The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-10-26
How LOriIlard's Horses are Cared for
and Educated. - 5;

DTCGulu0 DldCc u ttlttEGHAl1E.
About three miles from Islip, Long
Island, is the summer residence and
farm of George L.. Lorillard. Eight hun
dred acres comprise the extent of the
place, and very large portion of the
ground is laid out in such picturesque
manner as TO suggest, fairy land itself.
What was at one time only barren
waste has been made, thanks to The ex-
penditure of q vast sum of money and
the employment of the highest skilled
labor, to blossom like the rose.
1t is here that all the famous horses
owned by Mr.. Lorillard are kept during
the greater portion of the year. The
stable is large, low wooden building,
octagonal in shape, and capable of ac-
commodating about fifty horses. Each
animal has a good-sized apartment to
himself, and the place is kept serupu-
lously neat. An army of small boys AID
young men are employed the year round
to care for the stock. The largest of
these employees are 'srubbers,n or gud-
dens, whose sole duty consists in rub
bing down the horses after they have
taken, their morning exercise. In the
middle of the large yard, in the center
of the building, are several hydrants
and pumps, and O shower, and here the
horses enjoy their ablutions in the morn.
.ng. Nearly ALI the stock owned by this
famous breeder has come from
Kentucky. EARLY in the winter MIR. II.
K. Olcott, the assistant horse trainer
employed on the placo, goes South and
makes purchases of such horses as he
deems will be 8 credit to the Lorillard
farm. Much of the present stock has
been bought of General Harden and
Sandford 81 Grinstead, OF. Lexington,
KY, a lively city,. about ninety miles
south of Cincinnati, and noted, the world
over, for its fine horses. ~ f 90 -s ;
Horses are ss broken," or rathel
started to be broken, in the spring wheT
they become yearlings. They are
trained until the following fall, when
they are laid up until spring; then taken
out again and the usual course of train
| ing resumed. 80 1t is little singular, but
nevertheless true, that blood tells in
horses the same as it is said to do in
human beings as regards their peculiar
aptness to receive instruction. To
break 8 splug,'--as the stable boys at
these farms call all horses outside OF
1 racing stock plugs-requires maybe q
| months time. With the racers it is a
/ very quick matter They can be brok-
en-, so William Jones, an intelligent col
ored lad, informed me, in the short
space of three days. I" Dey seem to
know" he said, "just what's 'speeted
of 'em, and dey goes right ahead just
as natr'l as a human being would; fact
is, a good deal natnraller dan some"
q The first thing done Is to put the bri-
die on the horse, turn him loose, and lei
him get use to the feeling of it. The
next thing is to put the saddle on him
and let him run around for a few hours.
Finally one of the boys mounts him,
and the training begins in good earnest
1t sometimes happens that the horse
trains the boy, or ss trainsn with him, as
the country people say, for it is no uu.
common thing for the youngsters to be
| thrown. Occasionally q rib is hroker
or q leg or an arm wrenched out oi
place, but such trifiing incidents a'
these are taken as part of the regular
business and are not thought much OF
Before the boy mounts the horse il
should be said that he leads the anima
around for short time. But the train
ing of young racing colts, under the
most favorable circumstances, is, an
credibly informed, often exciting anC
very often dangerous. But so exper
are the bows who make it busines:
that within a week from the time tht
horse has had bride put on him h
can be ridden without any trouble by Al
ordinary horseman.
Every morning the horses are takel
out in sets to be exercised. The frs
set leaves the stable at five O'Clock, TIA
second at eight O'Clock and third st tel
O'Clock. Each set remains out abou
an hour and half. The exercising
boys come from the House of Refuge ol
Blaekwell's Island, and are bound ou
as apprentices. Their ages are iron
eight to fourteen. There is q regula
racing track, mile long, with judges
box, where the purchaser of
horse can sit and have a goo
view of the horses move
ments. Here, during the summer, tn
horses are exercised. Mr.. 0lcottt tn
assistant trainer must always be on han
20 superintend. As the cavalcades pas
in review before him he makes such sug
geStions to the riders as he deems nee
essary, and it is almost. needless to Sc
, that he is aman thoroughly trained i
the business. When he was but eigh
years old he rode q race, and, probably
he knows as much about horses as
man of his age can. He Is up ever
/ morning lllo ouihAuCL Ut " SlOC
| and in the winter at 3 80.
Exercising the horses is about the fir
thing the boys are set to do when the
arrive at the farm. After they hav
: served an apprenticeship of five years 8
this business, they are given a chance
become horse-jookeys, and that, it ma
be mentioned, is something they loo
forward to with the utmost interest. b
fore most of them can enter q race the
are obliged to train of some of the 81
perfieous flesh to get them down I
racing weight. To do this effectuall
l and quickly, long walks are taken ever
day, and the diet is carefully locke
2 after. Toast, coffee, crackers and til
1 best broiled beefsteak are the favorit
1 | edibles in the bill of fare. In old time
3 | jockeys used to literally starve of. the
D extra fat, but more liberal notions as I
5 eating prevail at the present time. Man
7 of the youth get rid of many pounds
the regular exercising of the horse
3 Some have commenced weighing on
J hundred and twenty pounds, aud in
1 few weeks been reduced to one huadre
I and seven9 Sometimes this training
? overdoneR The only time that Tralnt
: Olcott was sick in his life was when /
was boy, trying TO redace himself b,
e low one hundred and three, and at tn:
: time he had an attack of brain fever,
Z consequence of his unusual efforts.
I I At the time l was at the farm L saw.
: set of seven two-year-olds being excl
cised by the boys. The youths WEI
mostly whites; there were, believe
: three colored boys among them. The
= = were dressed in a motley manner TAX
! them as a whole, the horses, which wei
! long bodied, thin-:imbed, bright-eyeC
and whose hides were as smooth as We
: vet, looked better than the boys. On
? of these two-year-olds was brother I
: Bertha and cost 1920. A brother I
4 Monitor cost 81, 100. A half-brother I
D Spendthrift cost $3.50. A Ahalf-brotht
}, to the Duke of Magenta cost 50 900. A
!. these horses will be put on the trac
G uext spring, Brooklyn Eagle.