STARTING. 403 



must be made up when the horses are galloping, at which 

 time the effort to regain the lost lengths may be equivalent to 

 throwing away an advantage of as many pounds. We should 

 remember that the faster horses are going, the greater is the 

 effort required to make up lost ground. Although a horse 

 may, when his field is going comparatively slow, decrease 

 a gap of five or six lengths, with but a trifling expendi- 

 ture of force ; the task of making up such a distance in, 

 say, half a mile, is quite impossible. It has been said, 

 " horses can give away weight, but they cannot give away 

 distance." When walking up to the starter or facing the 

 " gate," the jockey should sit down in the saddle with his 

 seat well under him, so that he may not be jerked back 

 on to the cantle, or pulled over the pommel of the saddle, 

 in the event of the horse suddenly springing forward, or 

 swinging his head down and stretching out his neck, as 

 impetuous ones will sometimes do. He should keep his legs 

 close to the horse's sides, so as to be able to press him up to 

 the bridle, if required ; should ride with sufficiently long reins 

 to avoid the possibility of checking the horse when he is getting 

 into his stride ; and should be " off" with the drop of the flag. 

 When coming up into line, he should keep his horse on the 

 move as much as practicable ; for an animal that is bending 

 and prancing within reasonable limits, will generally gain a 

 much better start than another which walks sluggishly into 

 position. Besides, in order for a horse to quickly settle down 

 into his stride, it is necessary for him to be well in hand at the 

 moment of starting. The idea which was held by many 

 English jockeys, that, no matter how good a start a man got 

 .he ought to steady the horse, so as to " get him on his feet," 

 arose most probably from their inability to collect a horse by 

 their legs as well as by their hands. 



The introduction into this country from Australia of the 

 starting gate put a stop to many riding tricks, such as 



26* 



