FINISHING. 125 



racing over small fences, there is no need to sit 

 down. 



Finishing. When the jockey sits down at the finish, 

 he grasps the flaps of the saddle tightly with his knees, 

 and as the feet of the horse, at each stride, come to the 

 ground, he jerks his weight forward, giving the impe- 

 tus to his body at the same moment as the horse 

 makes his stroke, so that the animal is actually re- 

 lieved of a certain portion of his rider's weight. The 

 jockey should catch a good hold of his horse's head, 

 so as to collect him at each stride ; should draw his 

 feet well back, so that weight may not fall on the 

 stirrups in a forward direction, which would cause it, 

 by re-action, to be projected to the rear ; and should 

 keep his head erect, shoulders back, and his seat, as 

 much as possible, under him, so that he may be able, 

 effectively, to impel his weight forward at each stroke of 

 the horse. He should give a forward motion to his 

 hands, at each stride, yielding to the extension of the 

 animal's ,neck, but without slackening the reins in the 

 slightest. This action is extremely fatiguing; hence 

 the great difference that may be observed among 

 jockeys, according as they are strong or weak riders. 

 The popular idea about a man, that is good at a 

 finish, is that he "lifts his horse" at every stride, 

 " throws him on to the post ; " or " takes it out of him/' 

 to some extraordinary extent with whip and spur! 



When we speak of a jockey "lifting" a horse, at a 

 finish, we use the expression to describe the forward im- 

 pulse, at each stride, the animal gets, which it is impos- 

 sible that he can receive from the rider's hands, as their 



