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WOODLANDS FARM METHODS. "Knowing that western horsemen had no chance with eastern owners in the scramble for good jockeys unless they developed their own riders. Schreiber started in to adopt the latter method, and he went about it in the most practical manner possible, establishing a kindergarten class for jockeys at his Woodlands breeding farm near Bridgeton in St. Louis county," says the St. Louis Republic. "The farms equipment includes a six-furlong track, over which the speedy race mare. Miss Marion, worked five-eighths of a mile as a two-year-old. in 1 :01 and a fraction. It is hardly necessary to add that a track on which a two-year-old can travel that fast must be kept in first-class condition all year around. All the Schreiber horse6 are trained on it. Two trainers are at present engaged in breaking thirty head of yearlings. These youngsters are barely halter-wise when taken up. They have to be handled with great care and patience. Ten men and as many boys are required to do the job right. "Most of the boys are little orphans and have been at the farm for over a year. They are regularly bound over to the master of Woodlands, who has guaranteed to take care and educate them until they reach the age of eighteen, when they become their own masters "The first tiling the boys are taught is to ride. They receive their first lessons on well-broken horses, and after learning the art of straddling a horse properly the boys are placed astride the gay and festive yearlings. "When first taken up a yearling is as shy as a country maiden. The least thing will frighten the little animal out of its senses. In view of this fact, the man and boys must be exceedingly careful witli their charges until the young-ter-get some sort of an idea about what is wanted of them. After that the job is easy, especially if their handlers have exercised patience and not soured the animals by rough treatment for shyness, or frisky conduct at the beginning of racehorse careers. "The first thing a yearling is taught is to turn to the left always. No matter how they are brought on the track the trainers never allow them to reverse to the right. Schooling in this manner prevents them from swerving for the gate through which they entered the track during the progress of a race. Nearly all racehorses run with their left foot forward, although some yearlings are rather backward about learning that it is much easier on them to run that way around turns. Sofala. when a yearling. was very slow about ascertaining this fact. The|first time -he caught on. however, she stepped a quarter of a mile around the turn at the Oakland track in twenty-three seconds. "If handled correctly from the start, a nice dispositioned horse is the result; but. on the other hand, if the yearling is not broken right, its future value as a racing machine may be entirely ruined. Different methods are used to correct a young racehorses fault-. Bullying is never advisable. Occasionally a youngster will turn up with a mean disposition that may have been bred in the animal. Jn this case it is difficult to break it. and -ometimes the horse will always be dangerous to have around. As a rule, however, breeders do everything in their power to prevent perpetuation of this breed of beasts. Bad actors are seen at the racetrack every day. but. generally -peeking. the talk about it having been bred in them is a libel on their breeders. In nearly every ca-e the trouble was caused by the horse not having l een broken properly. Of course, a horse must be taught to obey his master, hut it is never necessary to abuse or bully an animal in order to accomplish the desired result, la fact, mauy a high-strurg. fragile thoroughbred has been irretrievably ruined by such treatment, when a little coaxing might have started the animal on a career that would have Droved profitable to his owner. "Sometimes it is the boy who gallops it or maybe the man who grooms it that does the damage. A good trainer will take no chances with either boy or man until satisfied that both can be thoroughly trusted. Before a boy is put up a colt is walked several days with saddle and bridle on. After the animal gets used to them a boy is given a leg up. If the youngster is going to be fractious, it will show its colors as soon as saddled, or if not then, when the boy is put up. "Their method of causing trouble at this stage of the game is to buck like western bronchos. The boys are frequently unhorsed, but nothing short of a broken bone, which seldom happens, prevents them from getting up again. After awhile the colt will get tired of bucking and submit to be led around for several days. Then the stirrups are strung to the saddle and the youngsters taken to the track, where they are walked, jogged galloped and finally breezed, a sixteenth, then an eighth and possibly a quarter of a mile being about as far as they are sent before entering winter quarters in the fall. "At Woodlands the sucklings are fed grain Jong before they are weaned. Sofala is a specimen of what they breed at Woodlands. This filly commenced racing a few days after she became a two-year-old. and had won twelve races in fourteen starts before nine-tenths of the youngsters now in training were sent to the post for the first time. "A small division of the most advanced yearlings now being broken at the farm will betaken to San FranciBco next winter. The Frisco tracks begin giving races for juveniles in January. This may seem rather early to commence running the babies, but it does not hurt them, apparently. Golden Rule, Yellow Tail, Sardine and Sofala. developed into great runners after receiving hard preps for early two-year-old racing. "Among the boys at the farm there are several that give promise of developing into race riders. Leslie Spencer, who is a brother of the crack California jockey. Henry Spencer, is very ambitious and has great hopes of emulating his brothers success in the saddle. Harry Larson. John Golden and John Peterson have all been at the farm for over a year, and are considered expert hands at galloping runners. "Malcolm Graham wants to be a jockey, but Walter ViVell, the new foreman of the ranch, is inclined to think that Malcolm will achieve greater success as a trainer, and has appointed him foreman of his private stable. This consists at present of Hein and Olli Ban, a pair of thoroughbreds that have been broken to harness and are now being used iu the field. Professor Gleasou himself could not have broken these horses more thoroughly and rapidly than ViVell. who cut a wide swath on the metropolitan tracks some years back with the good race horse Cousin Jeems. "Trainers Martin Hubbell and Herman Brandt, who are breaking the yearlings, pay as much attention to the exercise boys as they do to the horses. The best way to teach a boy how to handle a horse with care and patience is to treat him that way himself wheu he is starting in. Each boy ha- three yearlings to exercise, and they are expected to devote as much attention to them as a boy iu school does to his books. By clo-e application to their duties the boys ascertain ail the little peculiarities of their different charges. Knowledge of this sort is always appreciated by the trainer in charge. A man can always achieve better results with a horse, especially while breaking the animal, after getting a thorough line on its disposition. When first taken hold of the boys are put through a regular course of sprouts. "In the hands of an experienced horseman they develop rapidly. Schreiber has always had a first class staff of men around his stable, which accounts for the rapid progress of the boys at the farm. Their development from green boys into experienced exercise lade inside of a year speaks well for the school they went through. Discussing theboys. Mr. Hubbell said: "The first thing we try to teach them is to sit right on a horses back. A good seat in the saddle is the most essential qualification that a competent race rider must possess. After a boy-learns how to sit in the saddle it makes a world of difference to both rider and horse. Before he gets on to the hang of sitting properly in the saddle an exercise boy is as much out of place as a fish out of water. He is constantly shifting from one side to the other and back and forward, with a view to finding the most comfortable position possible. This irritates a horse considerably and interferes with the animals action to an extent that none but an experienced horseman can appreciate. " "After they learn to sit right and get onto the knack of handling the reins correctly practice makes perfect. Then they become as steady as a good clock, provided you have the right sort of boys. Before a boy can pass muster as a competent race rider he ought to be able to sit steady with both hands and feet, as well as his legs and arms. In fact, he should ride with as little motion as possible. What appears to be action on a good riders part is only the swing of his body forward and backward to the horses stride. The least bobble on the riders part will throw a horse off his stride. In breaking yearlings the boys are made to walk and jog them with a loose rein. "A horses mouth is extremely sensitive, and a boy should handle the reins with care. Jockeys that excel in this respect are called great hand riders. Willie Martin had a perfect pair of riding hands, while Henry Spencer is about the best hand rider in the saddle to-day. When boys first get a leg up on a racehorse they imagine they must grab the reins tight and bend over a horses neck like a snake, instead of sitting up so as to throw their weight on the horses shoulders. We soon break them of this, however, or get rid of them. " The next thing to teach a boy is to judge pace for himself. The only way to do this is to be truthful with him always as to just how fast a horse went under him. When he works a yearning an eighth in 12 seconds or a quarter in 24, be sure and tell him so. Some trainers never think of letting a boy know what the watch registered after a trial, while others, fearing a leakage of stable secrets, keep it to themselves. On the other hand, if a boy is told how fast his mount traveled it will not be long before he gets so well acquainted with a running horses stride that he can come pretty near telling how fast a horse moved under him without asking what the ticker scored. " Competent exercise boys always command good wages. James Coffey, who campaigned the race mare Rosinante at San Francisco last winter, was the best-paid exercise boy I know of. When a lad he worked for Dwyer Bros., who paid him 00 per month to gallop some of their turf stars. Schreiber always has a select corps of crack exercise boys to gallop the best horses in his stable. He considers it too risky to put up anything but good exercise boys as well as competent jockeys on 0,000 racehorses like Baunockburn and Sofala. Crack jockeys will not exercise horses for their own stables sometimes. Felix Carr and Charles Slaughter, wheu they were in their prime, uever hesitated about galloping a horse for us, but Bullmau seldom galloped any at Frisco last winter, and we paid him a monthly retainer of IStO.1 "
