FINISHING. 423 



of 1869, with 9 st. i Ib. up. Also Asteroid, who was built on 

 a large scale, won in 1863, carrying 9 st. 4 Ib., beating eleven 

 others. Unsound horses generally act best on a soft course, 

 especially those with any tendency to laminitis or navicular 

 disease. Old horses which are somewhat stiff on their legs, 

 should have a steady preliminary canter to warm them up 

 before starting. Certain horses appear to have a special 

 liking for certain courses and varieties of ground. Game, 

 honest horses are often several pounds better, when facing a 

 hill, than one with a suspicion of " softness," though they might 

 be as nearly equal as possible on the flat. 



As a rule, lazy horses which require riding to make them 

 extend themselves, are far better stayers than the impetuous 

 sort. We may often observe the fact of a horse being 

 " trained to the hour," by his becoming a trifle dainty in his 

 feeding, and lacking, when taken at a walk, some of his accus- 

 tomed fire. Admiral Rous, speaking generally, remarked : 

 " Large horses, like big men, run fast and seldom stay a 

 distance, but they can carry weight." 



Horses vary as much in their respective powers of carrying 

 weight as they do in staying a distance. For instance, certain 

 speedy animals are effectively stopped if they have anything 

 more than 7 st. 7 Ib. on their backs, and others can perform 

 creditably only in welter races. Brown Brandy, who was a 

 small but very stout horse, w r on a lot of races with fairly heavy 

 weights up ; but showed comparatively poor form in light 

 weight races. 



THE SEAT WHEN FINISHING. 



Here, also, no hard and fast rules are admissible. If 

 a jockey who is leaning well forward, finds that his horse 

 is going level, he would be foolish to sacrifice the in- 

 crease of speed which his forward position gives him, 

 by leaning back. But if he feels that his horse, instead 



