152 



RIDING 



ence ; he was put up, rode his horse home manfully with his 

 hands, and did in fact win a race in which with whip and spurs 

 he would very likely have been beaten. 



To finish, the jockey 

 sits firmly down in the 

 saddle, feet drawn 

 back, and he 'goes 

 with his horse' as 

 much as he can. 

 When he finds that, 

 being in front, an- 

 other animal is holding 

 him as they near the post, 

 or that, being behind, the 

 leaders show no signs of coming 

 back to him, so that it behoves him 

 to make his effort in order to get on 



ri terms with them, the moment for the finish 



has come ; but it is most necessary that he 

 should exercise the great gift of patience, and 

 particularly that he should see to what extent his 

 horse will respond when ridden with the hands 

 before the whip, by the employment of which so many races 

 are weekly thrown away, is called into requisition. It is no 

 doubt natural that the boys should be in a hurry to reach the 

 judge's box, but here the proverb ' More haste less speed ' 

 frequently applies. An anecdote which that sound and excel- 

 lent horseman, John Osborne, tells of his early days is here 

 appropriate. 'One of the first lessons I had I got from Flat- 

 man,' Osborne says. ' I was a lad riding a horse called Black 

 Doctor, and, like all the lads, I was in too great a hurry to get 

 home that's the general fault. I knew that I was on a good 

 horse, and when we got to the distance I began to use my whip. 

 Flatman was on a horse called Bee Hunter, just a neck behind 

 me when I began to ride ; but though mine shot ahead for the 

 moment, Flatman came on steadily behind, and I only just got 



