l68 THE MERRY GEE-GEE 



5 St. 7 lbs. to 6 St., and I should like to 

 see it raised higher still, as common sense 

 tells us a 6-st. boy can have very little 

 control over a strong wilful horse ; then, 

 of what use is a breed of horses who 

 can only carry 6 st. or so respectably ? 

 If racing is to improve the breed of 

 horses, as some assert, let us, by all means, 

 have a higher scale of weight. In steeple- 

 chasing, where they have further to go, 

 generally in deep ground and fences to 

 jump, the minimum weight is lo St., and 

 7 lbs. less in the Grand National. A three- 

 year-old goes two miles over hurdles up 

 to his fetlocks in mud with lo St., but 

 the four-year-old bottom weight in the 

 Summer Handicap must only carry 6 st. 

 Besides, it spoils the temper of horses 

 being ridden by weak boys. They find 

 out their own power over science and 

 the higher animal, man, and once they 



