enough, 
 but not too much, knee or hock action ; his stride is 
 even, fast and frictionless, with no false motions or 
 waste of power. He has constantly improved in every 
 race and every trial since the commencement of his 
 career, and as he is now only eight years old, perfectly 
 
 107 
 
sound, and without a blemish of any kind, I can see 
 no reason why, if he does not go wrong in some way, 
 he should not still further reduce his record. That a 
 horse will trot a mile in harness in two minutes in the 
 near future does not in my judgment admit of a doubt. 
 Whether any of the horses I have mentioned will be 
 the first to accomplish this much-desired result time 
 will soon demonstrate. 
 
 io8 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 BREAKING COLTS. 
 
 "AS THE twig is bent the tree will grow" is a 
 £\^ maxim that has come down to us through 
 the ages, and has direct application to the 
 breaking and educating of a colt. The viciousness 
 and worthlessness of many otherwise valuable horses 
 can be traced directly to the want of knowledge, 
 care and patience on the part of the trainer, in giving 
 the young animal his first few lessons in harness. 
 While in my early career I had quite a large experi- 
 ence in breaking colts, since being at Village Farm 
 I have had nothing whatever to do with that 
 important branch of the business, as that is done 
 entirely by Mr. H. B. Freeman, a man of large 
 experience, and the most successful colt breaker I 
 ever saw. Out of the great number he has broken at 
 Village Farm he has never injured one, and when he 
 turns them over to be handled they are thoroughly 
 broken and ready for use. I thoroughly approve his 
 methods, and if those desiring colts well broken will 
 follow his instructions, their desires will be gratified. 
 In the first place, I think it best to take plenty of 
 time to bit a colt and have him thoroughly broken 
 before trying to give him speed. I usually ground 
 break him a week or ten days, that is, let him get 
 thoroughly use to the harness, and drive him a good 
 deal with it on and teach him to start and stop at the 
 word. Also to turn to the right or left, with ease ; 
 
 109 
 
and, above all, never exhaust him or get his mouth 
 sore. During this time it is well to pull a cart 
 or sulky, or something light, with shafts up to him 
 as if you intended to hook him up. He will soon 
 find that the rig is not going to hurt him and will 
 not be afraid ; and when hooked up, he wants to 
 be driven slowly and only a short distance, never 
 far enough to fret and tire him. You will find in 
 a short time he will take his work cheerfully. 
 After two or three weeks of this kind of work, drive 
 him out on the road about a mile, then turn ; if the 
 road is good, let him move a hundred or two yards 
 well within himself. After getting back to the track, 
 jog him around once, let him step the last 200 yards 
 at about three-fourths speed. His improvement will 
 be astonishing after two weeks of this work. Of 
 course, his work can be increased as he gets in condi- 
 tion, but I do not think it advisable to continue his 
 fast work too long. Always let up on him before he 
 gets tired of his work ; two or three weeks' let up will 
 do him a great deal of good. After he is taken up the 
 second time and jogged a week, he is ready to begin to 
 step along a little, as he has not been turned out long 
 enough for his muscles to relax ; and after he has been 
 started up two or three times, you will find he will 
 have more speed than when turned out. I think six 
 weeks is long enough to keep him at work this time. 
 Turn out again from ten to thirty days. Be governed 
 by conditions and the constitution of the colt. My 
 experience has been that it is not advisable to jog a 
 colt too much, as he is apt to get off his gait and 
 does not improve so fast as he does with short, lively 
 work. You can generally tell from the actions of colts 
 barefooted about the weight shoes he will need. I 
 
 110 
 
like to shoe them as h'ght as possible. You must 
 have weight enough to balance them. The average 
 colt will need about seven ounces in front and about 
 four ounces behind. Some want a little more and 
 some less. When they require more, I generally use a 
 light toe weight, two or three ounces, and just as few 
 boots as possible. It is safest to use a light quarter 
 boot on all of them, as the purest-gaited and best- 
 headed colts are liable to make a mistake and cut a 
 quarter. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF GOOD ASSISTANTS — TRAINING STABLE 
 SHOULD BE PROPERLY CONDUCTED — ADVANT- 
 AGES OF SOUTHERN CLIMATE IN WINTERING 
 HORSES — SUGGESTIONS ABOUT FEEDING — HOW 
 TO CARE FOR TENDER FEET — USES OF THE 
 SPRING — IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING THE TEETH 
 IN GOOD CONDITION. 
 
 AS NO general, however much ability he might 
 possess, ever won a battle unless he had com- 
 petent men under him, so it is that no trainer, 
 however competent he may be, can properly condition 
 a stable of horses for racing unless he has competent 
 assistants. I have been very fortunate in the assist- 
 ance I have had, especially since coming to Village 
 Farm. Mr. Ben White, who has been my chief assist- 
 ant for several years, is a young gentleman of the 
 highest promise. He is intelligent, patient and care- 
 ful, and at all times a gentleman, and I predict for 
 him a most brilliant career in his chosen profession. 
 The groom is a very important factor in the success of 
 aracingstable, and anyman that learns how to care for 
 his horses as he should, and does his work well, de- 
 serves just as much credit for the success of a race as 
 does the man that trains and drives the horse. An- 
 other important matter I desire to impress upon the 
 minds of beginners, and it might apply with equal 
 force to some of the more experienced, is that loud 
 talk, profanity, vulgarity and obscenity have no proper 
 
 112 
 
place in a training stable. I have never known a 
 horse to be benefited by any of these disgusting habits. 
 The training stable should be conducted with the same 
 degree of propriety that is observed in the transac- 
 tion of any other legitimate business, and should 
 at all times be a place where ladies, as well 
 as all others, can visit without their sensibili- 
 ties being shocked by hearing and seeing things to 
 which their ears and eyes are not accustomed. 
 
 A Southern climate has many advantages not pos- 
 sessed by a Northern one, in preparing horses for cam- 
 paigning. I have experimented in different latitudes for 
 the past twenty-five years and feel that this experience 
 qualifies me to speak with some degree of accuracy. 
 The climate of California in winter is all that could be 
 desired, as, except for the rain, there is scarcely a day 
 all winter in which horses cannot be worked ; but 
 the great distance to ship back and forth from points 
 east of the Rocky Mountains renders a resort to that 
 delightful climate impracticable. Everything con- 
 sidered, I think the most satisfactory climate to winter 
 campaigning horses east of the Rocky Mountains is in 
 Alabama and Georgia, as it is warm enough there so 
 that horses may be worked during all the winter 
 months as well as they can in the North during the 
 spring and early summer. I have wintered at Selma, 
 Ala., several winters, and like it very much. There is 
 no use in starting to race horses unless they have 
 sufficient speed and endurance to warrant the conclu- 
 sion that they will have a fair show of winning in their 
 classes, and in order for them to be fit for racing they 
 must have a careful and painstaking preparation. You 
 cannot take a horse direct from the plow to the race 
 track and make a successful campaign with him, how- 
 
 "3 
 
ever much speed you may know him to possess, and 
 many horses unjustly get the reputation of being 
 " quitters " simply because they have not been suffici- 
 ently prepared to stand the strain of racing. A 
 moment's reflection will convince any one that a horse 
 cannot do as well when worked in the cold weather of 
 the North, where when he sweats it is almost impos- 
 sible to get him dry and properly care for him, as he 
 can in a warm climate, where he can be worked and 
 cared for the same in winter as in summer ; and, from 
 my experience, I am satisfied that as much can be 
 accomplished in a climate like Selma in the three 
 months of winter in preparing a horse for the next 
 season's campaign as can be accomplished in six 
 months in the North. 
 
 I prefer to winter the horses I expect to campaign 
 the following season so that I can have them good and 
 strong, with no surplus flesh in the spring. Winter is 
 the time to get their feet in good condition, especially 
 where they have contracted or uneven quarters. 
 A great many trainers use springs in the feet in the 
 summer season when the horses are getting strong 
 work, which I think is injurious, as the sole of the foot 
 has to be trimmed down too thin for the horse to 
 make fast work at that time. Some pull the shoes off 
 and let the horse go barefooted, to let Nature do the 
 work, which is all right, and will be beneficial if you 
 will give them time ; but more can be accomplished 
 with the spring in six weeks then can be accomplished 
 in twelve months when the horse is running bare- 
 footed. If the foot is contracted and needs the spring, 
 stand the horse in hot water up to the coronet thirty 
 minutes ; then take him to the shop and have the sole 
 of the foot well pared, also the wall of the foot taken 
 
 114 
 
down, but that should be done in a manner that will 
 not make him tender. Put in the spring, and put 
 on an open shoe with nail holes punched near 
 the toe, as the nails will not give the spring a chance 
 to work if too near the heel. Put the shoe on full at 
 the quarters, and it will be only a few days before the 
 foot will be wider than the shoe ; then the shoe 
 should be taken off and the springs and shoe widened 
 a little and the shoe put on again as before. Keep 
 this up until the foot is as wide as desired. Do not 
 stiffen the springs any more after this, but keep them 
 in about six weeks, just stiff enough to hold the foot 
 at its then width, and get the shoe set. Be careful 
 and not get the heels too wide, as that would be as 
 injurious as when they are contracted. A great many 
 horses' feet turn in on the inside quarter and are 
 straight and all right on the outside quarter. When 
 this is the case, punch the shoe with four nail holes on 
 the outside, and two on the inside near the toe. All 
 the nails being driven on the outside and only two 
 near the toe on the inside, will cause the spring to put 
 all the pressure against the inside quarter. When 
 shod in this manner it will only be a short time until the 
 inside quarter will be as straight as the outside. After 
 the horse is shod put him in hot water again for thirty 
 minutes, and pack his feet with oil meal or clay every 
 night for a week or ten days ; after that time two or 
 three times a week will do. Some horses have high 
 quarters on the inside of the front feet, that is, the 
 inside quarter seems to be forced up higher than the 
 outside quarter, and when this is the case the horse is 
 apt to get sore in his feet. In order to remedy this, 
 drop the quarter down, have a stiff bar shoe made 
 weighing not less than ten ounces, level the foot, then, 
 
 "5 
 
after the shoe is fitted, commence at the inside 
 quarter, take it down about a quarter of an inch lower 
 at the heel than any other part of the foot ; then with 
 a rasp file from the lowest point in this quarter to 
 about half way to the toe, running out to a feather 
 edge at this point ; then put on the shoe, which will 
 be solid on the outside quarter, and the bar resting on 
 the frog; this will leave a space on the inside quarter 
 of about three inches that does not touch the shoe. 
 In ten days or two weeks you will find this quarter 
 will come down and rest on the shoe the same as the 
 balance of the foot ; then reset the shoe and trim or 
 rasp the quarter as before, and continue to do this 
 about six weeks or longer if necessary, and you will 
 find the foot will be very much improved. 
 
 I do not think a horse should be fed too much grain 
 through the winter. It depends a great deal upon the 
 condition of the horse at the commencement of winter 
 in regard to the amount of grain he should eat. I find 
 from seven to nine quarts a day is enough for most 
 any horse when he is not getting hard work. A horse 
 wants all the good, clean hay he will eat in the morn- 
 ing, and I generally feed him two quarts of grain at 
 that time ; at noon I like good, clean sheaf oats, cut 
 them up and put in about a quart and a half of bran 
 to a large pailful of oats ; put in the least bit of salt, 
 add just enough water to dampen the bran ; give him 
 this, with three or four carrots. With some horses I 
 add an ear or two of corn with this feed. At night I 
 like to cook the oats; to do this, put enough oats in 
 a large kettle with water sufficient to cook well, which 
 will take about two hours ; keep adding water, and do 
 not let the oats get too dry while cooking; after the 
 oats are well cooked add about a fourth as much bran 
 
 ii6 
 
as there are oats, that is, each horse wants to eat 
 three quarts of oats and one quart of bran at night ; 
 feed while it is warm ; you may also give an ear or 
 two of corn with this feed, if the horse hasn't had 
 enough. As spring advances and you begin to give 
 the horse more work, you can dispense with the cooked 
 food and give him dry oats, especially after grass be- 
 gins to come ; then I like to graze two or three times 
 a week on days after giving the horse fast work ; the 
 grain will have to be increased as the work is increased. 
 In the spring I generally feed from ten to twelve 
 quarts a day, and some horses will need a little more ; 
 but I think most horses do better on twelve quarts a 
 day or less, than more. Very few horses will digest 
 more than twelve quarts of oats a day. If a horse 
 does not digest his grain, fifteen quarts would not be 
 as good for him as ten. When horses commence to 
 jog in the winter the teeth should be looked after and 
 the rough edges taken off, so that the mouth will not 
 get sore. When the teeth are neglected they get to 
 driving on one rein and fussing with the bit, which is 
 very injurious to the horse's temper, as he is liable to 
 form the habit and keep it up through the spring and 
 summer ; and to be successful the race horse must have 
 a good mouth. 
 
 117 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ADVICE TO THE INEXPERIENCED —JOGGING — FEEDING 
 AND PREPARING HORSE FOR RACES — BITS AND 
 CHECKS — CARING FOR HORSE DURING RACE— USE 
 OF REMEDIES FOR DIFFERENT AILMENTS— IMPOR- 
 TANCE OF KEEPING STALLS CLEANSED. 
 
 THIS chapter is intended for the benefit of the 
 inexperienced. A man to be a successful trainer 
 and driver must be a diligent student during 
 his whole business life, and should never allow himself 
 to think that he has arrived at that state of perfection 
 where there is nothing more for him to learn. Success 
 will not always crown his efforts, however careful and 
 industrious he may be. Any one that has had a large 
 experience in the prosecution of an enterprise will 
 have some good ideas about the business even though 
 he may not himself have met with success, and the 
 beginner can get advice from such a man that will be 
 of great benefit to him if it is understood and properly 
 applied. It is practically impossible to formulate 
 any inflexible rule as to the amount of work a 
 horse should have in the spring to properly condi- 
 tion him for a season's racing, as so much depends 
 upon the strength and condition of the horse, that 
 what would be proper in one case would be entirely 
 inadequate or excessive in another, and the trainer 
 must necessarily exercise his best judgment and dis- 
 cretion in determining the amount of work to be given 
 a horse that has been placed in his hands to condition. 
 The following are general rules applicable to most 
 
 ii8 
 
horses, but must be varied as circumstances require. 
 I think it is a mistake to jog horses too far. From 
 three to five miles a day is ordinarily sufficient for 
 most horses, except that on one day in each week it is 
 best to jog seven or eight miles, so the horse will get 
 a little leg weary. Some days three miles and some 
 four and five miles ; but I do not believe in slow 
 jogging for more than one mile. After going the first 
 mile it is best to let them jog along good and strong, 
 as I am satisfied that from three to five miles stiff 
 jogging will do a horse more good than twenty miles, at 
 a slow, pokey gait. I also think a great many horses 
 are jogged so far, and slow, that it takes away their 
 speed, besides it gets monotonous to the horse, and he 
 does not take his work as cheerfully as a horse that is 
 jogged short and lively. Experience teaches us that 
 for a man to do' his work well and keep himself in 
 proper condition to perform the work, it is necessary 
 that the element of cheerfulness be present during 
 its performance. Monotony is not only injurious to 
 the mental faculties, but, if long continued, will under- 
 mine the health and strength. This same principle 
 applies to the care and work of horses. Drive a 
 horse over the same road day after day, week in 
 and week out, and you will observe that he seems to 
 lose all interest in his work ; and instead of showing, 
 by his actions, that he considers it a pleasure to do the 
 master's bidding, his only thought seems to be about 
 getting back to the stable where there is rest and 
 something to eat. But take him out on a new drive 
 where the scenery is fresh to him, and, behold, what 
 a change ! He is looking at every object, listening to 
 the unfamiliar sounds, and keeps constantly begging 
 for more rein, that he may show by his speed the 
 
 119 
 
pleasure he is experiencing as he gaily steps along the 
 new pathway. A horse that is jogged fifteen and twenty 
 miles a day slow will stop quicker than a horse that 
 is only jogged four and five miles a day good and 
 strong. This I know from experience, as I have tried 
 the same horses both ways. When possible, I think 
 it advisable to give horses some fast work up to the 
 first of January, especially green horses that have never 
 been started. I find when they have been given strong 
 work up to that time that they are much easier to put 
 in condition in the spring, as their muscles do not 
 relax as much and they stand the work much better. 
 This is one reason I think it better to winter them in a 
 warm climate. Another is that you have more time 
 in the spring of the year to get them ready, and do 
 not have to hurry their preparation as you do when 
 they are wintered in the North. Any horse that gets 
 a long, slow preparation will stand the season's cam- 
 paign better than one that does not get it. The trot- 
 ting-horse business is like a chain of many links. If 
 one or more links are neglected and get rusty, the chain 
 does not work well. So it is just as important to look 
 after each and every detail as it is to drive the horse 
 and hold the watch. It is very essential to have the 
 harness fit easy and comfortable, particularly the 
 bridle. If the bridle does not fit just right the horse 
 will not drive right. The martingales should not be 
 too short. Most horses drive best in easy bits. I like 
 a large snaffle bit for most horses. The leather bits 
 are good for some and pneumatic are good for others. 
 I think the Gillan bit is about the best and most 
 humane I ever used on a horse. There are some 
 horses that need a bar bit, and I find it is well to 
 change the bit on some horses every few days. 
 
Some horses drive best with side checks and some with 
 overdraw; but I find most horses work best with the 
 overdraw. My experience has been that more horses 
 work good in the Hulten overd raw-check than in any 
 other. This check does not suit all horses. Some 
 like the plain over-check, with secret bit and chin 
 strap. Others like the plain over-check, with chin 
 strap without secret bit. When a horse does not 
 drive to suit you, it is necessary to change bits and 
 checks until you find what suits him best. After the 
 horse has been jogged through the winter, as spring 
 advances, and the roads get good, it is time to let him 
 move along at half speed for two or three hundred 
 yards. Do this a couple of times during the three or 
 four miles on the road two or three times a week, and 
 increase the work from week to week. After getting 
 on the track do not speed them for two or three drives, 
 then only at half speed for a couple of quarters in the 
 mile ; it is best after jogging three miles the wrong 
 way of the track to turn around and jog stiff to the 
 quarter pole, step them at half speed the second quar- 
 ter, jog stiff the third quarter, then step them at half 
 speed the last quarter. Do this about three times a 
 week for two weeks, the third week work them about 
 the same, except step them the last quarter at about 
 three-quarter speed. After this they are ready to go 
 an easy mile the last half about half speed. Finish 
 the last 200 yards good and strong. After a week's 
 work of this kind they are ready to go easy repeats. 
 The first and second weeks you begin to repeat only 
 give them two heats each day you repeat them ; for 
 instance, if you are working a horse that can trot a 
 mile in 2.20, give him a mile on Monday in 2.40; 
 Tuesday, jog him ; Wednesday, give him a mile in 
 
 121 
 
2.45 i Thursday, give him a mile in 2.40 and one in 
 2.35 or 2.36; Friday, jog him; Saturday, blow him 
 out just a little through the stretch, and rest him on 
 Sunday. The following week work about the same, 
 except a second or two stronger. After this give him 
 a mile Monday in 2.40 and repeat him in 2.35, always 
 stepping the last quarter a little the strongest. Jog 
 Tuesday ; Wednesday, give him a mile in 2.40 ; Thurs- 
 day, give him a mile in 2.40, one in 2.35 and one in 
 2.30; jog on the road Friday; Saturday, jog good 
 and strong on the road ; rest again on Sunday. Con- 
 tinue working this way, the number of days and heats, 
 about four weeks, except increasing the speed one or 
 two seconds every week on the days you work out 
 three heats. These directions are for horses that can 
 trot or pace in 2.20 or better, sound and all right. 
 There may be a great many things happen that will 
 change the program, such as rainy days, cracked heels, 
 etc. It is necessary, after you have commenced to 
 repeat to score them once or twice between each heat 
 at half speed. Continue work in this way until about 
 three weeks before they start in races ; then on Mon- 
 day you can give them one heat in 2.40, one in 2.30, 
 and one in 2.25 ; jog, Tuesday ; Wednesday, give them 
 a mile from 2.25 to 2.30; Thursday, go the first mile in 
 2.40, the second in 2.30 ; the next two miles go within 
 three or four seconds of their speed. The days you give 
 them four miles, increase the speed the last two miles 
 a couple of seconds ; also score three or four times 
 between each heat during the last three weeks before 
 starting in races. Some horses do well to blow them 
 out, that is, work them out, three slow miles two 
 days before they race, one mile in 2.40, one in 2.30, 
 and one in 2.20 to 2.25 ; but I find most horses do 
 
better to blow them out an easy mile the day before 
 the race. I think it is very injurious to most horses 
 not to give them any fast work in four or five days, 
 then take them out and give them three or four fast 
 heats, especially horses that are good feeders. After 
 the horse is in condition, he doesn't need very much 
 work between his races, three days before his race 
 three slow heats are sufficient. The day before the 
 race go a mile in 2.40. 
 
 In the early part of a horse's work I do not think it 
 advisable to bandage much nor use leg or body wash. 
 I do not think it best to rub the horse too much; it makes 
 him sore and irritable, and causes him to lose flesh. 
 When the horse comes in from his work throw a light 
 blanket over him and take a dam.p sponge and sponge 
 his legs and rub them with a cloth a little, then scrape 
 the sweat out of his hair. Straighten his hair with cloths, 
 and throw the blanket over him again ; you will be gov- 
 erned by the weather as to the weight of the blanket. 
 Walk him fifteen or twenty minutes, then take him 
 in, rub him again very lightly with the cloths five or 
 ten minutes, blanket him again and walk him twenty- 
 five or thirty minutes, then he is ready to do up, if 
 the work has not been very strong ; but if it has, it will 
 be necessary to spend more time on him. After he 
 has been rubbed out and cleaned thoroughly, wash 
 his feet and sponge his legs. Dry them thoroughly 
 with the cloths, give him a little water at different 
 times, as he is being cooled out; after he is finished, 
 give him all the water and hay he wants. The day he is 
 worked out lightly, he should have a cold mash for his 
 dinner; three quarts and a half of oats and a quart of 
 bran, with just enough water to dampen the bran. 
 The day he gets repeats or strong work he should 
 
 123 
 
have a hot mash at night. As you begin to give 
 him strong fast work it will be advisable to use band- 
 ages, leg and body wash. A wash I like the best for 
 this purpose is two parts of witch hazel, one part of 
 alcohol, and one part of soft water. This should be 
 used warm when the horse comes in from his work. 
 Spray it on the body and muscles, then rub well with 
 the hands, lay the cooler or light blanket over him 
 while the wash and bandages are being put on his 
 legs, and cool him out as before stated. If the horse 
 has had fast hard work or a race, after he is cooled out 
 and ready to put away, use a little of the wash on his 
 legs and put on the bandage for a couple of hours. It 
 is best to put on the bandage very light. I think the 
 wash should be used sparingly on the horse's body. 
 Most grooms will use twice as much as is necessary. 
 If a horse has a bad leg it will be necessary to use a 
 wash that is more of an astringent at night, such a 
 one as is hereinafter described for lameness. In dry 
 weather, both winter and summer, the horse's feet 
 should be packed with oil meal, or clay, three or four 
 times a week. 
 
 If the leg is very bad and the horse is lame, it is 
 necessary to go easy with him a week or ten days, and 
 use ''Great Discovery" according to directions. 
 After using this a few days use the wash I have here- 
 inafter mentioned for lameness, etc. I have derived 
 great benefit from using a wash made of sugar of lead, 
 six ounces; chloride of ammonia, six ounces ; tincture 
 of iodine, six ounces ; acetic acid, one pint ; salt, eight 
 ounces; dissolve all separately and add one gallon 
 of soft water. The proper way to use this is to bathe 
 the leg well with it at night and put a sheet of cotton 
 batting around the leg, then put on the bandage and 
 
 124 
 
leave it on all night. Take it off early in the morning, 
 and rub the leg lightly with a soft towel. Leave every- 
 thing off until he has had his exercise or work, so the 
 leg can have air. I think Mr. Marvin has used this 
 tincture for several years. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say anything about driving, 
 as that is one of the first things most trainers learn, 
 but I would make a few suggestions. The first is, 
 learn to drive with a light hand. Never pull on the 
 horse's mouth more than you can possibly help. A 
 pulling horse is disagreeable to drive, and cannot trot 
 as fast when he pulls, as he is liable to cut off his wind 
 a little and possibly choke ; and, above all, never drive 
 a horse with the arms extended straight, as you do 
 not have control of the horse, and cannot help him 
 when he is tired. A great many horses will pull a 
 little at times, especially in scoring with a field of 
 horses. Then it is necessary to take hold of him a 
 little, but ease away to him as soon as possible. With 
 some horses you can tell when to do this by the move- 
 ment of the ears and head. If you fail to do this at 
 the right time, and the horses are evenly matched, you 
 will certainly lose the heat. Another suggestion I 
 would make is : if you have a horse that cannot trot 
 better than 2.14 or 2.15 and you are in a race against 
 horses that can trot in 2.10 or 2.12 and happen to 
 get away well and trotting second to a horse you know 
 can go in 2.10, it is bad policy to try to drive your horse 
 faster than he can go in chasing the 2.10 horse. If 
 you do this, you will certainly get left, as there is no 
 chance for you to win, and you are apt to make a mis- 
 take and other horses may come on and beat you for 
 a place. A great many horses lose races they could 
 win if the driver had patience to sit still a little longer. 
 
 125 
 
To keep horses in good health you must at all times 
 have plenty of fresh air without a draught on them. 
 The stall should be cleaned and disinfected. To do 
 this, sprinkle all around the stall inside and out with a 
 solution of carbolic acid. Also sprinkle slaked lime, 
 especially in damp places. Every time horses are 
 shipped, the car should be thoroughly cleaned, aired 
 and disinfectants used before putting the horses in it. 
 I find it very important to do this in every place horses 
 go. I also think it is advisable to burn tar and sul- 
 phur in the stable two or three time a week. I am 
 satisfied it will relieve you of a good deal of worry and 
 expense during the season. Horses get sick some- 
 times even though you do all you can to prevent it. 
 When a horse is taken sick, it is all important that he 
 have immediate treatment ; but it sometimes happens 
 that when sickness is discovered there is no veterinary 
 surgeon to be had in time to do the horse any good, 
 and many horses are lost that might have been saved 
 if the veterinary had seen them in time. Appreciating 
 the importance of applying a remedy as soon as sickness 
 is discovered in a horse, and knowing the impossibility 
 sometimes of getting a veterinary just when you want 
 him, I have for a number of years kept with me a full 
 supply of Humphrey's Homeopathic Remedies, and 
 have had good results from their use. Not only 
 are the results of this medicine very satisfactory but 
 it is so easily administered that any one can give it. 
 If a man will study the book and go strictly by direc- 
 tions he can accomplish much with it. It seems 
 hardly necessary to say that you should know and un- 
 derstand what the ailment is before you attempt to 
 cure it ; for if you do not, neither these remedies nor 
 any others will do the horse any good. 
 
 126 
 
For chafes and cracked heels I have found the follow- 
 ing treatment the best : take a little castile soap and 
 warm soft water and a soft sponge and cleanse thorough- 
 ly ; then thoroughly dry the same, and if very bad put 
 on a little vaseline ; then apply a powder made of the 
 following ingredients, viz : calomel, one ounce ; borax, 
 one ounce ; pulverized alum, one ounce ; pulverized 
 camphor gum, one ounce ; pulverized orris root, one 
 ounce ; fuller's earth, one ounce ; gum of myrrh, one 
 ounce. If vaseline or other salves are properly used 
 they are beneficial ; but the trouble is, most grooms 
 will use several times more than is necessary, and this 
 excessive use keeps the part to which it is applied so 
 soft that it does more harm than good, and, therefore, 
 I think it advisable to use the powder alone, except in 
 extreme cases, which rarely occur. When it is found 
 necessary to use vaseline or other salves, as I have 
 indicated, it should be applied very sparingly. When 
 the heels are rough and more chapped than cracked, 
 glycerine is a good remedy. To properly apply this : 
 wash the af^icted part with castile soap and warm 
 water ; dry thoroughly, and apply a small amount of 
 glycerine, and this will often be all the treatment the 
 horse will need ; for thrush keep the foot dry and 
 clean, and use creoline or calomel. 
 
 It frequently happens that a campaign will develop 
 curbs and other forms of weakness in a horse's legs, 
 hips and shoulders that will require treatment. I have 
 used a great many different kinds of liniment to cure 
 these ailments, but have had the best success with 
 iodine. To properly use this remedy the following 
 method should be observed : Clip the hair off the 
 afflicted part ; bathe with warm water, to open the 
 pores; then dry thoroughly with cloths ; put on iodine 
 
 127 
 
liberally at the first application, and rub with a stiff 
 brush four or five minutes. Every day for a week, 
 after the first application, apply a small quantity of 
 iodine with a soft brush. In six or seven days, after 
 you are through with the iodine, rub on lard a few 
 times. In two or days after this, wash with castile 
 soap and warm water. In very bad cases a second 
 treatment may be necessary ; but in ordinary cases I 
 have found one treatment sufficient. After this treat- 
 ment, if the ailment is in the legs, the afflicted part 
 should be treated with a preparation composed of salt- 
 petre, two ounces ; borax, two ounces ; arnica flowers, 
 two ounces. This should all be put into a pan with 
 enough water to keep from burning and boiled half an 
 hour. When boiled, put it in a gallon jug, add two 
 ounces of spirits of camphor, and fill the jug with soft 
 water. It is then ready for use as soon as cool. This 
 wash should also be used after using " Great Dis- 
 covery," and is the most cooling and satisfactory 
 remedy for inflammation of any kind, and will harden 
 the part to which it is applied better than anything I 
 have ever used. If it is desired to work the horse 
 after he has been treated with iodine, he may be 
 jogged in a week or ten days after the first treatment. 
 
 128 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING HORSES' FEET IN GOOD CON- 
 DITION—PROPER WAY TO SHOE HORSES TO COR- 
 RECT CERTAIN DEFECTS— WHEN PADS SHOULD 
 BE USED AND THE PROPER KINDS FOR DIFFERENT 
 HORSES. 
 
 GENTLEMEN of experience do not need to be 
 told that the foot is about the most important 
 part of the anatomy that a horse carries to 
 the race track ; hence, what I am about to say is not 
 intended for their enlightenment ; but, as this book will 
 probably be read by some who are just commencing to 
 learn the art of properly caring for horses, I deem it 
 proper to say that the old adage of ** no foot no 
 horse " is as true to-day as when it was first promul- 
 gated generations ago ; and that, as effect follows cause 
 in any case, poor shoeing and want of proper atten- 
 tion to the feet will produce a worthless race horse 
 more effectually than the want of sufficient feed and 
 grooming. The suggestions contained in this chapter 
 are based upon my personal experience, and, if followed, 
 will, I think, produce satisfactory results. 
 
 A great many trotters, both colts and old horses, 
 will forge and scalp when jogging. When they do this, 
 I always use a square-toed shoe in front, also bevel the 
 shoe on the outer edge near the toe from the hoof to 
 the ground surface. Do not file off the hoof at the toe 
 when it projects over the square of the shoe, only re- 
 move the edge of the hoof with the rasp. You will 
 
 129 
 
find this will be a great advantage to a great many old 
 horses as well as colts. I have been using this kind of 
 a shoe about twenty years and have had great success 
 with it on some horses. The first horse I ever used 
 them on was McCurdy's Hambletonian. When I took 
 him he was very rough gaited, and would not trot any 
 distance square and true, and would cut a new pair 
 of leather scalpers all to pieces in one work-out. I 
 knew that was the cause of his going rough gaited, and 
 thought if I could stop it he would go much better. 
 So I shod him several times in a short period, experi- 
 menting. I finally filed the shoe square at the toe, 
 like an old worn-out shoe, and he went much better 
 for me. Then I began to square the shoe, and let the 
 hoof project over. He went square and true, shod 
 this way, and was a good horse and won many races. 
 I find this a good way to shoe most trotters during the 
 winter and spring while jogging, as they do not forge 
 and scalp with the square-toed shoes ; and a great 
 many horses do better with them taking their first 
 work, as they quicken the action, especially long strid- 
 ing horses ; and a great many horses that need scalp- 
 ers with the ordinary shoe can go without them by 
 using the square-toed shoe, which is quite an advan- 
 tage, as the scalpers are a great impediment to a horse's 
 speed, often causing him to carry more weight in front 
 to balance the weight of the scalpers. Another advan- 
 tage this shoe has, is this : Some horses are inclined to 
 go a little sideways, that is, carrying one hind foot in 
 between the front feet, and carrying the other hind 
 foot out. When a horse does this, he will trot faster 
 around a turn than he will through the stretch going 
 straight. If he carries his right hind foot in, he will 
 trot the wrong way of the track around the turn 
 
 130 
 
faster than straight away. This shows that his stride 
 is shorter with the foot he carries in. If it is the left 
 hind foot he carries in, put a square-toed shoe on 
 the left front foot, bevel the shoe from the 
 foot to the ground surface on the outer edge near 
 the toe ; put an ordinary-shaped shoe full at the 
 toe on the right front foot ; on the right hind foot 
 square the tcye the same as on the left front foot ; on 
 the left hind foot shoe full at the toe, the same as on 
 the right front foot; have this shoe a quarter of an inch 
 longer or more at the heel than the right hind foot, 
 and throw the outside calk or heel out just a little 
 more than the right foot, also put a piece of leather all 
 around under the shoe to make this foot longer. I 
 have been benefited by shoeing some horses this way 
 when they were inclined to hitch and go sideways. I 
 prefer a convex creased shoe beveled from the foot to 
 the ground surface on most horses. A shoe made this 
 way is stiffer, stronger, and protects the foot better, 
 and breaks the concussion more, and the horse will 
 have a better hold when his foot leaves the ground, as 
 it is the natural shape of the horse's foot when bare- 
 footed. It is very seldom that a pacer needs a square- 
 toed shoe, unless he is a horse that is big gaited and 
 needs his action quickened. Pacers do not forge and 
 scalp with the toe of their front feet as trotters do. 
 They very often clip the inner edge of the left front 
 foot with the inner edge of the right hind foot and, 
 vice versa, with right front foot and left hind foot. 
 The way I have had best success in shoeing them is 
 to use a shoe weighing six or seven ounces on the 
 hind feet, a shade heavier on the outside and the 
 shoe straightened on the inside from the point of the 
 toe to the middle of the quarter, that is, about half way 
 
 131 
 
from the toe to the heel. Let the hoof project over 
 and round the edge with a rasp, also bevel the shoe 
 well on the inside with a rasp from the foot to the 
 ground surface. Have these shoes made with calks 
 and run back about three-quarters of an inch longer 
 than the foot ; on the front feet put ordinary shoes, 
 weighing about the same as the hind shoes, and bevel 
 well on the inside from the foot to the ground sur- 
 face. Any pacer that crossfires will be very much im- 
 proved this way. Hal Pointer had to be shod like this. 
 Some pacers will need a little more weight in front and 
 less behind, and some go best with light toe weights. 
 
 A great many horses that wear light shoes have to 
 be padded. To pad a horse right it is necessary for him 
 to wear bar shoes. For pads I prefer to use firm pli- 
 able leather, such material as is used in making horse 
 collars ; and I prefer to use sponges instead of oakum. 
 Take a fine quality of sponge just a little smaller than 
 the foot, cut the sponge from the point of the frog to 
 the heel of the foot so that the sponge will come down 
 on either side of the frog, in order not to get too much 
 frog pressure. Also lay a small piece of sponge in the 
 center of the frog under the bar of the shoe. It is very 
 important not to have too much sponge, as it will very 
 often force the leather below the level of the shoe, 
 particularly so on light shoes, which will make a horse 
 very sore in its feet. Before putting on the sponge 
 and pad apply Moore's hoof ointment liberally to the 
 sole of the feet. 
 
 There are a great many kinds and varieties of rubber 
 pads now in use. I have found the most satisfactory 
 pads for winter, while driving on the snow, to be the 
 Mooney racing pads. These pads give plenty of 
 frog pressure and cause the foot to spread. For some 
 
 132 
 
horses they are the best for summer ; but, as a general 
 thing, I prefer the leather pads I have spoken of for 
 most horses for summer use. The Mooney racing 
 pads are used without bar shoes. 
 
 Some horses, that have excessive knee action and 
 pound the ground hard, need a shoe with fine, sharp 
 toe and heel calks, to break the concussion. To 
 properly shoe a horse with these calks, a flat shoe 
 should be used, with very light, sharp calks ; the 
 calk should be about two inches long at the toe, set 
 well back on the shoe from the toe and perfectly 
 straight across, thereby allowing the horse to break 
 over easy and causing no strain on the tendons; the 
 calks on the heel should be about one inch long, set 
 lengthwise of the shoe. If the horse has to be shod 
 with light shoes or pads, it is necessary to shoe him 
 with bar shoes. Some horses, that have low hock 
 action and are close gaited behind, will slide an inch 
 or two on their hind feet when striking the ground 
 going fast. In such cases I have had the best results 
 by shoeing them behind without calks ; if calks 
 are used, they will prevent the sliding and shorten 
 the stride too much ; but for horses that do not thus 
 slide I prefer to use calks on the hind shoe. 
 
 Nature is more generous with some horses than 
 with others respecting the bestowal of good feet. 
 The perfect forefoot of a horse 15^ hands high 
 should measure about 3^ inches from the coronet 
 to the point of the toe, and stand at an angle of 
 about forty-seven degrees. The heel of the front 
 foot should be about i^ inches long from the coronet 
 to the bottom of the foot. Both the toe and heel of 
 the hind foot should be a shade shorter than the front 
 foot, and the foot should stand at an angle of about 
 
 133 
 
fifty-two degrees. I do not believe in too long toes, as 
 it brings too much strain on the tendons, and will soon 
 cause lameness. Neither must the toe be too short, 
 as that will cause tenderness, which is equally as detri- 
 mental. The trainer is frequently admonished of the 
 fact that vigilance is the price of keeping a horse's 
 feet in proper condition, and if they are neglected he 
 will soon learn, to his sorrow, that he has a race horse 
 only in name. 
 
 There are a great many good horseshoers all over 
 the country. Mr. William Cope, who has been shoe- 
 ing for me for the past two or three years, I consider 
 as good a mechanic as I ever saw. He has a quick 
 eye, handles the rasp well, can get the right angle of 
 the foot with perfect ease and can make any kind of a 
 shoe. He is perfectly reliable and willing, and never 
 gets out of patience with a nervous, uneasy horse. 
 He has been an important help to me in the races I 
 have driven since he has been shoeing my horses. 
 
 134 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 HORSES I HAVE GIVEN RECORDS — CONCLUSION. 
 
 I DROVE the horses named below to the records 
 indicated, which were their best records at the 
 time they were made, and I believe are still their 
 records except in the cases of Bonesetter, Mattie 
 Hunter, Hal Dillard, Star Pointer, and Joe Patchen. 
 The record I gave Joe Patchen of 2.01 ^^ was in a race, 
 and is the present race record ; but I believe he has 
 since acquired a trial record of 2.oi}(, Besides the 
 horses named, I have also driven a great many in races 
 where I have been substituted for other drivers, and 
 given them records better than 2.30 ; but I kept no 
 records of such horses and do not remember their 
 names. The list is as follows : 
 
 TROTTERS. 
 
 AdFIELD, 2.2 2^ 
 
 Alice West, 2 26 
 
 American Belle, 2.12^ 
 
 Annie W., 2.20 
 
 Athanio, 2.10 
 
 Barkis, 2.25^ 
 
 Battleton, 2.09^ 
 
 Beautiful Chimes, 2.22)^ 
 
 Bonesetter, . . 2.26 
 
 Boy Blue, 2.25^4 
 
 Carillon, 2.16^ 
 
 Charming Chimes, 2.17^ 
 
 135 
 
Cora, 2.26 
 
 Dan, 2.2414 
 
 Dare Devil, 2.09^ 
 
 Dr. Almont, 2.21% 
 
 Dr. Norman, 2.19% 
 
 Electmont, 2.22^ 
 
 Emily, 2. 11 
 
 Equity, 2.12^ 
 
 Excellence, 2,19^ 
 
 Fantasy, 2.06 
 
 FiTZ Royal, 2.13^ 
 
 Frank Buford, 2.20 
 
 Fred S. Wilkes, 2. 11 
 
 Globe, 2.14^ 
 
 Hawley, 2.23% 
 
 Heir-at-Law, 2.12 
 
 Henrietta, 2.17 
 
 Honest George, 2. 14 J/4 
 
 J. B. Richardson, 2,17^ 
 
 Jeffe Lee, 2.22 
 
 Joe Rhea, 2.23 
 
 Josie Chimes, 2.29^ 
 
 June Bug, 2.29^ 
 
 Kate Ashley, 2.22^ 
 
 Keokee, 2.20^ 
 
 Lady Geraldine, 2.11^ 
 
 Lord Derby, 2.07 
 
 LucRETiA, 2.20 
 
 McCurdy's Hambletonian, . . 2.26^ 
 
 McEwEN, 2.18% 
 
 Merriment, 2.113^ 
 
 Milan Chimes, 2.13% 
 
 Nettie King, 2.20^ 
 
 Nightingale, 2.08 
 
 N. T. H., 2.17X 
 
 Onward Silver, 2.11^ 
 
 136 
 
Pansy, 2.17^ 
 
 Play Boy, 2.i8>^ 
 
 Rex Americus, 2.11^ 
 
 RoxiE M., 2.28^ 
 
 Sixty-Six, 2.15^ 
 
 Smith O'Brien, ....... 2.29^ 
 
 Stevie, 2.19 
 
 Tennessee Wilkes, 2.27 
 
 Texas Bill, 2.26^ 
 
 The Abbott, 2.03X 
 
 The Earl, 2.17 
 
 The Monk, 2.08^ 
 
 The Queen, 2.10)4; 
 
 Tocsin Chimes, 2.24^ 
 
 True Chimes, 2.12% 
 
 Tudor Chimes, 2.13 
 
 Valence, 2.12% 
 
 Wade Hampton, 2.29)^ 
 
 Wardwell, 2.14^ 
 
 X. Y. Z., 2.29>4 
 
 DOUBLE-TEAM RECORD. 
 
 Belle Hamlin and Honest George, . . 2.12% 
 
 TRIPLE-TEAM RECORD. 
 
 Belle Hamlin, Justina and Globe, . . 2.14 
 
 137 
 
PACERS. 
 
 Actor, 2.22% 
 
 Bay Tom, 2.23 
 
 Bob Taylor, 2.23^ 
 
 Brandon, 2.12 
 
 Bright Regent, 2.06^ 
 
 Brown Hal, 2.123^ 
 
 CaSSIE, 2.28>4 
 
 Chimes Boy, 2.1714^ 
 
 Cuckoo, 2.16X 
 
 Duplex, 2.17^ 
 
 Ed. Easton, 2.09^ 
 
 Elsinora, 2.12)^ 
 
 Era Chimes, 2.18% 
 
 Frank Dorch, 2.15% 
 
 George Gordon, 2.27 J4 
 
 Glendennis, ^-^l/i 
 
 Hal Braden, 2.07^ 
 
 Hal Dillard, 2.06 
 
 Hal Pointer, 2.04^ 
 
 Head Light, 2.24^ 
 
 Heir-at-Law, 2.05% 
 
 Ildrim, 2.21^ 
 
 Intone, 2.21^ 
 
 Intrepid, 2.26^ 
 
 Jim Friel, 2.20^ 
 
 Joe Bowers, 2.18 
 
 Joe Braden, 2.15^ 
 
 Joe Patchen, 2,01)4 
 
 KiTTIE B,, 2. 1 I 
 
 Lady of the Manor, .... 2.04% 
 
 Mandolin, 2.16 
 
 138 
 
Mattie Hunter, 2.13 
 
 Mercury, 2.21 
 
 Merry Chimes, 2.08^ 
 
 Mocking Boy, 2.o8>4 
 
 Monogram, 2.20^ 
 
 Moonstone, 2.09 
 
 MoRELiA, 2.10^ 
 
 Nettle Keenan, 2.26)4 
 
 Ovid, 2.15^ 
 
 Red Fox, 2.10 
 
 Red Oak, 2.13^ 
 
 Robert J., 2.01^ 
 
 Rockdale, 2.29^ 
 
 Sailor Boy, 2.17^ 
 
 Stanley P., 2.24}^ 
 
 Star Pointer, 2.07 
 
 Tom Wilkes 2. 11 
 
 Summary : 
 
 Trotters, 68 
 
 Pacers, 48 
 
 Total, 116 
 
 139 
 
WORLD'S RECORDS. 
 
 I 
 
 HAVE given world's records to the following 
 horses, some of which stand as world's records 
 and some have since been lowered, viz : 
 
 Brown Hal, . . pacing stallion record. 
 
 Hal Pointer, . . pacing gelding record. 
 
 Fantasy, .... three-year-old race record. 
 
 Fantasy, .... four-year-old mare race record. 
 
 Fantasy, .... fastest four-heat race. 
 
 Nightingale, . . three-mile record. 
 
 Nightingale, . . two-mile race record. 
 
 Robert J., . . . fastest gelding. 
 
 Robert J., ... world's harness record. 
 
 Robert J., ... fastest heat in race gelding. 
 
 Robert J., ... fastest four-heat race. 
 
 Joe Patchen, . . fastest race record. 
 
 Lady of the Manor, fastest pacing mare. 
 Lady of the Manor, fastest heat in race mare. 
 
 Lord Derby, 
 The Abbott, 
 The Abbott, 
 The Abbott, 
 The Abbott, 
 The Abbott, 
 The Abbott, 
 
 fastest five-year-old trotting gelding, 
 fastest six-year-old gelding, 
 fastest two-heat race, 
 fastest five-heat race, 
 fastest race record to wagon, 
 fastest trial to wagon, 
 fastest trotting record. 
 
 Belle Hamlin and 
 
 Honest George, fastest double-team record. 
 Belle Hamlin, Globe 
 
 AND JusTiNA, . fastest triple-team record. 
 Heir-at-Law, . fastest race records, both trotting and 
 pacing. 
 140 
 
That others will surpass the record I have made, 
 both as regards the number of horses driven and the 
 time recorded, is highly probable, and yet I can 
 frankly say that my ambition is measurably gratified. 
 I have certainly achieved a far greater success than I 
 had reason to anticipate at the dawn of a career to 
 which my mature years have been devoted ; and if, in 
 the years to come, I shall witness higher achievements 
 by others than I have been able to obtain, I shall ever 
 be ready and willing to extend to him or them the 
 same cordial greeting with which I have always been 
 favored. No tinge of envy or bitterness will mar the 
 memories which cluster around the past. The good 
 will I bear to those I have met in friendly rivalry, as 
 well as to those who may in the future adorn a profession 
 of which I only claim to be a humble member, will ever 
 be cherished by me as one of the brightest jewels I 
 possess. 
 
 141 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Adonis, 62 
 
 Alice West 22, 28 
 
 American Belle, 95 
 
 Assistants, importance of having good, 112 
 
 Bar shoes, when should be used, 133 
 
 B. B., 61 
 
 Beginners, Advice to, 118 
 
 Belle Hamlin, 62, 73 
 
 Bessie Hal, 7 1 
 
 Betsey Baker, 47 
 
 Blackwood, Jr II 
 
 Blind Tom, 33» 34 
 
 Bridle and Bits, I20 
 
 Bright Regent, 89, 90 
 
 Bro\\Ti, Major Campbell, 22, 23 
 
 Brown Hal, 59 
 
 California, as place to winter horses, 113 
 
 Calves, breaking and driving, 13 
 
 Caring for horses during preparatory work, 113 
 
 Chafes and cracked heels, remedy for, 127 
 
 Checks, kinds of, 121 
 
 Chieftain, H 
 
 Chimes 7^ 
 
 Collision and unfair decision, 26 
 
 Colt-breaking, IO9-111 
 
 Colt, My first, H 
 
 Colt shows, 38 
 
 Columbia, Tennessee, residence at, 23 
 
 Conditions in Tennessee not favorable for trotting races, .... 10 
 
 Converting pacer to trot, 20, 21 
 
 Cope, William, 134 
 
 County Fairs, I4 
 
 Curry, Jack, 83 
 
 Dare Devil, loi, 102 
 
 Date of career as trainer and driver, 18 
 
 Dexter 99 
 
 Direct, 63. 
 
 143 
 
PAGE. 
 
 Disinfectants, Importance of using, 126 
 
 Doble, Budd, 79 
 
 Double-Team record, 137 
 
 Driving, suggestions about, 125 
 
 Early Life, 13 
 
 Easley, John, and hoodoo, 83, 84 
 
 Ella Bro\vn, Strange incident in training, 69 
 
 Fanning, Rev. Talbot, ii, 18, 19 
 
 Fantasy, 86-88 
 
 Feeding horses in winter and spring, 1 16 
 
 Feet, best time to get in condition, 114 
 
 Feet, importance of keeping in condition, 129 
 
 First Lesson, My, in caring for race horses, 22 
 
 First Monday 35 
 
 First Race, My, 18, 19 
 
 Foot, Perfect, of horse 15^ hands high, 133 
 
 Forging and scalping, remedy for, 129 
 
 Fox hunting, 39 
 
 Freeman, H. B., 109 
 
 Fry, O. N., 49 
 
 Fuller, George, 21 
 
 Gibson's Tom Hal, 47 
 
 Globe, 73 
 
 Glycerine, when should be used 127 
 
 Goldston, Wm., 37 
 
 Grand Circuit, 103 
 
 "Great Discovery," when to be used, 124 
 
 Greenlander, 75 
 
 Hal Family, 47? 70 
 
 Hal Pointer, 59 
 
 Hamlin, C. J., 72, 77, loi 
 
 Hamlin, Harry, 72 
 
 Harness, should fit well, 1 20 
 
 Heir-at-Law, 93, 94 
 
 Hock action, when low, how to shoe, 133 
 
 Honest George, 73> 80 
 
 Horses, working and preparing for races, 121, 122 
 
 Hotspur, race with, 78 
 
 Humphrey's Homeopathic Remedies, 126 
 
 Iodine, how and when to use 127, 128 
 
 Jockey Day, 36 
 
 144 
 
PAGE. 
 
 Joe Braden, 29 
 
 Joe Patchen, 82, 83 
 
 Jogging, general rules for, 119 
 
 John R. Gentry, 82 
 
 Justina, 73 
 
 Kittrell's Hal, 47 
 
 Knee action, when high, proper way to shoe, 133 
 
 Lady of the Manor, 97> 98 
 
 Little Brown Jug, 49 
 
 Little Dave, 18 
 
 Lizzie, 49 
 
 Locomotive, 5^ 
 
 Lord Derby, ... • 99, 1 00 
 
 Lucy, 33» 34 
 
 McDowell, Andy, 83 
 
 Mambrino King, 78 
 
 Marvin, Charles, 125 
 
 Mattie Hunter, 31-34 
 
 Milan Chimes, 96 
 
 Montgomery, accident at, 24 
 
 Mooney's Rubber Pads, recommended, 132 
 
 Moore's Hoof Ointment, when to apply, 132 
 
 Morgan Horses, II, 18 
 
 Mountain Slasher, 37 
 
 Mud, racing in, 75> 83 
 
 Nightingale, 74. 75 
 
 Old horses, how disposed of, 66 
 
 Old Spot, 41 
 
 Pacers driven to records, 138, 139 
 
 Pacers, how to shoe, 131 
 
 Pacing gait not appreciated, 10 
 
 Pads, how and when to use, 132 
 
 Parents object to my becoming trainer and driver, 16 
 
 Pneumatic sulky, first used in Grand Circuit, 79 
 
 Preparing horses for campaigning, II4 
 
 Prince Pulaski, 31 
 
 Quarters, when defective, how to remedy, 115 
 
 Race Track, My first, 16 
 
 Raymond, Tom, S^ 
 
 Receipt for wash in certain cases, 124 
 
 Repeats, when to give, 121 
 
 145 
 
PAGE. 
 
 Robert J., 8i 
 
 Rowdy Boy, 33> 34 
 
 Roy Wilkes, 56 
 
 Saddle Horses first used in Tennessee, 10 
 
 Salisbury, Monroe, 83 
 
 Scenery, change of, advisable, 119 
 
 Selma, Alabama, desirable place to winter horses, 113 
 
 Sheep, use of, to dry race track, 83 
 
 Shoeing to correct certain defects, 129, 130, 131, 133 
 
 Sickness in horses, suggestions about, 126 
 
 Sky Blue, 70 
 
 Sleepy George, 32 
 
 Southern Circuit, 23 
 
 Southern climate, advantages of, for winter training, . . . 1 1 3, 120 
 
 Speeding horses in early winter, 120 
 
 Springs, when and how to use, 114, 115 
 
 Sulky, only time ever taken out of, 29 
 
 Teeth, importance of keeping in good condition, 117 
 
 Tennessee, Leaving, for Village Farm, 77 
 
 Tennessee, pacing-bred pacers, 71 
 
 Tennessee pastimes, 35 
 
 Tennessee, settlement of, 9 
 
 The Abbott, 103, 108 
 
 The Monk, 91, 92 
 
 Thrush, Remedy for, 127 
 
 Toe, must not be too long or too short, 134 
 
 Training stable should be properly conducted, 112, 113 
 
 Triple Team, difficulty in driving, 73 
 
 Triple Team, record, 137 
 
 Trotter, My first, 15 
 
 Trotters driven to records, I35~I37 
 
 Trouble, ii 
 
 Troupe and Flounce, 40 
 
 Vaseline, when should be used, 127 
 
 Village Farm, 72, 77, 78 
 
 Wash, proper to use after working horse, 124 
 
 Wash (stringent), to be used after treatment for lameness, . . . 128 
 
 White, Ben, 112 
 
 Woodruff, Hiram, 99 
 
 World's records, 140 
 
 Yolo Maid, 63 
 
 146 
 
_! FamBy Library of Velerinary Mecficme 
 
 Ouromings Schro! of Veterinary Medicine at 
 
 Tufts Univaroity 
 
 200 Westboro Road 
 
 North Grafton, MA 01636 
 
V 
 
 ■■)'•:■■-' 495-; 
 
 
 I