THE SPURS. 405 



business to know how the horse should be ridden ; I cannot 

 teach thee." 



USE OF THE SPURS. 



Spurs ought to be put on for a race, unless the horse runs 

 unkindly when they are used, or the jockey is such a bad 

 rider that he cannot spur properly at a finish, or cannot help 

 touching his horse with them. After taking one's spurs off to 

 ride a rogue, it may be just as well, in the preliminary canter, 

 to touch him a couple of times with one's heels in order to 

 show him that he need not fear punishment from them. Some 

 horses, on the contrary, will not extend themselves unless the 

 rider has spurs. 



As a rule, a horse should not be touched with the spurs until 

 the finish, when three or four digs will be quite enough to 

 make any ordinary animal exert himself to the utmost. An 

 inexperienced rider ought to endeavour to make his horse 

 go fast at a finish by catching a good hold of his head and 

 " riding him out," and not by spurring or flogging him. 



On one occasion, Hayhoe, who was training the late Baron 

 Rothschild's two-year-old filly, Tomato, told Edwin Martin to 

 ride her a gallop with spurs, and to touch her with them, just 

 to show her what they were like. The jockey did so, and the 

 filly finished her work in a satisfactory manner. A few days 

 after, Martin got on Tomato with spurs, to ride her a trial, but 

 she refused to move a step, and began to shiver and buck-jump 

 as if something was wrong. Martin dismounted, and took 

 off the saddle, thinking it might be pinching her, or that a 

 thorn or thistle might have got into the panel. As the gear 

 was found to be all right, Martin remounted, but with the 

 same result. At last, at Hayhoe's suggestion, the spurs were 

 taken off. The moment that was done, the filly walked away 

 as quiet as a lamb, thereby giving them to know, as plain 

 as words could have told, what her ideas on spurring were. 



