St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-31
TRE TROTTING GAIT.
A Trainer Claims That the Trot Is
in the Head.

IA NlS H.
7 had a conversation the other dav
with a gentleman who has proven him
selftO be rarely good Judge Of trot-
ting colts. says a well-poSted writer on
turf matters. He has bought and de-
veIoped a number of good ones. and es-
pecially one that has been great SEN
satiOn. / asked him how he selected
his trOt.ing colts. lie replied: THAT
is q very hard question to answer.
While | am a great StickieT for con-
formation, do not regard that as any
test of q colts ability to make a tT0tter
do not buy colts of bad conformation,
because l can find good prospective trot-
tiers that are splendid individuals;
but still do not Judge of their trotting
ability from conformation, nor is it even
a factor in forming my Judgment.
Neither do Judge from gait. | do not
even care to see them moved. for this
purpose. Nevertheless, l like a good
gait as we'll as any one, but, in my
opinion, mere gait amounts to nothing
when it comes to a question OF speed.
Why. | knew horse that had the
speed of the wind, and great trotter,
too, that had about as bad a gait as any
one ever saw. A horse may have a
perfect conformation and an admirable
that the trot is in the head Any horse
that Is not a cripple and really wants to
trot can trot in 2:S0. That rate of
speed really requires 10 effort.
1t IS as easy as walking to any horse
that wants to trOt. The first Qualifica-
ton i'll a trOtting horse is the trotting
instinct. The stronger that is the more
certainly will the horse trot. Axtell.
Allerton, in fact every good trotter you
ever saw, trots with his head. Another
thing that is essential is that mysterious
something known as nerve force. With
this wanting you cannot have Il good
trotter or q good sire. Get all the gait
and all the conformation you will with
out this quality, you cannot have a real
trotteT 1t is not necessary that a horse
should be what is called nervous
horse in order to have plenty of nerve
force. What is usually called nervous
ness is really a weakness of the nervous
system. A horse may be lymphatic in
his temperament and yet have an i'm
mense reserve of nervous power.
HambletOnian was a Dhlegmatic
horse, and so, apparently, is Re-
Wilkes, but the produce of the laH6r
horse have all the vim you want; We.
either of these great sires was formed
with the capacity for immense effort
when aroused.
The FIRE is all there, but is shoulder
ing. Kindle it into life and l will war
rant you that you viii see a confiagra-
ton. When l look at a colt with a view
to having him trained, 1 am scarcely
conscious of my methods of determin-
ing whether he will answer the purpose
or not I decide the question in my
mind Just as l would decide upon the
fitness of a particular individual to
make a good cashier Of bank or a cap
tain of a steamboat. l do not pay spe-
cial attention to the color of his hair,the
size of his nose, or the width of his
mouth. l look at the man and form my
Judgment of him. If one were to ask
me why selected one and rejected an
other. could only say that L felt i'm
pressS that one would do and the other
would not" The gentleman refer to
is very practical and successful horse
man,