New-York tribune., 1899-07-07
AS OWNER OF TROTTING HORSES.

Mr. Bonner never raced horse for money in his
ice He inherited a remarkable love for the trotter.
and this trait in his character soon became known
q, hts hosts Of friends and To the public In general
not many years after he ordered by his phy-
sician TO seek recreation in driving. Actng on the
advice Of his physician he bought horse TOT >'o'
That was in 1856. and was considered tnen a hleh
price for fine horse. He soon gave the animal 10
. frtend and shortly afterward appeared IN Har-
lam driving behind a team composed or Lantern
and mate which he had purchased for sVVo' oohe
Years afterward he gave them away 10 Ahothel
friend on the single condition that the Ailiin@'S
should be treated with good care
Soma ~ the fastest and best known trotuns
.or.ss an the turf for many years were bred at
,,- r,o-,s-,s farm, near Tarrytown. y. Y He also
-.bassd rneuv great record breakers In tneir day'
,,oludinp such famous performers as Dexter harus'
Md : and sunol Maud 5. had record or -'V'7t
o,d srnol record OF 20sh. Tne forIhers re0oiu
y,,s the fastest ever made on clrcular 'ra1A' anu
.ho tattar,s record the fastest ever MADE on KITE
baned track until the use OF ball bearing aA'es anu
',,,atio tires He purchased Maud > from VIII
-, u Vanderbilt At the time ne bought her she
80 Iarna as WAS sunol. though the previous owner
- c,,,ol the late ex-senator Leland STANFORD uIu
not know II. 1900 80,
~ po,ner was one OF the greatest experts on
,ha foot n, the horse in this country. When ne was
once asked about how he had learned so inu'
.nou, the proper care and treatment ot morse
foot he said: Besides the pleasure derived from
relieving pain and distress In the nooest OF al ,e
lover animals was the qualification gained oy
,be knouledge that I could do what no one else
could accomplish My apparent egotism IN tnus
snAaking OF my ability in this line Will initiate
hy ,svinq that would never have been able to ac-
couplsh many things I enabled TO do were IL
not for the knowledge I gained from the eminent
French veterinary surgeon, the late David Rooerge'
with whom I exchanged views for more than t"eh-
amin
oninion on the form OF the horse and the treat
rent ~ his feet and limbs who ever wrote on that
subject"
Mr. Bonner easily cured Maud S. and sunol OF
lameness Many OF the most famous trainers ana
drivers OF trotting horses frequently consulted MI
Bonner n regard TO treating the horses under their
care Mr Bonner possessed marked aoihty IN
.-aintnq and developing the qualities or morse
striking example OF his ability in this respect was
the irnprovemeut shown by Maud 9. mare ne
purchased from Frank Rockefeller or C1eVeIanu'
II xas said OF her at the time he got her tand ne
On, her very cheap on account or the BAD conaiuoh
81 her feet) that she had as much speed as any
-. ~ the world but she was extremely nervous
a,1 unsteady In Mr.. Bonner's hands she was not
fretfll and was very steady. What she was aoe
30 40 soon after she had been in Mr.. Bonners
stable is we'll known 10 the many persons VINO are
acquainted with the performances OF the OLD recoru
hresk,ng trotting horses One day she was sent
- rrua to A wagon She made the mile IN
o.,ok This is the fastest time ever made 10 wagon
on a .hree-quarter mile track so far as known
Mr.. Bonner on several occasions published ca'a-
i,,. ~ his trottng stock. including his purchases
and the horses bred by him at his farIn ne iaSs
oo,atoqua he published was last year. IL gave .ne
s,s- ~ ,he records OF all MS horses, ana WIN
notss In regard TO the performances OF MS hes'
..s ho,sea one OF the notes Is IN reference 10
49, cords Of Maud 3 and sunol II was written
-, Mr. Bonner In referring TO the record OF MAUI
8 he said: ,.. ..tudnS such
,,....s "a Orrin Hckok and John Splan-aha
:, ,s nv opinion-the horse has not appeared Una.
4" - II much less beat. Maud SIS time on the
~. -"-, t~sck where she trotted and when harnessed
10 a similar sulky -, . - ,-
- ,S.cv.s Hambletonian, the sire OK Bosque
por,s the nrst American trotter TO beat all the
rooords rat had ever been made IN Europe; Cart
r,dre aIe. Majolca. Alb; Cheyenne, .'s1s; In