Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-08-23
THE LOT TROTTER.

In the following from the Horse and
Stable will be found some valuable sug
gestons for those who are interested in
road and light driving horses, as well as
for those who handle horses for speed
alone: Nearly every one familiar with
breeding and developing colts has, at
times, had occasion to remark on the Oft
repeated failure of the phenomenal lot
trotter, or the colt that shows great speed
and fine trotting action in a yard or lot.
to develop after being handled to harness
into the trotter that it was expected he
would from his early indications of speed.
Aud so frequently has this happened that
many hOrsemen have come to the con-
cluson that the colt that shows lots of
action and speed when turned loose in
the paddock is no more likely to make a
trotter than another that shows but little
indications of speed in his early days.
1t is true that the trotting speed of a
horse cannot be determined to a certain
ty by his gait, for an animal with the
instinct and with an abundance of nerve
force, will, in spite of faulty action, out
trOt the perfect-gaited animal that is
lacking in nerve force. But at the same
time it stands to reason that of two colts
of equal breeding and nerve, one with an
open and frictionless gait, the other with
a short, pudgy, tied-up gait, that the best
gated one would be much the fastest.
| If this is a fact-and we think no one
will gainsay it-then is it not of the
greatest importance to the breeder who
would produce speedy colts to give a
little more time and thought towards a So
luton of this important question of how
raj born trottng action of their colts by
improved methods of handling, break
ing, shOeing, ETC., for we are firmly con-
WINGED that in nine cases out of ten the
failure of naturally fine gated colt
that shows speed in the lot to show the
same action and speed after being broken
to harness is due to wrong methods of
breaking, driving and shOeing.
There is not particle of doubt in our
mind that the superiority of California
and Kentucky-bred colts over those bred
in New England is owing more to the su-
perior knowledge of how to develop that
speed possessed by those who trained
them, than to any superior breeding of
the animals or to their climatic advant-
ages.
Charles Marvin is right when he says
train colts try to make trotters of them
too quick. When a colt, which if turned
loose shows an open gait and a fine burst
of speed, is driven in harness and COM
PEELED to pull weight for the first time,
the restraining influence of the harness
and weight makes him feel timid and I'M
natural. and if at this stage his driver at
tempts to urge him to 90 faster, or drives
him so far as to tire him, repeating the
same day after day as many do, his con-
fined and tired action becomes a con-
firmed habit. He forgets how to go fast
er, and thus another failure of the lot
trotter to make fast harness trotter.
On the other hand, however, had the
colt in his early lessons been driven less
often, and left more to his own resources,
he would after the novelty of the thing
was passed away have resumed his old
natural way of going, and if not handi-
capped by too much weight and restrict
ed by too much check and martingale
and heavy hands on the bit, and fed well
and kept feeling well, he would soon be-
gin to improve on his old-time barnyard
speed, and if well-bred no doubt distin.
guished himself on the trotting course.
Again, many natural born trotters have
their action spoiled by being thrown out
of gear and unbalanced by improper shoe
ing and weighing. Feek, in his book Oh
training the trotter, relates one instance
where ne owned a colt that IL turuad on,