1 42 RIDING 



speed, but does not stay; so lay back till you -get into the 

 straight, and then if you come with one run you are sure to 

 beat the others for speed.' 



The rider said that he understood perfectly, and cantered 

 off to the post. The flag fell ; he was off first and led the field 

 for a considerable distance, was always up with the leader, came 

 to the front again as soon as the straight was reached, and was 

 gradually worn down in the run home and beaten a neck. It 

 was unmistakably shown that had this horse been properly 

 ridden he would have won with considerable ease, and the 

 accuracy of the opinion was confirmed a week later, when the 

 two animals that had been first and second met again under 

 similar conditions of weight and distance, the second in the 

 previous race being this time ridden judiciously, beating his 

 former conqueror with much ease by a couple of lengths. The 

 jockey in question lacked coolness, and was not a judge of 

 pace ; had he been a judge he might very conceivably have led 

 the field and yet have waited, for there is such a thing as 

 'waiting in front,' though exceedingly few riders have the art to 

 accomplish it. 



Speaking very broadly, it may be said that the two chief 

 essentials for a jockey are head and hands ; the former is a very 

 comprehensive term implying many qualities inherent and ac- 

 quired, the latter is almost entirely a natural gift. Hands control 

 and encourage the horse, the control being almost entirely 

 independent of strength. The race horse, high couraged and in 

 the plenitude of health and spirits, is, as a rule, peculiarly in- 

 clined to show dislike to restraint ; but race horses never ran 

 away with George Fordham (a mare called Lucy Sutton did 

 indeed take him for an unintended gallop one day, but the 

 occurrence was so exceptional that the word ' never ' is scarcely 

 inaccurate), who was far from a strong man, and rode the light 

 weight of 7 st. 10 11). to the end of his life ; they do not run away 

 with Tom Cannon, nor indeed with other riders who possess 

 ' hands,' and it is at the same time particularly to be observed 

 that such jockeys are never to be seen leaning back in their 



