CHANGING THE WHIP. 125 



be adopted, so that the rider may run no chance of 

 making a fatal muddle with the reins. Such mistakes, 

 which would appear to be hardly excusable in an 

 amateur, are not unfrequently committed by profes- 

 sionals who fancy themselves not a little. How often 

 do we see jockeys " let go the reins " the moment they 

 use the whip. It always strikes me, that the reason 

 they commit this unpardonable error, is that they do 



FiCT. 12. 



not slide the bridle hand forward to shorten the reins 

 before the whip hand quits them, as ought to be done. 

 When there is little time to act and none to think, the 

 mere knowledge of the proper method of doing a thing 

 cannot be utilised. An action, however, which has 

 been sufficiently often repeated to become automatic 

 (forgive me the word), will be instinctively performed 



