RACE RIDING 145 



are important are indeed of the very utmost importance in 

 their way. The question of bitting the horse is one that must 

 be considered rather by the trainer than the rider. On this 

 head it will be sufficient to remark, that if a tolerably severe bit 

 does not seem enough to hold a horse with, the chances are 

 that an improvement will be effected by one rather less severe 

 in preference to one rather more. Some time since a horse 

 with a reputation for running away arrived at a popular training 

 stable with a large assortment of bits all ingeniously cruel ; and 

 the first morning at exercise on the downs the horse proved how 

 thoroughly his character as a runaway was merited. The plan 

 suggested making his bits easier was put into practice, and 

 in the course of a few days the animal, with a plain snaffle in his 

 mouth, took his place in the string and never showed a symptom 

 of insubordination. There are a good many cases during every 

 season in which races are lost because saddles slip, and though 

 a race-horse is seldom turned out with a breastplate like a 

 hunter, and some horses are so shaped as to render the slip- 

 ping always probable, the risk can be to a great extent ob- 

 viated by care, the necessity of exercising which need not be 

 emphasised. 



Another frequent source of disqualification is the carrying of 

 wrong weight, a peculiarly irritating mischance. When the race 

 has been so far won that the struggle is over, one by one 

 opponents have been worn down, the final effort has been 

 made, the last rival beaten, the post passed and the number 

 hoisted, it is annoying in the extreme to be disqualified for a 

 technical reason at the scale, a reason which, so far as human per- 

 ception can go, could in very many cases have had no possible 

 influence on the result ; though, on the other hand, it must be 

 admitted that no one can precisely tell what the effect of an 

 omitted few pounds of weight might have been. This again 

 is chiefly the trainer's business, but the jockey will do well if 

 he think the matter out for himself, look at the conditions of 

 the race, calculate penalties and allowances, and quietly see if 

 his own estimate agrees with that of the trainer, who will tell 



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