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WEIGHING HORSES WHEN IN TRAINING Advocacy of a Method Taught By Charley Littlcfield When In England Long Ago A correspondent referred the other day to Little field the American trainer of Brown Prince and iiis habit of weighing his hows which in those dnys the boys in the stable used to laugh at but it is surely a matter for surprise in these more enlightened days that every trainer who possesses one does hot make frequent use of his weighing machine There are some who do so and Sadler Jr is one of them according to report but it might have been thought that this test of condi ¬ tion which is really infallible would have long since been adopted oven by those vlin cannot un ¬ derstand the vicissitudes of the timetests The remarkable point about this question is that no one would dream of training a man for fighting or row ¬ ing of running without the constant aid of the scales What is a mans best fighting weight is known to a pound or even a fraction of it and it is finite as easy to ascertain what a horse weighs when he runs his best race Naturally he should get heavier in the normal process of age but that being allowed for according to scale it should be easy to make sure in every later preparation when he is coining to his best weight If he turns that point and begins to train light that is the danger signal and he needs to be eased or to have some change of food Experienced trainers can judge these matters by looking at and handling a horse but not with the same inexorable vertainty as tho weighing machine can tell them Of course mere weight will not begin to give any information until the animal is beginning to get into something like condition conditionA A SIGN OF CONDITION CONDITIONMany Many a Doneaster Rales yearling would weigh more when sold than after he had been some months in work aid in many eases it takes a long time before he begins to build up the genuine weight Hut when a youngster does train big on hi work and wins races then the weighing machine must be an invaluable guide day by day if he is well en ¬ gaged to show if he is keeping up to lie mark If he gets heavier so much the better so long as he is doing plenty of work his form will surely im ¬ prove If however he begins to lose weight that is the signal for letting him up as the Americans phrase it just as it is when an Oxford or am bridge boat crew lose weight in the last week or two of their wenaration We know perfectly well that so far us fighting men go it makes any amount of difference if one of the other is a few pounds below his proper weight This may have more significance for pugilism than mere running or even rowing but the value of the weight test is of unquestionable importance in sill such contests Why then should not trainers weigh their horses It would save them from a great deal of worry and uncertainty for they would know by the weight from day to day whether the horse was really doing well or not Most of us have seen famous horses at their best and unless trained for a longdis ¬ tance race thev have hwked bigger then than ever before Some have even trained big on a cup preparation and Childwick was never so heavy it may be said witli some confidence as when he won tht Cesarewitch In all cases of training however the weighing machine is a ready guide and it should certainly be in general use in training stables Vigilant in London Sportsman
