TRIALS. 203 



less detrimental to their pace than gallops at, say, three- 

 quarter speed for a mile, or a mile and a quarter. They 

 should have lots of walking and hacking. Three gallops 

 a week over the short distance they will have to race, 

 will usually be enough. Another point is that, for short 

 races, horses should never be galloped on a heavy 

 course, as it teaches them to dwell in their stride, and 

 to lose the quick stroke in the gallop which is essential 

 to speed. They should also be taught to start well 

 and get quickly on their legs. To do this the rider 

 must have hands good enough to catch his horse by 

 the head, and send him " into his bridle " in a 

 moment. 



Trials. In order to obtain a satisfactory trial, horses 

 should only be tried when they are quite fit, which 

 ought to be but a few days before the actual race comes 

 off, unless the owner trains his animals specially for a 

 trial, to see, for instance, if they be worth keeping for 

 another season. The trial horse should be, in every 

 case, equally well trained, and be one whose present 

 (not past) public form is thoroughly well known to the 

 trainer. Equally good jockeys should be put up, or, in 

 default, equally bad, and the trial should be ridden out, 

 as in a regular race, without favour or affection. Even 

 with every precaution, trials are not always to be relied 

 on, and a margin of 10 Ibs. for mistakes would be little 

 enough in the generality of cases ; for very many horses 

 perform differently in public from what they do in 

 private. Besides, with a lot of horses in a race, one 

 can never tell how it will be run, or what accidents 

 may happen. It is dangerous with horses that are at 

 all shifty, to finish a trial at some point before the 



