Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 415 



horses. In the same year, two other Americans, the brothers Lester 

 and Johnny Reiff, also had 82 victories to their credit. The methods 

 of these American jockeys were soon copied by most of the EngHsh 

 riders, but the Americans continued to pile up a remarkable record of 

 successes, culminating in three successive Derby triumphs — Lester 

 Reiff's in 1901, Martin's in 1902, and Maher's in 1903. During eight 

 years ending in 1905, the eight or nine American jockeys who appeared 

 in England for one or more seasons divided among them, in retainers, 

 winning fees, and etceteras, fully a million dollars. Their work made 

 a new chapter in English turf history. 



No sooner had Sloan shown ability to win consistently than people 

 began trying to find out the secret of his success. They could see that 

 he carried himself as far forward on his horse as possible, and so these 

 questions arose: Does a man seated near the neck of a horse enable 



Fig. 156. — The horse in motion. A, Center of weight; AB, line of thrust; 

 ABC, angle of thrust; Y, center of weight when rider is over neck of horse; X, center 

 of weight when rider sits near the tail. 



the animal to travel faster than one seated near the tail? If so, why? 

 As for the first question, Sloan gave it a practical answer by his con- 

 sistent winnings. The second question was also finally answered. 



A horse to move forward at all must thrust at the earth, and the 

 chief force of this thrust comes from his hind legs. If the center of 

 weight of horse and rider is just over, or close to, the thrusting power, 

 naturally it diminishes the efficiency for speed, for instead of thrusting 

 the horse forward, a large portion of the muscular energy is wasted in 

 lifting the weight of the jockey at every stride. The accompanjdng 

 drawing and the words which follow will make this clear. 



The farther forward the center of weight is, the longer is the line 

 from hind foot to center of weight, called the line of thrust, and the 



