Year: 1870

The other morning, as we were
driving through West Twenty-sixth
street, in the neighborhOOd Of Seventh
avenue, we saw a horse hooded and
blanketed, standing in a blacksmith
shop, and when he turned his head


towards the open door, we recognized
Dexter. We stopped, entered the
shop, and there found Mr.. Bonner
directing how his kingship should be
shOd. ShOeing is an all-impOrtant
point, for unless horses feet are
right he cannot show speed and stay
ing qualities. Had Dexter remained
on the turf up to this time. it is our
opinion that he would have been a
poor, broken down cripple. for it is
well known that when he passed
into Mr.. Bonner's hands his feet were
not perfectly sound. He was slightly
lame in the off fore foot, and the other
feet wanted renOvating very badly:
Contraction had commenced, and
eorns were abundant, so that when
the great trotter was in full motion


he was not free from pain. True, the


pain was not sufficient to mar his
eloek-like action, but the ravages of
disease had commenced, and bad
shOeing and constant hammering on
the track would rapidly have short
ened and made slower the speed Of
the marvel. We have reason to be-
lieve that Mr.. Fawcett understood
this when he parted with him for
S33. 900. Had Mr.. F. been hopeful OF
Dexter's future, he certainly would
not have sold him for 1000 less
than the horse, with proper manage
ment, could make in one season on
the turf, and at fairs. 1t was no Sc
eret that Dexter showed lameness in
one of his fore-feet, and it was whis-
pered in many circles that the wide
awake editor Of the Ledger had been
caught mapping for once. As the stO-
~ ran, he had bought not only a
vicious brute, but a eripple-in short,
had secured an elephant, and paid
dearly for it at that. Certainly there
were grounds for these whisperings,
and the evil predictions might have
turned out true had another than so
good a Judge of the temper and anat-
Omy, Of the horse than Mr.. Bonner,


purchased his kingship. When the
transfer had been made, Mr.. b. frst


went to work to bring Dexter under
complete subsection, and to correct
the bad habits he had fallen into. 1t
was a task that required patience,
nerve, and judgment, for the white
legged w0nder had been INDUCED in
his peculiar whims for so great pc
riOd that il was difficult to curb him,
and teach him the practical meaning
Of the word reform. Reason, patience
and perseverance were triumphant in
due course of time, and Dexter was
changed from a spoiled, unmanagea-
BILE brute, to kind and docile horse.
Mr.. Bonner has made the equine foot
a special study, and we heard one en-
thusiast declare it to be his opinion
that the proprietor of the Ledger
was mainly induced 70 purchase DeX-
ter in order that he might use him as
a subject to test the practical worth of
his pet theories. This WIS rather an
extreme suppositiOn, but it must be
admitted that it required a great deal
of nerve on the part of Mr.. Bonner to
cut boldly into the foot of horse
that had cost him the snug sum of
$33, 900. He aimed at a perfect cure,
and adopted radical measures to Sc
cure this end. The experiments have
been successful, for to-day there is not
a horse in the world with more per-
feetly shaped and sounder feet than
Dexter. On Wednesday morning the
horse stood completely quiet while
the knight of the tongs and anvil cut
and hammered at his hOoffs. Each
shoe is carefully balanced. The sur
face which comes in contact with the
ground slightly curves from heel to
toe, so that when the horse is stand
ing firm the principle weight is borne
= L
sure being felt upon the toe. Just as
line drawn from the heel TO the toe
of q mans boot would demonstrate a
slight curve, so is the natural curve
given to each of Dexter's shoes.
When a man walks there is rising
sloping action, from heel to toe, and
when a horse is trotting there is a
rolling motion from the back part of
the hOof to the front. Acknowledge
ing the principle to be correct, it
stands to reason that a horse will
gather more quickly and with less
friction if, instead of the heel and toe
being forced to the same level, the
former is raised little higher than
the latter. To secure exact proper.
ton to this curve, Mr.. Bonner takes
each shoe and places it on the smooth
surface Of marble slab, and weighs
it with critical eye. In the toe of
each shoe slight excavation or slop-
ing indention is made for the purpose
of giving firmness to the step of the
horse. By the force of eoneussiOn
the soft earth is forced up into this
excavation, so that in rising from heel
to toe the shoe does not slip back
ward. This sloping indenture must
be carefully prOpOrtioned to the size
and weight Of the shoe, for otherwise
it might create friction, and prove a
positive drawback instead of an as
sistant. This mode of shOeing has
worked well in Dexter's
ease, for the marvel is still a marvel,
and all of his recent performances,
which have so much astOnished the
world, have been made in shoes con-
,tIueted after the pattern described
ISuf, Field and Farm.