view raw text
WHIMS OF RACE HORSES Their Odd Peculiarities and Fondness for Dogs and Other Animals Fads and fancies of race horses they might be called the whims and humors of the thorough ¬ breds They arc as numerous as those of persons and their being understood is as essential to their happiness and to their success on the turf as is humoring of an operatic star by her manager or one with any artistic temperament by those most concerned with ultimate success1 of the ultrapar ¬ ticular one oneUsually Usually the fads and fancies of race horses take the form of fondness for some animal or particular JUTSOII Ofttimes however it is in the form of a violent dislike for sounds color or for persons There is not a person who had witnessed the big races on the metropolitan track when the colors of the late James R Keene were so prominent who was not familiar with the Keeues pudgy stable pony a dull gray little chap chapWhen When first the pony came to the barn he was used indiscriminately by stable boys sent on er ¬ rands After Sysonbys advent however he be ¬ came quite the most pampered thing in the racing string The immortal son of Melton Optime loved that pony better than he did the colored boy Mar ¬ shall Lilly who rubbed him and fed him If the pony was out of his sight the big race horse which possessed a heart twice the size of a normal horses heart and lungs of like capacity would be restless and uneasy After Sysonbys death the pony was inconsolable for a week or more but soon transferred his affections to Wild Mint and afterward to the star of each particular year yearColin Colin the matchless Commando colt was the ponys greatest chum and in their warmingup gallops before the big races the real runner would lay off the ponys pace and then a few strides from the wire would try to pass the gray dump ¬ ling by one of his matchless sprints sprintsPONY PONY ONCE BEAT THE GREAT COLIN COLINOnce Once when Dumplings passed under the wire ahead of Colin the big race horse came back to the paddock for his final grooming actually with a sheepish look in his face Needless to say the regulars applauded the feat wildly wildlyNot Not a horse car left the great training tracks at Sheepshead Bay and Gravesend for the winter campaigns without some sort of an equine pet aboard Goats rabbits a parrot dogs ponies special stable hands and even a rooster went along alongFamous Famous horses abroad also have had their pets as witness the cat which traveled with Best Man a noted performer on the English tnrf a decade ago the pony Pretty Polly fancied end without which she would not extend herself a bit in her morning gallops unless he stood approvingly by Sceptre too another great mare on the English turf had a pet pony as did Robert the Devil The last named racer invariably gnawed good naturedly at his pets tail so that the appendage was in a constant state of raggedness raggednessTrainers Trainers are quick to recognize the likes and dislikes of their charges and to humor them Time and time again a boy has been discharged just because the horses were restless when he was about and many a stable hand whose habits are none too desirable is kept in steady employment just bcause some star racer in the string does his best work for him himWaving Waving a red rag at a bull is a byword of many years standing but blue seems a color most race horses dislike extremely why of course none can tell Highstrung as are all thoroughbreds unusual noises too affect their racing qualities Some however fairly revel in the blare of the baud oh a big race day and seem to know the cheers of the crowd as the drive for the finish comes are meant as actual inspiration for them Straining every muscle to get past the wire first many a game horse gives just one ounce more to his effort as the frantic shouts of spectators reach his ears game as a real race horse
