152 ORDINARY RIDING. 



way to get all the speed out of a horse, and apparently he 

 was right. I then asked him to let me ride the same horse 

 for a fortnight, during which time we ran no races together. 

 During this period, I succeeded in making the horse take only 

 a light bearing on the hand, and to hold his head steady, 

 and finally I beat Pascal four times running. I afterwards 

 obtained, in an equally shorL time, the same result with 

 the other horse. 



The two horses having been placed with confidence on the 

 hand, and having the free play of their hind quarters, trotted 

 as a whole without breaking and almost without fatigue. 

 According to the system of Pascal, on the contrary, they 

 broke, trotted almost always disunited, and also were soon 

 knocked up. I was also closer to the horse than he was ; 

 he made violent movements, while I made none ; and finally, 

 having succeeded more rapidly than he could in getting my 

 horse at full speed, I was able to maintain it longer. 



I do not claim that I gave more speed to my horses, but 

 with my handling they did their work with confidence and 

 ease, whilst he hurt their mouths and fatigued them, which 

 fact was to be seen at the winning post. Not having to make 

 the same efforts when I rode them, they were neither blow- 

 ing nor sweating after the trot. 



Trotters which are trained according to Pascal's method, 

 are generally unpleasant and sometimes dangerous to ride. 

 In fact it is difficult, when they have once started, to stop 

 them quickly. Nevertheless, if taken out of training and 

 given suppling exercises, they will very often do excellent 

 service. 



Pascal had the great advantage over me of knowing his 

 horses, and he knew — at least, I like to think he did — when 

 they were at their top speed. This knowledge is much more 

 important than is generally thought. If a jockey who has 

 not a knowledge of pace, is riding a trotter which is going at 



