RACE AND SHOWYARD RIDING 263 



some who did not hear the explanation and as 

 the numbers were never corrected on the award 

 board there was every excuse for their wonder. 



In galloping a horse round the ring with the 

 rest of the exhibits it is always desirable to keep 

 him well balanced and in his place. Racing past 

 competitors and cutting in round corners does not 

 do the least good, and are entirely ignored by the 

 judges. An important quality in any horse is 

 that he shall have good manners and there is no 

 truer sign of good manners than a horse keeping 

 his place in the ranks and keeping his balance. 

 Some men who should know better seem to think 

 that judges are easily imposed upon. They 

 deceive themselves, and when they act upon the 

 opinion they have apparently formed they do 

 themselves no good. 



It is advisable never to speak to a judge except 

 in reply to some inquiry. Nothing that the man 

 who is showing a horse can say influences a judge 

 who knows his work, and it may be taken for 

 granted that judges, as a rule, know much more 

 of their business than disappointed exhibitors 

 give them credit for. I remember a very voluble 

 young man telling the judges a wonderful story 

 about a leggy, somewhat three-cornered horse he 

 was showing; when, something startling the 

 horse, he reared and gave a grunt that could have 

 been heard for a quarter of a mile. '* Thank 



you, Mr. ," said one of the judges. ''What 



with what you have told us and what with what 

 the horse has told us we have got to know some- 



