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I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.! 
 
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 I UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. || 
 
<!' /olio, A 
 
 EVERY HOUSE OWNERS' 
 
 TRAINING MANUAL 
 
 HORSEMAN'S GUIDE 
 
 CONTAININO 
 
 FULL AND COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS IN BREEDING, BREAKING, 
 
 TRAINING, AND EDUCATING THE TROTTING HORSE, BOTH 
 
 IN THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC STATES. 
 
 C. GRANVILLE JOHNSTON. 
 
 SAK JFHAKdlSCO, CALl^OMIAt 
 PtJBLISHEt) BY C. GRANVILLE JOHNBTON & COMPANY, 
 
 Office No. 3t Stjt±£a StBEai. 
 1871. 
 
5.F34 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1871. 
 
 BY JOHNSTON & COATES, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 PKINTED BY 
 Jos. "WiNTERBUBN & COMPANY, 
 
 417 Clay Street, 
 San Francisco, Cal. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 I believe that it may be asserted, without fear of con- 
 tradiction, that no book has yet been published in the 
 English or any other language, which even professes to 
 give a complete description of breeding, breaking, train- 
 ing and educating the Trotting Horse in a form and style 
 suited to the country gentlemen of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury. It is true that some of these departments are 
 described, but very imperfectly, in separate works; but 
 they are generally written in technical language, suited 
 rather for the professional student than for the use and 
 comprehension of the ordinary reader. For these rea- 
 sons the author of this work has thought that a book 
 combining the above subjects, and confined strictly to 
 those subjects, treated in a practical manner, and in a 
 style popularly intelligible, would supply a deficiency 
 which has long been complained of by all who are in- 
 terested in the proper production and management of the 
 Trotting Horse. And in order to bring this work within 
 the reach of every one who reads, it is published in 
 pamphlet form, divested of all superfluous matter; there- 
 fore it will be found to contain only what is absolutely 
 necessary for the elucidation of each subject. 
 
-?^^ife^^^^«^^=^— 
 
 — ^=^5^5^^5g^^J 
 
TRAINING MANUAL 
 
 AND 
 
 HORSEMAN'S GUIDE 
 
 I now offer tliis book to tlie public, explaining all the 
 nice j)ractice there is in managing horse-flesh, and show- 
 ing all men how to break, train and educate their own 
 horses and colts to trot; also showing stock-raising men 
 how to breed their mares, what cross they o'ught to select 
 to breed them to, that they may command a good price 
 in the horse market The class of horses that command 
 a larger price than any other in the United States is the 
 trotting horse. 
 
 Men are frequently heard to inquire how it is that they 
 have so many fast trotters bred in the East, while so few 
 are bred upon the Pacific Coast. In answer to this 
 inquiry I will state to the reader that in the East the 
 greatest pains are taken in selecting the sire and dam. 
 They don't look at a few dollars in the price of breeding 
 their mares. It is very true they don't all get Dexters, 
 or Lady Thorns, or Goldsmith Maids, but they are breed- 
 ing into the same family that produced those flyers. 
 
 Dexter, the king of trotters, sold for thirty-five thou- 
 sand dollars. He was sired by Hambletonian, the pro- 
 ducer of more high-priced horses than any other trotting 
 sire in ^e United States. This fact proves conclusively 
 to our horse-raising men — especially in California and on 
 the Pacific Coast — the necessity of choosing a stallion 
 that has trotting blood. in him. They must, also, look 
 back and trace up his pedigree, that they may be sure 
 
6 
 
 they are not breeding to cold-blooded mongrels. They 
 must, also, look to the form of the horse that they intend 
 to breed to ; he must be well-necked, deep-chested, and 
 short-jointed for endurance ; for speed, he must have a 
 nice, clean, bony head, a good, nice, large nostril, wide 
 between the eyes, good prominent eyes, wide between 
 the joles, clean and nice around the throatlatch, a large 
 windpipe, a nice rang;^" neck with plenty of depth, a good, 
 nice, slanting shoulder, short back, with good strong 
 loins, plenty of length from the point of the hip to the 
 crouper, heavy through the stifles, with a good, wide, flat 
 hock, with plenty of length from the point of the hip 
 to the point of the hock, short between the hock and 
 pastern, a good, flat, clean leg ; must stand straight on 
 his pasterns, with his hind legs well set under him. The 
 breeder must see that he has plenty of depth through his 
 chest, with a good, large barrel, which denotes a strong 
 constitution, and good staying qualities. Horse-raisers, 
 by observing the above rules in making their selections, 
 will obviate the taking of desperate chances in breeding 
 their mares to cold-blooded stallions. 
 
 Horse-raisers (much too often for the sake of economy) 
 allow their mares to be bred to cold-blooded stallions that 
 are only flt for the commonest kind of labor. Now see 
 how wide of the mark they get, upon the score of econo- 
 my. For example : a colt sired by a cold-blooded brute 
 will grow up, and at best will never command in the horse 
 market more than two hundred dollars, and very much 
 oftener will price at a sum vastly less ; while, on the 
 other hand, if the same mares were bred to some such 
 horse as has been prefaced and so minutely described 
 above, their colts, when three years old, with proper 
 training and a good nice gait, would be worth one thou- 
 sand dollars each, which would justify the breeder in 
 bitting, breaking, and training his colts to trot^ A colt 
 that can trot in three minutes is to-day worth one thousand 
 dollars or more, and always a good demand and ready 
 sale for him. Colts that can trot in three minutes and 
 one-half are woTthJive hundred dollars, which facts above 
 mentioned must conclusively convince the breeder and 
 
raiser of colts that, upon the score of economy, as well 
 as that of pecuniary advantage, breeding, raising, and 
 training trotting stock is most decidedly to be preferred 
 over that of any other class of horses. 
 
 METHOD OF BITTING, BREAKING AND TEACHING 
 THE COLT OR HORSE TO TROT FAST. 
 
 I will now explain to the reader the method of 
 bitting, breaking and teaching his colt or horse to trot 
 fast. First of all be sure and use your colt very gentle, 
 when a year old halter break it, teach it how to lead 
 by the halter. After you have taught it to lead kind, 
 run along with it a short distance at first, if the colt 
 should break from its trot check it and teach it that 
 you want it to trot and not to lope. Pursue this course 
 for a couple of months, until it knows what you want 
 it to do. Play with your colt one hour each day, but 
 be sure you don't heat it up, and never get out of tem- 
 per, and above all be sure and never whip it. Con- 
 tinue to handle your colt as I have just described and it 
 will soon find out that it will not get hurt, which course 
 will rapidly inspire confidence in itself, and you will 
 have no trouble in breaking it to harness. Keep using 
 the halter on it occasionally^ until two and a half years 
 old, and occasionally get on your horse and lead it 
 along by the halter, and let it step along two or three 
 hundred yards at a time, never allowing it to break 
 from its trot if you can help it; if it should, check it 
 as quickly as possible, and it will soon learn that you 
 want it to trot and not to gallop. 
 
 The colt, on reaching the age of two and a half 
 years— put a bitting harness on it, and be sure you don't 
 check its head any higher at first, than its natural style 
 of carrying it while in motion. Keep the bitting rig on 
 it twenty minutes the first day; the next day, twenty- 
 five minutes, and take it up on the check line two holes; 
 third day, give it half an hour in the bitting rig, with 
 its head two holes higher,: so that it'will bear on the bit. 
 Work it along this way one week, leading it along 
 
by the side of the horse you I'ide, jog along a nice natural 
 gait and you will soon get your colt way-wise. Give it 
 four or five miles a day the next week, jogging along a 
 little faster, taking care to notice your colt that it don't 
 break from its trot, and in the event it should, check 
 it as quickly as possible, and it will soon learn that 
 you want it to trot and not to run. Two weeks in suc- 
 cession is all it needs in the bitting rig, by this time its 
 mouth becomes soft so that you can rein it. At this 
 juncture put a breast-plate harness on it, checking it 
 so that it will bear a very little on the check, get it 
 accustomed to the harness, pat it on the neck, walk all 
 around it, handle it all over, and start off gently with 
 it, let it walk a mile or two, then jog along a slow and 
 natural gait a couple of miles, which will be sufficient for 
 the first day's exercise in harness; always have it led 
 beside your saddle horse, increasing your speed gradu- 
 ally, when you see it is feeling like trotting, let it step 
 along two or three hundred yards at a time, being sure to 
 select a good nice piece of road upon which to move. If 
 on the track, let it jog two miles, and let it step along on 
 the last quarter of the third mile; let it work up to its 
 gait gradually, until within three hundred yards of the 
 stand, then increase its speed by clucking to it occasion- 
 ally, if it should appear rather anxious, as a great many 
 horses and colts are when learning to trot fast, call it 
 back by using the word whoa ! If it should break from 
 its trot while trotting up to its speed, shake the bit in its 
 mouth and at the same time use the v/ords " take ca:re." 
 Pusue this course and it will very soon learn its lessons, 
 and easily become educated in its trotting gait. Two 
 weeks with the harness on it, it will get accustomed to 
 leather slapping about it, so it will know what that 
 means. When preparing the colt for this exei'cise it 
 should be shod forward only, not needing any shoes on 
 its hind feet for the first month, or until you hitch it 
 to a sulky for steady driving. Be sure and notice what 
 kind of knee action your colt has, as you must be the 
 judge of shoeing your own horse or colt. If the colt 
 bends a good knee, it wants a nice smart shoe on; if 
 it does not, and throws out its forward legs without 
 
much knee action, you must have a heavier shoe on for- 
 ward than behind in order to make it fold a better 
 knee. You must also be a judge of the track you intend 
 to work on, as a great many of our tracks, especially in 
 California, become very hard in the summer season if not 
 harrowed up and kept in order. 
 
 If the reader follows these directions he will be sure to 
 pursue the right course to make a trotter of the young 
 beginner, and the owner will fin^ that he will be well 
 rewarded for his trouble in pursuing this course, as his 
 colt will be way-wise when he wants to hitch it up to 
 a sulky. The man who handles the colt must bear in 
 mind that it is a very wise plan before hitching his col^ 
 single that it is very necessary he should get a steady 
 well-broke horse and hitch the colt up with him, so that 
 the colt will get accustomed to the rattling of the wagon. 
 Once or twice is sufficient to hitch the colt up in that 
 way. When hitching your colt up with the horse be sure 
 and hitch the horse up short, so that the colt won't have 
 to pull any. After driving your colt with the horse as 
 above described, take it out and hitch it up to your 
 sulky, and jog it slow a couple of miles, then return to 
 your stable and unhitch it, have some one hold the colt 
 while unhitching, as no chances should be taken with the 
 colt until it has every confidence in itself. Drive your 
 colt every day four or five miles for a couple of weeks, 
 and it will soon have its lessons learned. When pre- 
 paring your colt to trot fast, or for any engagement, 
 whatsoever it may be, if working it on a race track, jog 
 your colt three miles the reverse way of the track, then 
 turn your colt and jog along one mile the right way of 
 the track, the next mile let your colt step along lively 
 two or three hundred yards when into straight work, go 
 slow around the turns and the distance that I have men- 
 tioned, let it step on through both stretches. This 
 will be a plenty of track work for it the first week. 
 After giving it the first lessons, such as I have men- 
 tioned, the next day take your colt on the road to prevent 
 its getting tired of the track. 
 
10 
 
 By following these instructions one month, you will 
 find a great improvement in your colt. By using it 
 this way, it will not get sore or dull, but will always feel 
 cheerful and ready to show you speed whenever you call 
 upon it. The next month jog your colt the reverse 
 way of the track until you get it emptied out and ready 
 to move it; then turn it and go the right way of the 
 track, and let it step along about three-quarter speed 
 for one mile ; then go to the stable with it, and, if 
 sweating, throw a blanket and hood on it; sponge its 
 mouth out and give it a couple of swallows of water ; 
 when you get it unhitched from your sulky, walk it 
 around about two minutes, then" take it in its stall, get 
 your harness off and scrape the sweat off of it ; then 
 rub the water out of its hair and throw a light blanket 
 and hood on it, and walk it five or seven minutes, and 
 at the same time sponge its mouth out, and after spong- 
 ing it, let it wet its mouth in the bucket ; then take 
 it in and rub it about ten minutes with dry cloths ; 
 then cover it up with some lighter clothing and take 
 it out and walk it ten minutes, and before going to 
 the stable with it, sponge its mouth out, as this will be 
 a great help to cool it out ; then rub it dry, before 
 taking it out again. Then, when you have got your 
 colt perfectly dry, so that it will be fit to curry, take 
 your curry-comb and curry it, neck and body and as low 
 as its knees and hocks ; very often, as currying too hard 
 gets a horse sore ; never curry the knees or below the 
 hocks ; when you get it curried, take a clean rubbing 
 cloth and rub it all over with it ; then take your brush 
 and comb and brush it off; then take a clean cloth and 
 smooth its coat with it ; then put on its sheet, and 
 after going through this process, the horse will be cool 
 enough to water off. Then take a bucket and get it full 
 of clean water ; set it on the outside of your walking- 
 ring and administer it to yonr horse in six parts. Give 
 your horse about one-sixth of it at first ; then walk it 
 three or four times around the walking-ring and give 
 about the sasme, and so on until watered. Then take your 
 horse where you throw out your litter and let it stale 
 there, as it prevents the horse from wetting its litter, and 
 
11 
 
 keeps its stall so much purer and cleaner. The horse 
 will soon become so accustomed to it that the groom will 
 find no trouble in leading it to stale three times a day. 
 
 Where the climate, at all seasons of the year, like that 
 in many parts of the State of California, is mild, your 
 horse must not be clothed so warm as in parts of the 
 country where the seasons change from hot to cold or 
 vice versa. A person to train horses must clothe accord- 
 ing to the weather ; he must also remember no two horses 
 train alike ; therefore, he should study his horse's dispo- 
 sition, and if nervous, must treat it kindly ; never 
 scold at it or strike it. If it is vicious and cannot be 
 coaxed, you must let it know that it must be conquered 
 and that man is its master ; but never whip it, until 
 you are well satisfied it both needs and deserves it, and 
 only then at the moment it does wrong. A few such 
 lessons as these, the horse will soon find out what you 
 punish it for, and will very soon become as docile, obe- 
 dient and affectionate as a well-tutored child. 
 
 Many people training horses have their horses' legs 
 washed every day with castile soap and water. This 
 practice is a bad one, and I will explain to the reader 
 wherein it meets with my disapproval. Washing your 
 horses' legs with castile soap and water every day and 
 then rubbing them dry, the consequence is the skin be- 
 comes finer, and it loses that moisture that nature has 
 provided ; it being removed every day by the use of the 
 soap and water, which operation very materially aids and 
 hastens the production of cracked heels. This result I 
 have tested to my satisfaction. I once trained a horse 
 that was very speedy. His legs were washed every day, 
 and when I would call upon him to extend himself, his 
 heels would crack wide open. So I quit washing his 
 legs every day, and in lieu thereof, had them well brushed 
 and rubbed down with a clean rubbing cloth, and after a 
 few days I had no further trouble with cracked heels. 
 Pursue this course and, experience will at once lead 
 the reader to the same conviction already produced upon 
 the mind of the author as the only true and successful 
 method of the cure and prevention of cracked heels. 
 
12 
 
 After training your horse eacli day, the last thing you 
 should do before you put it into its stall is to clean 
 well with a foot-pick the bottom of its feet, and examine 
 well that it has not picked up a nail or other sharp sub- 
 stance, or received any bruise, also it is a very good plan, 
 after using your horse, to wash and cleanse the bottom 
 of its feet with water. Should your horse at any time 
 while driving it become suddenly lame stop it and 
 examine its feet, which trouble and precaution will save 
 owners many dollars, as well as the loss of the usefulness 
 of many good horses. 
 
 PREPARATION OF THE HORSE FOR TRAINING. 
 
 "When first taking the animal in hand, preparatory for 
 training, if grass fed, be kind to it; if high in flesh, be 
 sure and not reduce it too quick. When first you get 
 it, prepare the following bran-mash and feed it as di- 
 rected below. 
 
 BRAN-MASH. 
 
 Four quarts bran, two quarts oats, one-half teaspoonful 
 of saltpetre, one-half tablespoonful of salt. 
 
 Directions for mixing and using the bran-mash are as 
 follows: Put your bran in a bucket. Next your oats. 
 Stir them up while dry. Next take the saltpetre and salt 
 and place them in the centre of the mash, first making a 
 little hollow with your hand as a recej^tacle for the water. 
 Next, pour boiling hot water on it until you get your 
 mash well wet, then stir it up and cover it with a blanket 
 and let it remain three hours. By this time your mash 
 will be well cooked, and if too warm to feed take it to 
 your feed trough, pour your mash into it and stir it until 
 cool enough to feed the horse. This preparation (with 
 the exception of the saltpetre), given three times a week, 
 will cool him out and keep his bowels right. The salt- 
 petre should be given in the mash but once a month. 
 Jog your horse slow for a couple of weeks, feeding eight 
 quarts of oats per day — two quarts in the morning, and a 
 few swallows of water before exercise, three quarts at 12 
 
13 
 
 o'clock and three quarts at 6 o'clock, p. m. — wliicli will be 
 sufficient feed for the first two weeks. As its work must 
 be slow, give it about six pounds of hay to a feed. 
 After this, the trainer must be the better judge, as some 
 horses want more work than others. If your horse is 
 high tempered, long and slow work will soon steady it, 
 and near the close of its work increase its speed; for a 
 high tempered or high spirited horse twelve miles per 
 day is reasonable work; of the twelve miles, jou should 
 jog it along about eight, and increase its speed the last 
 four miles. If your horse is a puller, do not pull it, 
 but, keeping a firm and steady hold, call it back to you 
 by using the word *' whoa." The horse, when used in 
 this way, will soon find out what you mean by this treat- 
 ment, and its anxiety to pull will cease at the word. 
 
 ON DRIVING— WHAT JUDGMENT TO USE, Etc. 
 
 As all horses do not drive alike, persons undertaking 
 the driving of them must first study his horse's disposition, 
 and if dull, he must take a nice, stead^)^ hold of his lines, 
 check his horse not much higher than when in natural 
 motion, touch it occasionally with his whip and cheer 
 it up. As many a horse does not want to stay on its 
 feet when another comes up to brush with it, the driver 
 must keep a nice, steady hold of his lines and call his 
 horse back until it gets confidence in itself. If driving 
 in a race, the driver must alwaj^s keep his e^^e on his 
 horse's head — as all horses are very^ apt to show some 
 symptoms of breaking, before getting off their feet, 
 either by throwing up their heads, overstriding them- 
 selves, or by making a mis-stejD ; and very often it hap- 
 pens through the neglect of the driver, by being over- 
 anxious and trying to force his horse to more speed than 
 it naturally has, or by letting go his pull or hold upon 
 it too sudden. When a horse breaks from its trot, let 
 it make a few jumps before you undertake to catch 
 it, then all of a sudden take it well in hand, pull it 
 a little to the right, then suddenly to the left, then square 
 it ; to square it, you take a good steady hold of it and 
 force it on to the bit, as this will change its movement, 
 
14 
 
 and it will go to trotting again. With a few such lessons, 
 you will soon have a good breaker. 
 
 A man who drives trotters must never be too anxious 
 to over-work or over-speed. When his horse is trotting 
 as fast as it can, keep it there, and do not try^ to give 
 it too much speed at one time. Many men in the trotting 
 horse business give their young horses too much track- 
 work, so that they become track-sick and leg-wearied. 
 Never try to drive your horse when tired. During the 
 author's experience in training and driving the trotting 
 horse, men have veiy often been noticed to go on the 
 track with young horses; working them at first at a mod- 
 erate gait, the animals would, while fresh, work well ; 
 along the last of their work, they would break and the 
 driver getting out of patience, together with natural 
 stupidity and laziness, will go off the track and declare 
 his horse cannot trot a bit, thus destroying the chances 
 of a really valuable and excellent colt, without the 
 slightest cause ; while the reason of its breaking was 
 caused by the driver allowing it to get completely pumped 
 out of wind or breath. 
 
 Young horses cannot stand as much driving as horses 
 eight and ten years old, for the simple reason that their 
 joints are soft and their muscles not set — so that when 
 handled, the person handling them should remember that 
 they do not need as much work as an aged horse. 
 
 A man to become a good driver must drive with a 
 steady line and always study his horse's disposition; and, 
 if his horse should break from its trot, not to be too 
 harsh with it, but give it a chance to catch by letting 
 it run twenty or thirty yards, then pull it suddenly 
 to the right, then suddenly to the left, at the same time 
 call it back, by using the word whoa 1 being sure you 
 have it well in hand, so that you can square it. By 
 a strict observance of these rules, the horse will soon 
 learn what you want of it, and will become so expe- 
 rienced in its lessons that you will have no further trouble 
 in catcing it from a break. Once in a while a break 
 rests a horse ; for instance, in trotting two or three miles 
 
15 
 
 and repeat, where your horse is closely matched, if you 
 have a handy breaker, you have a great advantage ; 
 therefore, when men are training their horses, that is the 
 time for them to teach them to break and catch. 
 
 METHOD TO IMPROVE THE HORSE IN SPEED. 
 
 When you take your horses to the track to train for the 
 first time, you must start in easy with them. If taken up 
 from grass, you must walk them mornings and evenings, 
 for three days, seven miles in the morning and five miles in 
 the evening. Be sure and careful to feed as follows, or 
 as professional trainers term it: " Mash your horse out," 
 with bran -mashes. Three quarts of bran, one quart of 
 oats, mix well while dry, then pour boiling hot water on 
 your mash until well wet, then cover your mash with a 
 blanket and keep covered for three hours, by this time 
 your mash becomes well cooked, which feed to your 
 horse when cool. Give this mash three times a day for 
 the first three days with some hay. This will prepare 
 your horse so that you can commence to grain him on 
 the fourth day, with two quarts of oats in the morning 
 before going out with him to exercise, three quarts at 
 twelve o'clock, noon, and again three quarts at six o'clock, 
 p. M. That will be sufficient grain for him for the first 
 week, as his work must be slow. After the first week, 
 increase his speed gradually as you work him. Twelve 
 miles will be about the average work for a horse each day 
 while ordering him, that is: eight miles every morning to 
 harness, to be jogged along five miles, until emptied, then 
 increase his speed the other three; and four miles' walk 
 in the evening, taking him out for his walk punctually at 
 four o'clock, p. M. One month of such work seasons your 
 horse so that you can, from thence, increase his speed 
 and work. A horse that will eat twelve quarts of oats 
 per day is considered a hearty feeder, and will stand fif- 
 teen miles exercise per day, that is: ten miles in the 
 morning in harness, and five miles for his evening walk. 
 Out of the morning's work, jog seven miles, the other 
 three miles let your horse go up to about thi^ee -quarter 
 speed. Jog your horse twice on the road, so that he don't 
 
IG 
 
 get track-sick, as a liorse likes to be clianged occasionally 
 from the track to tlie road. 
 
 HOW TO COOL THE HORSE OUT WHILE TRAINING 
 AFTER HIS WORK IS DONE. 
 
 After its work, keep your liorse out of the wind as 
 much as possible; when you bring it to its stable, after 
 its work, if very warm and sweating freely, throw a large 
 blanket on it immediately, and at once sponge out its 
 mouth with some nice clean water, and let the watfer run 
 over its nostrils. As soon as you get the foam out of 
 its mouth give it two or three swallows of water, then 
 you take its harness off and scrape off the sweat. After 
 you have all the sweat scraped off, blanket it up snug, 
 and clothe a little heavier by putting on an extra blanket 
 over your main sweating blanket and hood, pin your 
 blankets well up in front and put on two circingles, one 
 over your horse's chest and one across its loins, and pin 
 your blanket well behind. Then give your horse two or 
 three swallows, of water and walk it around for five 
 minutes, then bring it in to where you intend to scrape 
 it, take off its top blanket and hood, one getting on 
 each side, roll your blanket back about half-way on your 
 horse and scrapie the sweat off clean, then roll your 
 blanket up on its neck and shoulders and scrape its hind 
 parts, then roll back your blanket to its place on the 
 horse. After you get the sweat scraped off, take some 
 clean rubbing cloths and commencing at its head, rub 
 it all over, and so continue until you have dried off all 
 the external moisture; then put on a lighter blanket, 
 called a cooling blanket, and a light hood, and walk 
 your horse ten minutes ; then bring it to your stable 
 and take some dry cloths and rub it perfectly dry, then 
 when ready to curry, curry it light so -that its hide won't 
 get sore; as soon as curried, take your curry-comb and 
 brush and brush it all over, and then smooth its hair 
 down with your rubbing cloth, brush its main and tail 
 out, pick out the bottom of its feet and wash them well 
 and clean; then go to work and brush its legs down with 
 the brush until you get all the dust out of them; then 
 
17 
 
 take a damp sponge and sponge its legs down until you 
 damp them; then take your rubbing cloth and rub each 
 leg ten minutes at a time, rub on the Hat of the leg, and 
 rub light so as to prevent soreness — as rubbing too hard 
 causes soreness of the bone; pursue this course and you 
 will always have your horse in good condition. 
 
 HOW TO MANAGE THE HORSE AT HOME, AND 
 PREPARE IT FOR MARKET. 
 
 Horse-raising men and others who have no time or op- 
 portunity to take or send their horses to a public race- 
 track, by observing carefully the following instructions 
 will save both the expense and necessity. A great many 
 of our farmers and horse-raisers can ill afford either the 
 time or expense of paying from fifty to as high as one 
 hundred and fifty dollars per month to have their horse 
 trained, or to ascertain whether he is worth training or 
 not. This will explain to them how they can manage 
 their horses at home, and how to make them command a 
 price, when they offer them for sale in market, or where- 
 soever the purchaser may make an offer for them, so as 
 to prevent the seller from being taken in in the price of 
 his animals. Horses of the age of three years, with good 
 shape and size, and a good, square, open gait, that can 
 trot in three minutes and thirty seconds, if a mare or 
 gelding, is worth five hundred dollars, as there is a good 
 showing to improve the speed of such horses. A horse 
 of the same age, that can trot in three minutes, is worth 
 one thousand dollars, as the chances are greatly in favor, 
 with nice, careful handling, of it soon dropping down to 
 two minutes and fifty seconds. A young horse that can 
 trot in two minutes and fifty seconds is well worth fifteen 
 hundred dollars. If a stallion, and is well bred, of good 
 size, and has a good open gait, he is worth two thousand 
 five hundred dollars. What is deemed of good size, is 
 fifteen and one-half hands high, with plenty of bone and 
 muscle, and weighs all the way from nine hundred to one 
 thousand pounds. In speaking of muscle, be careful to 
 observe that it is a good, nice, long muscle that tapers 
 well into the knees and hocks. Trotters do not want to 
 
IS 
 
 be muscled like quarter- horses. Never in my experience 
 have I seen any of the latter kind but would tire out in 
 trotting any distance. If you have a young green horse 
 that can trot 'in two minutes and forty-five seconds, he is 
 worth two thousand dollars and upwards ; if he can trot 
 in any time below two minutes and forty seconds, he is 
 worth three thousand dollars and upwards — with at all 
 times and all seasons a plentiful demand for them at 
 those prices. 
 
 The course to pursue to get your horses ready for 
 market is as follows: When the colt is three years old, 
 put its bitting harness on ; don't check its head any 
 higher than its natural way while in motion ; be sure and 
 treat it kindly, as by doing so, it will soon find out it 
 won't get hurt, and from thence you will have no trouble 
 with it. Give it about twenty-five minutes in the 
 bitting harness the first day and about thirty minutes the 
 second day — checking it up two holes higher than the 
 first day, and so on, from day to day, until you get your 
 colt's head elevated so that it can travel without lugging 
 on the check, or having its head too high ; as checking 
 the young horse too high, when teaching it to trot fast, 
 impedes its speed and prevents its extending itself 
 when in motion. Two weeks in the bitting harness is 
 sufficient, as by that time its mouth becomes soft, so that 
 when you put your harness on it, you can rein it im- 
 mediately. After you get through with the bitting har- 
 ness, put on a breast-plate harness; lead it around 
 with it on at first ; then drive it around in it for 
 about an hour, in order that it may get used to the slap- 
 ping of the harness about its body. Occasionally stop 
 it, and v/hile standing, walk all around it; jDat it 
 on the neck and head, so that it won't be afraid of any- 
 thing, and after a couple of days of this kind of treat- 
 ment, it will find out that it is not going to get hurt, 
 and you will have no further trouble with it. Now get 
 a kind, gentle and well broke horse and hitch your colt 
 beside him ; drive it three or four times double, in 
 order that it may get accustomed to the rattling of the 
 wagon, and it will soon become way- wise. Be sure to 
 
19 
 
 liitcli the horse you drive with your colt short enough so 
 that the horse will do all the pulling , as you do not want the 
 colt to do any pulling when taking his first lessons. 
 Then take your colt, as soon as you unhitch it from the 
 wagon, and hitch it up to your sulky, and drive it 
 four or five miles. Let it walk along at first, until it 
 learn& what you want it to do. Be sure and select as 
 level a piece of road as you can get, when you firs^ begin 
 to walk it. 
 
 HOW TO CONSTRUCT YOUR RACE-TRACK— MILE 
 OR HALF-MILE. 
 
 It is very easy for the farmer or horse-raiser to lay out, 
 upon his own or his neighbor's land, a mile or half-mile 
 track, such as the land in his immediate vicinity is best 
 adapted to. If you lay out a mile track, have quarter- 
 stretches of four hundred and forty yards to each stretch; 
 this will give you two straight stretches- the back — stretch 
 and the home-stretch, and four hundred and forty yards 
 on the turns, which will give you a complete mile of sev- 
 enteen hundred and sixty yards. If circumstances do 
 not favor a mile track, then lay out a half-mile track in 
 proportion to the mile track, and you have it comj)lete. 
 
 By adopting this method you can always train your 
 colt or horse to trot, axid learn to your own satisfaction, 
 right at home, very nearly if not quite, how fast your 
 horses are, and thus save the trouble, annoyance, and 
 expense of the public race track. This course will also 
 save you the trouble or necessity of hiring a horse sharp 
 to drive your horse on a public track to test his s^Dced, 
 aj^d save the chances of being deceived by such driver, 
 whose only motive would be to get the training of the 
 horse, whether speedy or not. Therefore, by all means, 
 lay out a track for yourselves, and thus avoid every con- 
 ceivable difficult}^ that is encountered upon public tracks. 
 
 The instructions here given are practically correct, as 
 you will observe all the theoretical observations are care- 
 fully excluded, and if followed, one man can drive five 
 
20 
 
 or six every day, and that is as many horses as one man 
 ought to try to improve in one season. If you are work- 
 ing three year old colts, six to seven miles track work is 
 enough each morning — the first four miles slow, the last 
 two or three miles let them step along, but not fast enough 
 to go to a break. This kind of work for the first month 
 will be about right, as by that time they become seasoned. 
 
 As to feeding, you will follow the general as well as 
 particular instructions heretofore given. Feed accord- 
 ing to their constitution. Oats is the best grain feed; 
 they are not so heating, and are more strengthening than 
 barley. Again I will repeat two quarts of oats and a few 
 swallows of water in the morning before going out, three 
 quarts at twelve, noon, and three quarts at six, p.m., with 
 the usual allowance of hay is sufficient feeding for the 
 first month. 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS TO OV7NERS OF HORSES. 
 
 When you first commence to drive your colt, if on you^ 
 own track, see how fast it can trot a mile at a nice, nat- 
 ural gait. Then in two weeks see whether it improves 
 or not, and so on for a couple of months, and in that 
 time you can tell whether it will pay to work it or not. 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS IN SHOEING. 
 
 If the colt don't knee up well, shoe it with a pound 
 and a quarter shoe forward, and a pound shoe on the 
 hind feet. If it bends a good knee, shoe according to 
 its style of going. A pound shoe forward, and a three- 
 quarter pound shoe behind, as the trainer must be the 
 judge of shoeing. If the colt over-reaches, set the hind 
 shoes i3retty well back, and let the toe come out over the 
 shoe. If the colt should hit its knee forward, shoe it 
 heavier on the outside than on the inside. Shoe as 
 straight as you can on the inside, having only two nails 
 on the inside of the forward shoe. Shoe suug and close 
 
21 
 
 on the inside of the forward feet. Should j^our horse's 
 leaders swell or get sore from work, get strong brine and 
 wet the leaders well with it, then wet your bandage well 
 and bandage them, but not too tight, and let up working 
 your horse for a while, and its legs will soon get all right 
 again. 
 
 If your colt dwells on the track, and don't pick up its 
 feet quick, get a set of rattlers and buckle them on each 
 of its feet, and it will very soon change its motion. If 
 a colt gets to hitching in its gait, putting the rattiers on 
 gets it out of it. If your horse shies or dodges at 
 every object it sees, drive it with an open bridle, so it 
 can see all around it, and it will soon quit dodging. 
 
 IF YOUR HORSE IS FAT, AND YOU WANT TO RE- 
 DUCE IT, 
 
 Give him a blanket sweat, by taking a blanket and pin- 
 ning it around your horse's neck on both sides, and let- 
 ting it go back as far as it will over its body; then throw 
 another over this, and let it back still further; then put 
 on a woolen hood and a belly wrapper; then put on your 
 harness, and jog three miles; then let it step along at 
 about three-quarter speed three miles more; then go to 
 your stable and give your horse a few swallows of water; 
 then take your harness off, and strip off all its clothes, 
 and scrape off the sweat, as taking off the clothes keeps 
 the horse from baking. Immediately after scraping off 
 the sweat, throw some dry clothes over it and walk it 
 around about five minutes, and bring it in ; take its 
 clothes off and scrape it again, if it is sweating freely; 
 then take your rubbing cloth and rub it pretty nearly 
 dry, and before taking it out again throw on it a cool- 
 ing blanket and a hood, and walk it about ten minutes, 
 then bring it in and rub it dry. Once a week is often 
 enough to give a horse one of these sweats until you have 
 got it in order. 
 
22 
 
 IF ITS NECK IS BIG. 
 
 Put a hood on it and sweat its neck occasionally. 
 Mash your horse with bran-mash after you scrape, when 
 it is feeding time, as that will cool off its bowels. Pre- 
 pare your mash as hereinbefore prescribed. As the 
 trainer must be the best judge of his horse, it is needless 
 for me to say more than to reassure the reader that if my 
 instructions, as herein set forth, are closely studied and 
 followed in pi'kctice the result cannot help but be grati- 
 fying, ^nd a fast trotter produced as easily as can be by 
 any professional trainer, and hundreds of dollars saved 
 to the pockets of the horse owner. 
 
 HOW TO MAKE YOUR HORSE COMMAND A GOOD 
 PRICE. 
 
 In order to make your horse command a good price or 
 the price you ask for it when you bring it to a horse 
 market to sell, first of all train your horse at home, and 
 be sure and know exactly how fast it can trot a mile 
 before you offer it for sale, and the least said about 
 your horse's speed or good qualities until the pro- 
 posed purchaser has examined it and tried its speed will 
 operate in your favor, and materially aid you in ultimate- 
 ly getting your price for it. For instance, in bringing 
 a green horse to market you are liable to meet a brigade 
 of horse sharps that are very apt to make inquiries in 
 regard to your stock, about their speed and so on, but 
 their speed is what they most care to know, as speed 
 commands the price. If your horse has shown you at 
 home two minutes and fifty-seven or eight seconds, and 
 you are asked what it is worth say it is worth one thou- 
 sand dollars. Should you be asked what it is that makes 
 it so valuable, let your rejDly be that he can trot. 
 Should he ask you how fast, you can tell him three 
 minutes. Should you be asked when you can name some 
 day when you are sure to have him in fix for the exhibi- 
 tion, or on the same day, if you are certain that he is in 
 order, he will certainly tell you if the horse can trot 
 in three minutes, he willgive you your price. 
 
23 
 
 You go to the race track as agreed and your horse 
 shows the proposed buyer that it can trot in two minutes 
 and fifty-six or seven seconds, the purchaser makes up 
 his mind at once that he is getting a horse from you that 
 you know little or nothing about in point of speed, and 
 he gladly buys at your own figures, thinking all the while 
 that he can rapidly improve its speed, he being ignorant 
 of the fact of its having been trained at home. On the 
 contrary, should you tell that he could trot in two-min- 
 utes and fifty-seven seconds, and on trial did not accom- 
 plish it, he would at once surmise that it had been 
 trained, and that its chances for improvement were bad, 
 all of which would be against you in selling at high-sjDeed 
 figures. But, where your horse shows better time than 
 you agreed it should, purchasers are the more eager to 
 buy. If you have a horse for sale that can trot in two 
 minutes and forty-five seconds, say to the proposed buyer 
 that it can go in two minutes and fifty seconds, but be 
 sure and ask the price of a two minute and forty-five 
 second horse, which is two thousand dollars, and always 
 in demand at that. Follow the above instructions and 
 you are sure to realize all that your horses are worth. 
 
 A WORD TO BREEDERS OP TROTTING HORSES. 
 
 Br^ders, to get trotting stock, must look to the marOj 
 as will as to the stallion. Such as intend to breed for 
 trotters should understand that it is as necessary to 
 have a good mare as well as a good horse. My ad- 
 vice in crossing mares to stallions is as follows: Take 
 a good strong boned mare that weighs about twelve hun- 
 dred pounds, that has a good, nice trotting gait; breed 
 her to a thorough-bred horse, and it is as good a selec- 
 tion as the breeder can make. On the other hand, if 
 you have well-bred and fine boned mares, cross those to 
 trotting sires, and the breeder will be sure to make the 
 right selections. It is better to breed a good mare to a 
 tolerable good horse, than to breed a good horse to a 
 scrub mare. "What I mean by good mare, is one that has 
 proved herself a good breeder. The sire, in like man- 
 
24 
 
 ner, never breed without you know what you are breed- 
 ing to. He must be a winner or the producer of some. 
 You ought certainly, between them both, to get a valu- 
 able animal that, with proper care and attention, and a 
 good trotting gait at the age of three years, would easily 
 command from fifteen hundred to two thousand dollars 
 and upwards. Pursue all the directions herein set forth, 
 and you can not fail to produce good trotting horses, 
 and that too without the aid of professional trainers.