43 o RACE RIDING. 



We should drop the hands when a horse gets his head 

 up, and should take a pull the moment he lowers it. If 

 possible, a large smooth unjointed snaffle (Fig. 117) should 

 be used. We might try the effect of a standing martin- 

 gale fixed to the rings of a snaffle (page 91). We may 

 take for granted, especially as the pace will hold most of 

 them, that it is the fault of the jockey if a horse runs 

 away in a race. 



As the majority of hard, determined pullers are done 

 running when they stop pulling, being then left without 

 the power of making an effort ; a jockey ought to be particu- 

 larly careful to " keep a bit in hand " with a horse of this 

 sort. 



That hard pullers often fail to stay is frequently the fault 

 of their riders. I quite agree with Hiram Woodruff, the 

 celebrated American trainer, when he remarks that " it is 

 often said that a horse cannot pull hard and last ; and this 

 is contrary to the facts that I am about to mention. Trustee 

 lasted ; and he was a hard puller. Captain McGowan lasted ; 

 and he was the hardest-pulling horse in America, I suppose. 

 Dexter pulls a pound or two, I can assure you ; and he has 

 shown his capacity to go on. The truth is, that the pulling 

 horses last well enough, but the riders do not last so long. It 

 is just so with the runners." 



ORDERS. 



As a rule, it is not advisable to give orders, if the jockey 

 knows his work, though he should be briefly told the horse's 

 good and bad qualities from a racing point of view, if he be 

 unacquainted with them. It is always injudicious to lay down 

 precise directions, such as to keep a certain number of lengths 

 behind the leading horse, who may be sent from the start to 

 cut out the running for another, at a pace which might cause 

 himself to collapse long before the distance post is reached. 



