64 THE MERRY GEE-GEE 



You can lift a light boy across his back 

 in the box, now first one side, then the 

 other, and put him up and lead the colt 

 round with the boy on, and in a few 

 minutes he will ride him all right in the 

 box — that is, if the boy knows how to 

 speak to him and enforce his requests. 

 I am not in favour of dumb jockeys, and 

 never hardly use them. They may be 

 of some use on a dead-mouthed older 

 horse, but then their effect is only tem- 

 porary, and they may be permissible on 

 a colt who is difficult to make champ the 

 bit, but not for long. 



A colt should be taught, by the use of 

 fixed side-reins, that '' so far and no further 

 shalt thou go " is a golden maxim for him 

 to follow, and the yielding to pressure of 

 the elastic reins of the dumb jockey tends 

 to imbue him with the notion that he has 

 only to pull hard enough to gain a certain 



