The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-09-05
HELPS TO SPEED HORSES.
Various Contrivances for Overcoming
Their Infirmities of Movement.
q Discrimination Against PAGERS by the Ma
tional Breeders Association Which May
Cause a Revolt of Western Horse Men.

son Randall, the veteran horseman, editor of the
Western Sportsman, land they have all come
into use within the last fifteen or twenty years.
Being urged to name over some of them he con-
tinued: First there are hobbies These are
hobble consists of two straps, extending from
the hind legs TO the front legs, crossed under the
belly and bucked, one end of tine strap to each
front leg, and one end to each hind leg The
same straps are used on trotters to make them
pace, but in this case they run straight not be-
ing crossed under the belly
''There are numerous kinds of boots for horses.
Elbow boots, covering the elbow, secured by
straps and buckles around the arm, and sus-
penders over the shoulders and knee boots to
prevent the striking OF the knee by the opposite
foot. Then there is the cannon boot This ex-
tends from the knee to the pastern, to prevent
opposite leg. The quarter boot fits snugly
around the heel of each forward foot, to prevent
the horse, in making breaks, from cutting the
quarters with the hind feet. Then there is the
speedy cut boot attached generally to the can
non boot, to prevent horses from cutting the
pastern of the hind foot in passing the forward
foot at speed. The arm boot is a boot covering
the inside of the forearm of the forward leg, to
prevent horse of high trotting action from cut
ting the arm of the opposite leg. Besides these,
there are several boots for special use certain
horses. The interfering boot used on ordinary
horses about the streets is to prevent cutting Of
pastern joint. There is also the scalping boot,
which is something like the speedy cut It is
applied between the hoof and the second Joint,
sometimes on the foreleg, sometimes on the hind
leg One thing about these boots Is, they are
expensive.
"When one comes to toe weights he finds
great variety. Toe weights are used both for
higher action and extending stride Side wes hts
are used on the outside of the hind feet of
horse to make him spread out his legs wider be-
hind, so that in passing the forward feet he will
not touch. 1t often requires the incest discrinl-
inaton to know what kind of boots and weights
to put upon horse. There are all sorts of de-
vices in the shape of checks-side checks, over
checks Hartmann's reins, pulleys, etc Pulleys
gre fastened one end of the line to the bit and
then run up through ring on the saddle and
back to the ring of the bit again. then to the hand
Of the driver. They are used on hard-mouthed
horses.
''There are noss-bands and various other ap-
pliances to prevent horses pulling at the bit
There are many devices to prevent tongue loll
Ing or travelling with the mouth open AS
6aid all these things are recent Horsemen of
Ewenty years ago did not have them; they had
not been invented Occasionally horse has to
be driven with goggles, to prevent him leaving
the track or soaring at everything he sees.
Sometimes horse gets in the habit OF wanting
TO go off the track at the place he was brought
on. To keep such horse from too much knowl
edge on that point he is blindfolded when
brought,upon the track.
1.-THE weight of a sulky twenty years ago
averaged from sixty to eighty-five pounds, now
the average is from forty to forty eight pounds.
Harness has been made proportionately light
Old time drivers thought horse should trot I'M
der strong pull. Now the great object is to
teach the horse not to place his weight
upon the bit This is difficult thing to teach
the horse and still more difficult to teacn an old
fashioned driver. Under the old system the
horse carried the drivers weight on the bit-now
the intent is to relieve the animal of every ounce
Of unnecessary weight. 1t was thought too
that horse needed more weight forward than
behind. They put it in the shoe. Now light
shoe is used and the weight is put in toe.
weight. The first weight put was a roll of
leather filed with shot and buckled around the
ankle. The next weight was in the form OF a
leather to extend all over the outside of the
hoof This was filed with lead IN the lower
part aud secured by straps and an iron spur,
passing through the groove between the hoof
and the shoe.
''The modern toe-weight is q spur, fastened
upon the toe-shoe when it is put upon the foot.
That is two inches long, extending up the hoof
The weight is made heart-shape, with the heav-
lest part down the fange or groove, cut on one
side, that fits neatly over the spur This is made
still more secure by screw passing through
over the outside of the weight into this spur.
There is another kind of weight called the stick
fast 1t has no connection with the shoe, and
screws right into the toe of the hoof 1t does
not take very we'll with horsemen. There are
many patent appliances to give extra weight at
the toe but they have all been more or less fail
ures and horsemen prefer a light shoe and toe
weights. For trotter the front shoes al
ways heavier than the hind shoes. To make a
horse pace, this is reversed and the hind shoes
are made the heavier.
There is a singular thing in connection with
these toe.weights. The primary object of the
weights is to make double gated or pacing
horses trot square, but recently there have been
number of instances where natural PAGERS re-
quired the same toe-weights to bring out their
best speed. The wonderful four-year-old Deliu-
Gator, who made 2:l8, the best four-year-old
record requires four ounce weights to make him
pace his best licks. Capt John H. Steiner had
q mare that, without toe weights, could not pace
a mile in five minutes, but with them could
show 23O gait. Such instances, however, are
rather rare.
"a cry has been raised against toe-weights by
men opposed to pacing blood. They say that
toe-welghts are murderous, and to prove their
position true they point out many trotters that
have carried heavy toe weights and are now
broken down in their legs. In drawing their
conclusions they seem to forget that
PAGERS which wear, as general
and runners, that wear only a few ounces of
plates; more frequently break down in their legs
char trotters carrying the heaviest toeweights
They are making great excitement about this
thing for a purpose. We, in the West. are try
ing to get the National Breeders Association to
recognize pacing record in determining stand
ard rank. A horse that has record of 2:30, or
traces on both sides to a 2:3O performer, is
standard according to the rule; but PAGER may
have record of two minutes, and yet he and
descendants nnl0SS
trotter that trots better than 2:30. In this
standard rank Western breeders are interested
In having PAGERS count In determining
the rank, while Eastern breeders are
opposed, because they have not in their
breeding establishments any of the pacing
element The National Breeders Association,
though called national, is really controlled gov
erned and made up of Eastern breeders. But