308 THE IMPROVED ART OF FARRIERY. 



racer whilst he has the full liberty of extending his 

 head and neck to the utmost, can never obstruct his 

 wind or shorten his stroke ; and many horses, from 

 habit probably, will slacken their speed on the rein 

 being slackened. 



The rider of the speediest, will, in a course, make a 

 waiting race ; that is to say, keep behind at a favour- 

 able distance, in order to preserve his horse's superior 

 speed for the last run. The distance must not, how- 

 ever, be too considerable, by which error many races 

 have been lost. For example, in a sweepstakes, where 

 the speediest and best horses have sometimes waited 

 so long on each other that the rider of an inferior and 

 unnoticed horse has taken the advantage, and advanced 

 so far, that at last the best could not overtake him. 

 The speedy horse must be favoured also over heavy 

 ground and up hill. The opposite w^ill consequently 

 do for the slow and stout horse. In making the play, 

 however, which is taking the lead, and especially in 

 a four-mile race, it must be considered that the 

 stoutest racer may be run to a stand still ; therefore 

 the rider must not at first take too much upon his 

 horse, but keep a few pulls in hand for an occasion ; 

 yet go along at such a rate as to keep his speedier an- 

 tagonist at warm work, wearing him out by degrees : 

 in such a race the stoutest horse will win, unless he is 

 greatly out-footed. In a race of a single mile, or a 

 mile and a half, between a speedy horse with the com- 

 mon defect of that class, inability to run up to his foot, 

 and a stout and honest horse that will run through the 

 piece, it may be necessary for the rider of the latter to 

 set off at scores, and run all the way through, attend- 

 ing only to the single consideration, that he does not 

 blow or burst his horse, of which he ought to be a 

 judge. 



