52 FLAT-RACING EXPLAINED. 



ciilar fibre of the back and loins being a part of 

 that which I have so cU scribed. What may be the 

 precise anatomical effect prodnced on this Vital 

 part of a horse's organization I am not prepared 

 to say certainly from a scientific point of view. 

 From a physical point, and from observation and 

 general stndy, I have long arrived at the conclu- 

 sion that it is wholly caused by excessive training 

 and undue riding in races on gradients for which 

 a horse may not have the least possible natural 

 aptitude or qualification. 



When a horse has 'lost speed/ it is generally sup- 

 posed he is short of work. The universal practice 

 then is to increase his gallops, and the training art 

 will endeavor to wring more out of him by its 

 means. When this is done, the horse drifts fr.m 

 bad to worse, and the more fast work he is put to 

 do, the sooner his career on the turf comes to an 

 end. 



I have often made the inquiry of owners, train- 

 ers, and also jockeys, in order to discover, from 

 their point of view, in what part of a horse's or- 

 ganization, taking him from head to foot, he most 

 feels the effect when he is beaten ("all out,'' as the 

 term is), in a race, fixing the distance at five fur- 

 longs, or say any distance up to two and a half 

 miles. I cannot say my fund of information has 



