242 THE COMPLETE HORSEMAN 



mensely and I hope he will ride plenty of winners. 

 To him I have one bit of advice to give. Live 

 abstemiousty and take long walks. That at any 

 rate will not impair the health. Artificial wasting 

 by which I mean the use of Turkish baths, 

 physic and severe work in heavy clothing should 

 be avoided in the interest of health. I would 

 also point out that the exaggerated forward 

 seat which is so fashionable is better avoided. 

 It has as many drawbacks as it has advantages. 

 Col. Meysey Thompson points out that before 

 it was adopted one scarcely ever heard of a horse 

 falling on the fiat and that now such falls are 

 of frequent occurrence. The bumping and horses 

 striking into their leaders and the crossing which 

 are constantly taking place are undoubtedly 

 due to the fact that jockeys sitting perched up 

 on their horses' necks cannot control them, as 

 indeed how should they ? Col. Meysey Thompson 

 shows that it was possible to crouch quite as 

 low with the old seat when it was necessary 

 and those who remember George Fordham, 

 the Grimshaws, Tom Chaloner and other good 

 jockeys of the old school do not need that im- 

 pressing on them. The argument in favour of 

 the ' American ' seat as it is called, derived from 

 the bicycle, has no weight at all. For to begin 

 with, a bicycle and a horse cannot justly be 

 compared. Col. Meysey Thompson says that 

 '* a rider of a bicycle, when crouching down, 

 still has the weight within the compass of the 

 two wheels which support the frame; but a 



