TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 363 



In 1897, Tod Sloan, a famous American jockey, went to 

 England to ride. He practiced the same seat which all Amer- 

 ican jockeys use and with which all Americans are familiar. 

 Its peculiar feature is that the jockey sits as far forward on the 

 horse as possible. When Sloan appeared on English race courses 

 he was severely ridiculed, for at that time English jockeys were 

 not familiar with our methods and it was thought Sloan was 

 trying to attract attention to himself by adopting a ridiculous 

 position on his horse. Race-going people laughed at him until 

 it was noticed that he was enjoying unusual success at winning 

 races. Sloan rode twenty winners during his first season in 

 England, forty-three the next, and in 1899 he was first past 

 the post with no fewer than one hundred and eight horses. In 

 the same year, two other Americans, the brothers Lester and 

 Johnny Reiff, also had eighty-two victories to their credit. The 

 methods of these American jockeys were soon copied by most 

 of the English riders, but the Americans continued to pile up 

 a remarkable record of successes, culminating in three successive 

 Derby triumphs Lester ReifFs in 1901, Martin's in 1902, and 

 Maher's in 1903. During eight years ending in 1905, the eight 

 or nine American jockeys who appeared in England for one or 

 more seasons divided among them, in retainers, winning fees, 

 and etceteras, fully a million dollars. Their work made a new 

 chapter in English turf history. 



No sooner had Sloan shown ability to win consistently 

 than people began trying to find out the secret of his success. 

 They could see that he carried himself as far forward on his 

 horse as possible, and so these questions arose: Does a man 

 seated near the neck of a horse enable the animal to travel faster 

 than one seated near the tail? If so, why? As for the first 

 question, Sloan gave it a practical answer by his consistent 

 winnings. The second question was also finally answered. 



A horse to move forward at all must thrust at the earth, 

 and the chief force of this thrust comes from his hind legs. If 

 the center of weight of horse and rider is just over, or close to 

 the thrusting power, naturally it diminishes the efficiency or 

 speed, for instead of thrusting the horse forward, a large portion 

 of the mascular energy is wasted in lifting the weight of the 

 jockey at every stride. The drawing below and the words 

 which follow will make this clear. 



The farther forward the center of weight is, the longer is 

 the line from hind foot to center of weight, called the line of 



