396 RACE RIDING. 



should have a steady preliminary canter to warm them up 

 before starting. Certain horses appear to have a special 

 liking for certain courses and varieties of ground. Game, 

 honest horses are often several pounds better, when facing a 

 hill, than one with a suspicion of " softness," though they might 

 be as nearly equal as possible on the flat. 



As a rule, lazy horses which require riding to make them 

 extend themselves, are far better stayers than the impetuous 

 sort. We may often observe the fact of a horse being 

 " trained to the hour," by his becoming a trifle dainty in his 

 feeding, and lacking, when taken at a walk, some of his accus- 

 tomed fire. Admiral Rous, speaking generally, remarked : 

 " Large horses like big men, run fast and seldom stay a 

 distance, but they can carry weight." 



Horses vary as much in their respective powers of carrying 

 weight as they do in staying a distance. For instance, certain 

 speedy animals are effectively stopped if they have anything 

 more than 7 st. 7 Ib. on their backs, and others can perform 

 creditably only in welter races. Brown Brandy, who was a 

 small but very stout horse, won a lot of races with fairly heavy 

 weights up ; but showed comparatively poor form in light 

 weight races. 



THE SEAT WHEN FINISHING. 



Here, also, no hard and fast rules are admissible. If 

 a jockey who is leaning well forward, finds that his horse 

 is going level, he would be foolish to sacrifice the in- 

 crease of speed which his forward position gives him, 

 by leaning back. But if he feels that his horse, instead 

 of going true, is labouring in his stride from the fact of 

 too much weight being on his fore-hand, he should sit 

 down in the centre of his saddle with his seat as much 

 under him as possible ; supposing that his stirrups are fairly 

 long. He should catch a good hold of the horse's head 



