The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1885-09-12
THE TROTTER.
Driving as an Art-Mechanical and Natural
Drivera

Driving as an Art-Mechanical and Natural
Drivers.
We know of no business pertaining to
horses which requires more science than
that of handling a trotter. To under
stand all the ms and outs of horse, his
strong and weak points, whether kind
ness or sternness is best to get speed out
of him, whether he is in condition to
trot to-day or unable to perform the nee
,essary work requires patient study. AL
most every horse has some peculiar trait
which it is the duty OF the driver to
understand before he is competent to
tell how much speed the animal is cap
able of. 1t has been truly said ''some |
men are born great, while others have
greatness thrust upon them, and this
old adage is as true in the driver as in |
any other of the affairs of life. Some
men take to the driving of horse as
naturally as ducks take to water. There
is another class which may be termed
mechanical drivers, and still another
class who are neither natural or me-
chanical, and never will make good
drivers. We have seen many a really
good horse spoiled for a days race
simply through injudicious warming
up" on the part of The driver Some
horses can stand any amount of work,
while others get fretted and tired out in
long scoring and are consequently
played out before they finish the first
mile. Hereis where art again comes in
play. The man who thoroughly under
stands his horse will save him as much
as possible, if he be horse that tires
easily, while another driver will show
equally as much art with the long-wind-
ed horse. If the driver of the long
winded horse sees his opponent firing,
he will manage to prolong the scoring
until he is stopped by the judges. A
little jerk of the reins, q slash of the
whip, or some such move, will send his
horse to break before reaching the
wire, and of course the bell is sounded
and new start commenced Again,
there is art or science-call it which you
may-in scoring horse. Some drivers
will send horse for all he, is worth a
full mile, whether there be necessity or
no. Wehave frequently seen drivers 90
from wire to wire at full speed without
seeing whether there was any necessity
for such measure. Not taking the
trouble to cast an eye either to the right
or left to see whether or no he could
. slack up sufficiently to allow his horse
to get a fresh wind, and finish ten or
twenty lengths in advance when a couple
of lengths would answer every purpose.
This is not the rule, but is quite fire.
Quently seen. There are times, of course,
when such a movement is justifiable,
especially when there is known to be
close competitor in the race whom the
driver wants to get rid of, and more es-
pecially when such opponent has in
dulged in bad break and little extra
eXertion will leave the breaker so far
behind as to be distanced. We have
known of such an instance within a few
days where it was not applied, and the
driver wished afterward that he had
taken advantage of his situation He
had chance to shut horse out, but,
out of courtesy, pulled up and let the
horse in, and got his pay for doing so
later in the race by having the other
party claim foul, and which, we are
sorry to state, was allowed by the judges
without making any inquiries as to the
cause. The result was the horse was
distanced, and his hackers were not
only great sufferers financially, but they
were filled with contempt for the man
who claimed the foul and also towards
the judges who took the mans word
without giving the other driver chance
TO be heard. Such work not only hurts
the reputation of really good driver,
but Injuries the track upon which the
race took place. Still another mark of
science is manifested when the driver of
a good horse manages to secure second
money without obtaining a mark for his
horse. We have never seen better il
Illustration of this than within the past
two weeks. A certain horse started at
the New York Driving Club meeting,
and was so deliberately pulled that
everybody observed the movement, but
was not moleSted by judges, and as the
driver had pools against his horse, of
course he was handsome winner The
very next week when the mare started
at Hartford she was heavily backed, and
was driven to win, doing so with per-
feet ease, although she then had better
competitors than in New York. We
might 60 on at indefinite length, but
the above illustrations are sufficient for
the purpose stated to show that driving
is an art. Sportsman.