RIDING — ENTERING FOR A RACE. 203 



into the other extreme, and throw him out of his 

 stride, either at starting, or during the race, by 

 an endeavour to restrain him too much when 

 from over-eagerness you see he will not suffer it ; 

 it is better, in these cases, notwithstanding any 

 instructions you may have received as to lying 

 by, to allow the horse partly to make his own 

 race: you can try to ease him a little as this 

 over-eagerness subsides. In riding a match, a 

 good caste horse against an indifferent caste one, 

 always, after the first hundred yards, rate him 

 well the whole way so as to make him fairly 

 shut up by the time he arrives at the distance- 

 post ; for his object, if he is up to it, will be 

 (thus over-matched) to make a waiting race 

 of it. 



You cannot expect to carry off all you start 

 for the first season of your novitiate : added 

 to muscle, bone, blood, make, a good consti- 

 tution, good training, and good riding, you must 

 use the greatest discrimination as to entering 

 for a long or a short race, or long or short heats, 

 and also to the weights. Some horses will fly 

 with eight stone, yet prove very sorry with ten 

 stone. Some will carry the ten stone well 

 enough for a single race, yet fail in heats. 

 Besides this, the course being hard or soft, 

 light or heavy, dry or wet, up hill, down hill, 



