He learned how to drive on the internet!!!!~

[careless hal]

Gillespie is enjoying a banner year in Illinois
Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent


Rich Fisher
Trenton, NJ --- Ronnie Gillespie is the epitome of a self-made driver/trainer.
And what a driver/trainer he has made himself into.

The 40-year-old Gillespie was born in Chicago but raised in Mississippi. He returned to Illinois in his late 20s and this summer is enjoying a breakout season.

[Wilderness]

Lotta folks learned from the 1969 Jim Harrision "Bible", just a different reference.

 The internet is more video active than the former "Old" Care and Training of the Trotter and Pacer.

 Hell! Even the new version is old having been published in 1996.

[Just Saying]

Lotta folks learned from the 1969 Jim Harrision "Bible", just a different reference.

 The internet is more video active than the former "Old" Care and Training of the Trotter and Pacer.

 Hell! Even the new version is old having been published in 1996.

I just love 'hanging-up' a trotter just right. Many times i've been at the 'pulling my hair out' stage, and went back to the original Care & Training book to read the shoeing section. It's a gold mine of experience. Standing on the shoulders of giants ain't a bad idea.

[Wilderness]

Just,
        You might purchase a 1915 copy of Care and Training for really unique insights

Or you could just read the online version

[Just Saying]

Just,
        You might purchase a 1915 copy of Care and Training for really unique insights

Or you could just read the online version

I didn't know there was such a thing... I'll certainly give it a look. Thanks, Don.

[Wilderness]

I didn't know there was such a thing... I'll certainly give it a look. Thanks, Don.

You certainly need to be aware of those horses that carried pounds of weight on their hooves, an in addition to toe weights

[Just Saying]

You certainly need to be aware of those horses that carried pounds of weight on their hooves, an in addition to toe weights

The breed has advanced so much since those days. It's nowhere near as hard to train them now as it used to be. My last standout trotting mare wore 4 tiny aluminum shoes and short feet. She took a record of 1:55.2, and she was the product of two free-legged pacers.

But you still get one that's just hard to get 'hung-up', so I'll look for answers anywhere they might be. Once I learned I didn't know everything, I started learning stuff. 

[Wilderness]

Just,
       This is from the June 26, 1944 Harness Horse and I thought it was quite unusual. (Wish there were ore details):

Rilda Mite 3, 2:073/4, which topped the summary in the $2,000 three-year-old trot at Old Orchard Beach, Me., last week, failed to handle one hind leg in a manner to suit Henry Thomas during her training, so after making various experiments in hopes of improving this peculiarity in gait, he finally decided to make use of a heavy rubber band which he placed around the limb, above the hock, and this innovation evidently has been helpful as she showed marked improvement, finishing 1-2-2. The rubber, one naturally concludes, has a tendency to restrain to a degree, some muscle which was not functioning properly. Rilda Mite is the property of A. L. Derby, Wichita, Kan., also owner of The Hambletonian favorite, Yankee Maid 2, 2:04, which Thomas trained in 2:03.

[LVGaryD]

The kids today could never have been trainers in our early days, JS. We learned stuff that guys today simply don't know, and they learned chemistry and gypping that we certainly never wanted to know.

 

[Just Saying]

One of the best trotting trainers I ever knew was Ken Rutherford from Michigan. The rubberband idea reminded me of him. He had one that was off a little in a hind leg. He put a knee support made for humans over the horses' hock, with the point of the hock sticking through 'vent hole' in the support. You couldn't beat that sucker after that. A good trainer will come up with a way to make a winner.