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IN THE MAKING OF A RACE HORSE Ceaseless Toil and Vigilance Required in Condition ¬ ing the Thoroughbred Every clay lins its individual excitement for tlie racing stable its item of vital importance to the compact world of the tnrf says V P Pond writ ¬ ing for the Outlook Every day one or more im ¬ portant and valuable stakes are decided and the stable has a representative nominated in most of them The less important races take care of them ¬ selves along lower and less exciting lines Thus Avilh each day comes its one potent event eventAt At four oclock in the early morning the stable day may be said to dawn The night Avatchman gives the horses their first feed according to directions from the trainer overnight Three quarts of oats each to all animals not due for hard work that morning the horses to be tried out only receiving a bare one quart of oats so that the stomach may be refreshed but not satiated satiatedThis This food is placed in a feed box which fits irto the manger or stands by itself as desired permitting removal for inspection after the meal as well as for scrupulous cleansing and airing No dish or plate in the human house is given more attention if so much At halfpast four the cook and the employes are called and they come tumb ¬ ling out of the quarters like so many bears from a den and without an order start their individual tasks There are no dullards round a racing stable where life is the life of an athlete in perfect trim Some go to the harness room for brushes cloths etc others for water etc gathering the items needed during the mornings work Eacli individual knows his task and sets about it without delay Saddles bridles and all straps are duly inspected for weak spots and for cleanliness and suppleness girths are looked at to insure their laying flat and comfortable for a horse must be comfortable in his trim as a man in his clothes and shoes if Ei eat work is to be accomplished At a call the lielp files off to breakfast as the horses are finish ¬ ing theirs theirsETIQUETTE ETIQUETTE OF STABLES EATING ROOM ROOMThe The eating room is a partition from the kitchen and in most stables there are two tables one for the white help and one for the colored this being the only color line drawn in the stable democ ¬ racy If the owner or friends come to breakfast as is frequently the case they sit at the white table and enjoy a typically good meal with many novelties costing from a maximum of six dollars and fifty cents per head per week to not less than three dollars The food and the cooking is dis ¬ tinctly good Open air and plenty of rugged sys ¬ tematic exercise good hours sound sleep and diges ¬ tion linked to a practical absence of bad habits and vices make stupendous amounts of food liter ¬ ally melt away awayAt At five oclock or even a trifle earlier breakfast is supposed to be over Either the trainer arrived for breakfast or he is now on the scene and his first proceeding is to walk slowly with observant eyes past every stall door in front of which is its individual feed bos tilted on edge that at a glance he may see if the horse has cleaned it hungrily or desultorily or if off his feed and needs at ¬ tention without delay This may be termed taking the pulse of his charges and is a most important item The horse that eats well and looks well as a rule works well and will stand much more racing than the light finicky feeder The great Sysonby had an appetite like a school lad and so soon as he woke simply shouted for his feed Mares are usually less eager than horses at their box and one I have known within a comparatively short time had to be fed almost oat by oat from her trainers hand for several days before the race Otherwise she could not be coaxed to eat Medical attention would have tlirown her off form As a rule being off feed means first aid remedies lighter exercise for a day or two and close attention if the indis ¬ position does not prove transient in which case expert veterinary aid is at once obtained Happy the trainer whose feed boxes are emptied and pol ¬ ished each day He knows it is the battle half won wonEXERCISE EXERCISE WORK BEGINS BEGINSBy By this time the first set of horses generally six have been saddled bridled and with exercise boys in the saddle led from the stable to the ad ¬ jacent track safely placed within its confining railed course before their heads are thrown loose to the exercising bridle A runaway around stables is much more liable to injure itself than a runaway on the course proper hence this care Before ten minutes elapse the set is at work the actual hour varies with the light which must be good In May it is about 015 in August round 5 oclock The horses make the circuit of the track at a sharp trot with the boys carefully holding them together a light firm tension on the bit which makes the animal keep his legs under him in perfect poise to the balancing center beam of the human body in the saddle There is no easy chair slouching seat permitted on a nice horse which must be uniutermittcntly reminded that race life is real and earnest There is no larking on the track The trot extends to a mile or a mile and a half according to the elliptic of the individual course Just sufficient to set the blood circulating to sweep away the brain cobwebs and to loosen any blight stiffness from a constrained position in sleep ¬ ing etc just as a human being disperses similar muscular kinks by stretching stretchingThe The trainer is somewhere near the judges stand or seated in the grandstand near that point watch ¬ ing every move of his charges how they handle themselves the vim or the lack of it As they pass him at the completion of the round he sends them off at a slow wellinhand canter which eventually breaks into a run through the stretch where the trainer stands now on the track The horses are lined in a row facing him and as baddies and bridles are taken off he gives each animal close examination noting the heave of the flanks the evidences of distress the obvious desire for more and the way eacli has been affected by the warmingup exercises Especially does he note the condition of the horse which has been off its feed or one which is rounding to or approach ¬ ing topnotch condition for a race raceREADY READY FOR SPEED TRIALS TRIALSThe The horses are now well rubbed down Their eyes nostrils ind mouths sponged out with a profuse supply of water and scrupulously clean and sweet bpouges Their feet are inspected for cakes of dirt etc and within ten minutes the saddles are re ¬ placed the more experienced boys placed upon the horses most advanced toward condition the stables jockeys are probably placed on the cracks and they start in pairs each under special directions from the trainer as to distance to be covered and speed the various furlong divisions are to be run runThis This means that the individual horses jog to a certain point are then taken along at a specified rate of speed and at another specified place arc urged to nearly top speed or to actual top speed rs directed and brought back to the trainer who is standing watch in hand For instance he will say Bob take the colt to the threequarter post break him and take him four furlongs in about sixteen then breeze him home through the stretch This means the boy is to go jogging to the post making six furlongs from the judges stand start as if in a nice cover the four furlongs approximately in eighteen seconds for the first sixteen for the sec ¬ ond fifteen for the third fourteen for the fourth and fifth and the final furlong according to the capacity and condition of the horse The boy will never force the horse If he labors or falters un ¬ less under specific directions the breeze will be a very mild one The above is a highclass work workThe The boy must be a good judge of pace to do this Sloan at his best was a marvel He could take a horse any given distance at any given speed scarcely varying the onefifth fraction of a second Not only is this faculty very important in training but it is of inestimable value in a race insuring even exertion at a high rate of speed with the final spurt always in reserve Without such knowl ¬ edge of pace a boy told by his trainer to wait until he reached the stretch might find a much slower pace than the trainer had expected when the directions are given A good rider would then go out and make his own pace strictly within the limits of his mount letting others pass him if they cared to do so but holding1 the even tenor of way at which liis mount would do his best work and still have the final spurt in reserve when called for It is by the obvious lack of expert knowledge in this detail and the equally obvious lack of practical execution by our modern riders as dis ¬ tinguished from jockeys that numberless races which should be won are thrown away This fre ¬ quently causes the reversals of form we hear so much about and which so many racegoers do not appear to understand understandDuring During this period of work the vigilance of the trainer is unceasing Having given the necessary orders watch in hand he stands seeing they are executed to the very letter as he desires He notes how each horse breaks how it moves how it responds under the continuous calls for1 increased speed and what the condition when brought back to him He notes how the individual rider has handled his mount With what time and other accuracy he has carried out instructions That there has been no larking no racing one horse against the other for after all exercise boys are only children and will lapse unless under strong and constant supervision Chumminess between a fast horse and a slower horse must be avoided otherwise in a race the fast horse is liable to wait for his slower mate as in practice spins Horses inclined to run out or go wide in the turns thus losing valuable ground in a race have an ¬ other horse placed on the outside to keep them in on the rail and a score of other things which must all be watched and looked after The small things count in racing as in life lifeThe The trainer must know and note which horse runs his best especially where twoyearolds are making their first start or are just developing into real usefulness and value Those passing the equine Rubicon into the threeyearold division must be watched to see if the twoyearold measure of ex ¬ cellence is sustained diminished or improved when the corresponding change from youth to manhood takes place in their performances A good two yearold may not live up to form as a threeyear old or he may surpass it All of which the trainer learns by close and ceaseless observation in these early mornings at the race track How frequently do we find a horse coming out winning at long odds running a brilliant race with the trainer absolutely astounded at the suddenly displayed quality in an animal which has been under his hands for months past pastCLEANING CLEANING AND COOLING OUT PROCESS PROCESSThe The work over the horses trot to the stable sad ¬ dles are removed and the animals actually sham ¬ pooed They are wetted and then covered with a soap solution well rubbed in the way of the hair then sluiced off scraped Avith a curious bent piece of wood and hand rubbed until their coats are dry shining and gleaming in the sunlight the blood dancing close to the surface making each animal glad to be alive Then in most cases the horse goes to the sand bath which is the joy of his existence Here he rolls wriggles hunches along squirming the sand under every hair on back sides and legs finally getting up to look like a miller The sand is lightly brushed off aiid each animal covered with a light sheet known as a lindsey to be led around at a walk until thoroughly cool generally in about an hour but walked until cool no matter how long longWhen When absolutely cool the horses are taken to their individual stalls or boxes where they find a clean cool new bed awaiting them and after their coats have been again well smoothed down they are left to rest as they please Meanwhile the second and other sets have becn to the track put through a similar curriculum and returned to their stalls Finally the trainer conies along makes necessary observations gives final morning orders and goes home to a second breakfast or to rest restThe The stable hands are busy cleaning and cooling saddles girths bridles bits and airing blankets for nothing may be dirty or scamped in a training stable and the assistant foreman or trainer moves from place to place with an eye to everything As a rule here is where quaint songs and choruses are softly chanted generally of local composition the idea being to ease and facilitate the work to get it over and also to soothe the tired horses to rest which certainly seems to be the case Some stand half somnolently at the half door others doze head to the Avail and others lie down downNO NO UNNECESSARY NOISE AROUND STABLE STABLEEarly Early in the afternoon all Avork is ended and the half doors are quietly closed There is no unneces ¬ sary noise around a stable the horses have a chance to sleep and these are the hours when not even for the owner Avill a trainer permit his charges to be disturbed Regularity of food Avater exercise and rest are the prime essentials of success About five oclock the half doors are again opened in some stables the horses get Avalking exercise for half an hour in others this is not done The evening feed is given the boxes again inspected the stalls cleaned out beds changed medicated saAVdust smelling of pine buds tlirown in legs and feet closely examined for swelling or the lightest heat The hoofs are packed Avith peat moss or Avith Potomac clay steeped for hours molded into the foot and tied in with a cloth keeping the foot moist and cool and this ends the day The varia ¬ tion in different stables is very slight slightA A completed Avhole tells very little of the in ¬ tricacies of production One sees a soulstirring contest bcwteen imperial thoroughbreds a grand spectacle but as to be the mechanism producing it very little is known by the layman laymanAfter After carefully selecting his horses AVhen young or Avhcii advanced performers the trainers Avork and trouble are only foreshadowed Starting in February according to Aveather and location of stable around New York or in the South it takes three months careful development to bring a horse into condition his individual flesh at the start determining the time Not alone the flesh on his bones but the fat around the intestines which cannot be hurried away Having achieved condi ¬ tion the object is to keep this equine athlete on edge so long as possible just so much exercise thai he does not weaken or go stale aiid this is the nerveracking phase of the training life A horse is headed for a race tAvo months away the horse comes to hand earlier than anticipated just as a human athlete Avill and for one or two Aveeks it is the toss of a coin dependent on a chill indigestion fright accident overexertion a sud ¬ den change in Aveather or one of the thousand and one tilings which govern life equine or human When in condition some horses can run a couple of races a Aveek others only one in aboutxthree Aveeks Fillies are proverbially difficult to handle in training whimsical as Avomen with as many moods and as inexplicable as those of an oper ¬ atic diAa She must be humored petted Avorked less than a colt rested more not annoyed or teased and not raced too frequently Some horses race themselves into conditionothers need only jogging and light exercise between races and others need to be driven out with whip and a stout competitor to keep them on edge Desert Chief the steeple ¬ chaser raced best Avhen Avorked on the flat never seeing a fence except when racing racingSLEEPLESS SLEEPLESS HORSE A TRAINERS WORRY WORRYThe The nightmares of the trainer is the horse which Avill not sleep So long as his charges eat and sleep they may be handled If one Avill not eat it is bad but the nonsleeper turns a trainers hair prematurely gray They move restlessly round and round the stall all night until perfectly ex ¬ hausted and then cannot work well The other horses are disturbed and they state the fact in no uncertain tones Then the Avalker stops a while but soon commences again and the stable is upset Bricks are hung from the ceiling to bump his head a dog cat or goat or even a rubber foua of the horse stays in the stall for company breaks the spell of nervousness and the horse sleeps and rests In most good stables is a clock Avhich the night watchman passes on his half hourly rounds Avhich unless Avound up each half hour registers the omission thus insuring so far as possible un ¬ ceasing supervision of the valuable charges under tlie trainers hands handsAs As for responsibility few on the outside have any idea of its immensity Tlie stock is worth from 50000 to ten times that amount Fourteen horses need a trainer assistant two jockeys three exercise boys and four to eight rubbers The expenses Avill reach higher than the total of im ¬ portant stakes Avon even by a satisfactorily success ¬ ful stable It is the one thing at Avhich the wealthy man does not expect to break even Thus the amount of dead loss depends on the trainer rarely indeed is there a balance to the good Consequently every time a crack is engaged tlie trainers heart is in his mouth and every time he goes off feed he breaks into a cold sweat The average trainer loses nights and nights without sleei just worrying over Avhat he cannot control controlHe He is a czar ruling horses help and jockeys superintending every purchase the individual hours kept and the Avork done The training stable is a delicately adjusted watch Every cog and spring lins its vital use must be kept clean lubricated and steadily t Avork without irregularity in fric tionless harmony Horse boy and man must be comfortably housed and fed keep good hours keep at the top notch of health and good spirits and all of this is on the shoulders of the trainer the man Avho stands for the unswerving honesty of purpose found ou the highclass metropolitan turf
