344 



STEEPLE-CHASING. 



'He beat himself jumping ' is often the explanation of a dis- 

 appointment, when an animal that has been fancied by his 

 connections fails in his race. An important hurdle-race at 

 a recent popular meeting was lost thus ; and that, more- 

 over, by a clever horse, one of the best representatives of the 

 sport seen of recent years. Owing to the refusal of an inex- 

 perienced jumper, there was much unavoidable hustling at one 

 of the hurdles ; the old horse had his view of the obstacle 





'Beat himself jumpi 



blocked till too late to measure his distance, and the conse- 

 quence was that he severely rapped his legs against the bars. 

 In order to avoid another painful blow, he 'jumped so big' 

 over the remaining hurdles that he was beaten. 



It is the general opinion that hurdle-racing does not impair 

 a horse's speed on the flat ; in the case of many hurdle-jumpers 

 it is certain that no loss of form has followed a course of school- 

 ing and running ' over the sticks,' though at the same time one 

 feels that it is a descent in the world for a really good horse to 



