THE BREEDS OF HORSES. 231 



of the horses are distanced, to better know the precise in- 

 stant when the race is finished. A distance in Russia is 

 thirty sagenes (210 feet) for a race of three versts, and seventy- 

 five sagenes (525 feet) for a race at a greater distance. Only 

 three false starts are allowed; after that number the judges 

 can fine the driver of the horse that is responsible for the 

 false starts, or can refuse to allow him to go the course. In 

 case a driver does not try to win with a horse the judges may 

 fine him, and on a repetition of the offense he is liable to visit 

 Siberia for a couple of years a punishment which I imagine, 

 from what I hear, would be salu tary for some of your Ameri- 

 can drivers. 



A horse is allowed to make but three breaks during a heat 

 of three versts, and the same number in the deciding heat. 

 If he makes more he is out of the race, and so is he if he 

 makes more than thirteen jumps in one gallop. Each horse 

 in the race has a judge especially assigned to watch his 

 movements, whose decision as to whether the horse makes 

 more than three breaks or more than the permitted number 

 of jumps in one break is without appeal; he has only to touch 

 a button of an electric machine designating the offending 

 horse, and a groom on horseback in front of the stand at once 

 rushes off to notify his driver to quit the track. 



For all the prizes given by the societies any one can trot, 

 as he pleases, to a droschka (the national Russian vehicle, 

 four-wheeled and very clumsy and heavy as compared with 

 the sulky,) or to a sulky with two wheels and four reins. The 

 weight of the vehicle and of the sulky is equally ad libitum 

 for all the prizes given by the societies. The Government, 

 for prizes which it gives, specifies for itself the kind of vehi- 

 cle, its weight, the weight of the driver, and the distance to 

 be trotted. 



There are two seasons for racing. The summer races 

 occur in May and June, and are trotted twice a week, on 

 Sunday and Wednesday. They are started at 6 o'clock in 

 the evening, the days being so long in Russia that it is light 

 until 11 o'clock at night, and thus the heat of the day is 

 avoided, which is an advantage for both the horses and the 

 spectators. 



