530 



A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 



The jockey was then ordered to take the crouching, American, forward position, 

 which was in this instance carefully copied from a carved figure accurately made 

 for Mr. August Belmont, the famous American racing man. It was now found 

 that the increase of weight on the horse's fore legs amounted to i281bs., or 

 only 2lbs. less than the total weight of the jockey, and 66lbs. more than when 

 the lad was seated in the saddle. In other words, the effect upon the horse's 

 fore legs produced by a i3olb. boy crouching forward was the same as that 

 which would be produced on them by a man of i8st. riding in the saddle. But 

 even this does not sufficiently emphasise the anatomical result. One of the vital 

 points of a thoroughbred is the back tendon of the fore leg with the suspensory 



ligament. That tendon 

 is elastic, but it will not 

 stretch for ever ; and 

 when it is strained or 

 broken the horse is use- 

 less. To increase the 

 weight on it is there- 

 fore a fatal risk to take 

 at the very part of 

 the horse's frame least 

 capable of bearing it. 

 It may be causation or 

 it may be coincidence, 

 but it is a fact that 

 since Tod Sloan's seat 



became fashionable all over the United States, the percentage of horses which 

 broke down early in their career became so large as to cause widespread 

 comment. Much the same effect was very noticeable at the beginning of the 

 twentieth century in England. Causes for this, common to both countries, may 

 be found in the large prizes and the increasing number of races for two-year- 

 olds, the strain of starting for short scurries caused by the starting-gate, and 

 in in-breeding. But it must be remembered that two-year-old racing is even 

 worse in the United States than it is here, because their racing year begins on 

 January i. By 1903 it began to look as if the American seat was likely to 

 make the life of a jockey short, in England, at any rate, whatever its effect might 



" Wild Dayreir by "Son" (1852). 



