JOCKEYS 49 



some time ago in the sporting press on tliis sub- 

 ject; and, fiirtliermore, tliat I do not venture to 

 reply to the very foolish letters that Avere pub- 

 lished, not one of wliieh was a credit to the sagac- 

 ity of the writer. 



The forward seat on the withers, with the legs 

 tlirnst still more forward and the head and 

 shoulders poised over the horse's neck, to enable 

 the liands to almost touch the bit in his mouth, is in 

 itself devised to avoid all possible wind-pressure 

 against tlie body of tlie rider. At tlie same time 

 remove every ounce of weight that can be from the 

 saddle, that it may not impede the natural curve of 

 the back of the horse as it rises and falls (in his 

 stride), to permit the full underreach and propulsion 

 from the hind-quarters — in successive order like a 

 piece of machinery — as he gallops. 



There is surely no one in charge of horses, or, 

 I may say, aciiuainted with horses, who does not 

 know that tlie back of a horse as he gallops bends 

 or curves to almost reach the point of a half- 

 circle. Without this 'curve' it would be impossible 

 to get underreach, and Avithout underreach a hcirso 

 is practically without speed. 



If anybody doubts — or, to put it milder, is un- 

 acquainted with — the extent to which a horse 

 'curves' his back Avhen galloping, and the effect 



