JOCKEYS 25 



Tom Cannon's hands on a two-year-old will long be 

 famous in the history of horsemanship. He was 

 usually the personification of gentleness on a horse, 

 and declared that he would as soon hit a child as an 

 anxious young two-year-old that was doing its best ; 

 and in this respect, it may be remarked, George 

 Fordham entirely agreed with him. There can be no 

 doubt that Tom Cannon often got more out of a horse 

 by his persuasive methods than any other jockey could 

 have done by the administration of punishment. At 

 the same time, if he had to use his whip he could do 

 so most effectually ; but as a general rule one or two 

 cuts in the last three or four strides was the most he 

 did towards what is called "a punishing finish," and 

 when he did hit a horse, moreover, he always hit him 

 at the right moment, not in the middle of his stride, 

 when the stroke would make him " curl up " and 

 shorten, but as he was about to make it ; for such 

 niinuticE, which scarcely any one notices, are part of 

 the perfect horseman's equipment. Cannon, so 

 admirable a rider himself, has been also the cause of 

 good riding in others. His pupils include his son Morn- 

 ington and John Watts, who have no superiors in the 

 saddle at the time of writing. S. Loates and Kempton 

 Cannon were also his apprentices and do the fullest 

 justice to their master. Mr. Arthur Coventry, 

 the present starter, in t-his time unrivalled as a 

 gentleman rider, was another pupil of the famous 

 jockey. Watts' style is closely modelled on that of his 



