THE TURF. 
The want of stirrups alone must have been a terrible 
want. With the well-caparisoned war-horse, or the 
highly-finished cheval d'ecole, even in his gallopade, 
capriole, or balotade, the rider may sit down upon his 
twist, and secure himself in his saddle by the clip which 
his thighs and knees will afford him ; but there is none 
of that (obstando) resisting power about his seat which 
enables him to contend with the race-horse in his gallop. 
We admit that a very slight comparison can be drawn 
between the race-horse of ancient and that of modern 
days ; but whoever has seen the print of the celebrated 
jockey, John Oakley, on Eclipse the only man, by the 
way, who could ride him well will be convinced that, 
without the fulcrum of stirrups, he could not have ridden 
him at all ; as, from the style in which he ran, his nose 
almost sweeping the ground, he would very soon have 
been pulled from the saddle over his head. 
Of the training and management of the Olympic 
race-horse we are unfortunately left in ignorance all 
that can be inferred being the fact, that the equestrian 
candidates were required to enter their names and send 
their horses to Elis at least thirty days before the 
celebration of the games commenced ; and that the 
charioteers and riders, whether owners or proxies, went 
through a prescribed course of exercise during the 
intervening month. In some respects, we can see, they 
closely resembled ourselves. They had their course for 
full-aged horses, and their course for colts; and their 
prize for which mares only started, corresponding with 
