8 9 



things on which the lad is better informed than the man 

 who has the horse in training-. 



But there is another and most vital point to be consid- 

 ered, and that is the lad's nerve in a race. It would be folly 

 to permit him to gallop a few horses about the track, be able 

 to keep a firm seat and have control of a horse, and then 

 start him in a race. He would in ninety-nine cases out of a 

 hundred be scared to death before he got away from the 

 post. I doubt if he could get away at all, and if he did he 

 would be liable to run his horse the wrong way a half mile 

 or more before he discovered his mistake. 



The trainer must send the boy along with a couple of 

 others for a sort of an impromptu race. Other owners who 

 are anxious to see what their two-year-olds will do will often 

 agree to these little races between their horses, and thus the 

 lad who has started in to become a jockey gets an insight 

 into how to get off quickly and what to do when he is off. 

 He has learned by constant riding just what to expect of the 

 horse, and he will try his best to win. 



Perhaps in two years the boy is ready to ride in a race, 

 and he appears before the clerk of the scales, clad in all the 

 gorgeous colors of the man in whose employ he is. As a 

 general thing the trainer has given the boy the chance in 

 order to get him accustomed to getting away from the post, 

 for this is one of the most difficult feats he must be taught. 

 There are boys on the track and riding every day now who 

 will never learn this point, and they are daily betraying 

 their ignorance, yet they secure mounts in some manner 

 from ignorant trainers and owners. 



When the lad is put up for his first race the horse is 

 usually of an inferior class and is just put in the race in 

 order to assist in getting both the boy and the horse in con- 

 dition. But it may be that the boy is one of exceptional 

 promise, that he has shown marked aptitude for the work, 

 and has swept far ahead of the other exercise boys. In this 

 case I would recommend, as in the case of Russell Ramson 

 of late years, to put him on a superior horse and let him win 

 his first race. This will give him confidence and make him 

 believe that it is not such a difficult matter after all to win 

 races if a boy exerts himself to his utmost. He begins to 

 figure in the next race where he has a mount how to at least 



