I02 PREPARATION. 



company she ran equally badly. Yet this worst of all per- 

 formers comes to me, and a few months after these wretched 

 performances, wins the Ccesarewitch in a common canter by 

 ten lengths, giving weight to both the second and third horses 

 — conceding to the latter, a four-year-old, 1 1 lbs. If we con- 

 sider the way in which this race was won, it may safely be 

 assumed to be the shortest time race on record, being given 

 in BeW s Life as 4 minutes i second. 



The reader may think that in this long chapter I have dwelt 

 too much on the advantage of training horses light, especially 

 as the matter has already been dealt with at p. 47 et seq. 

 in the chapter on "Condition." There, however, it was 

 intended to show^ the difference between horses " big " and 

 *' light " ; here, how to prepare them " light," and the results 

 of the preparation. 



But my faith in my system, trebly tried as it has been by 

 practical results, will, I trust, warrant my insistence on this one 

 point. I can hardly believe that an unprejudiced mind would 

 refuse to believe, after the experiences here set forth, that a 

 horse will run better light than big. There are cases, I admit, 

 of horses running well when big, and of improving year by 

 year when so treated ; but they are too few and far between 

 to recommend such a system for general adoption. 



I do not say, in spite of all I have adduced, that the 

 system of training I recommend is perfection ; on the other 

 hand, I do not admit that any other is. But I venture to 

 submit that it is clearly the best, and if so, it ought to be fol- 

 lowed. In truth no one can attain perfection, and for venial 

 faults excessive blame should not be awarded ; for trainers, 

 however fortunate they may be in individual cases, arc fallible 

 like all human beings. We see an analogy to this in hus- 

 bandry. The agriculturist who mismanages one field of 



