230 TRAINING AND RACING. 



short distance they will have to race will usually be 

 enough. Another point is that, for short races, horses 

 should never be galloped on a heavy course, as it teaches 

 them to dwell in their stride, and to lose the quick 

 stroke in the gallop which is essential to speed. They 

 should be also taught to start well and get quickly on 

 their legs. To do this the rider must have hands good 

 enough to catch his horse by the head, and send him 

 " jnto his bridle " in a moment. 



Trials. In order to obtain a satisfactory trial, horses 

 should only be tried when they are quite fit, which 

 ought to be but a few days before the actual race comes 

 off, unless the owner trains his horse specially for a trial, 

 to see, for instance, if he be worth keeping for another 

 season. The trial horse should be in every case equally 

 well trained, and be one whose present (not past) public 

 form is thoroughly well known to the trainer. Equally 

 good jockeys should be put up, or, in default, equally 

 bad, and the trial should be ridden out, as in a regular 

 race, without favour or affection. Even with every 

 precaution, trials are not always to be relied on, and 

 a margin of lOlbs. for mistakes would be little enough 

 in the generality of cases, for so many horses perform 

 differently in public from what they do in private. Be- 

 sides, with a lot of horses in a race, one can never tell 

 how it will be run, or what accidents may happen. 



If an owner tries a lot of fresh horses, and finds but 

 little difference between them, or, at least, between the 

 best three or four, he may be almost certain that there is 

 not a race-horse among them. According to Admiral 

 Kous there is an average of about three remarkable 



