126 HORSE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA. 



action is confined to the reins, which may serve to 

 " collect " the horse, or to retard his movements, but can- 

 not afford him any onward impulse exterior to himself. 

 As the legs of the rider are the only other parts that 

 connect him to the horse, the " lift " must proceed from 

 them, and is the result of the rider's weight, more or less, 

 being taken off the animal's back, at each instant, as 

 his feet touch the ground. 



As the action of finishing can be maintained only 

 for but a very short time, a jockey, as a rule, does not' 

 begin " to ride his horse out," before he comes to the 

 distance post. 



The art of finishing so as to aid the horse, and 

 not to impede him in his stroke by rolling about in 

 the saddle is so difficult of attainment, and its ac- 

 tion is so fatiguing, that the ordinary amateur would 

 be wise to "sit still," instead of trying to finish, until 

 he is quite sure that he can do it properly. The 

 paramount necessity of being in good training for 

 race riding is particularly observable at a finish. How 

 many cases do we know of races being lost by the 

 rider having been more tired than his horse, in the 

 run home. 



Using the Whip. Unless when correcting the horse, 

 preventing him from swerving, &c., the rider should, iu my 

 opinion, never hit him on any other part than that just 

 behind the girth. If a cutting whip be used, as in race rid- 

 ing, the side away from the whip will, if any thing, be 

 more hurt than the other, so that the horse, when the 

 whip is used in this manner, will not nearly be so li- 

 able to swerve, as he would be, were he hit on the 



