HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 123 



top of the hock. The parts of the hind leg below the hock are 

 similarly named to those of the fore leg below the knee. 



Hock Strap. A spreader used to prevent the hopping 

 or sidewise gait of the horse. It is a stout, elastic band of 

 rubber w^ebbing, one and a half to two inches wide, with two 

 small straps and buckles at the ends used to tighten it. Attach 

 this to the leg just above the hock, (not the leg with which the 

 horse hops, but the one carried out), draw moderately tight, 

 and its use will tend to regulate the action of the leg which 

 the horse uses out of line. 



Hog on the Bit. A hard puller, and especially a 

 borer or puller to one side, is said to "hog on the bit." 



Hog'g'ing". The custom of cutting off the mane of the 

 horse in a sort of pompadour style, so that the hairs are 

 about the length of hog's bristles. The delineations of horses 

 in Egyptian, Persian and Grecian monuments and sculpture, 

 represent them with the mane hogged ; and this fashion pre- 

 vailed to a considerable extent in England, in the early part of 

 this century, "when," says Kev. J. G. Wood, "a sham classi- 

 cal mania reigned in the fashionable world." It is not harm- 

 ful to the horse ; it may not come under the head of mutila- 

 tion, but it is both unnatural and unnecessary. 



Hold Over Tlieni. A term used to denote that the 

 horse of which it is said has more speed than his opponents. 

 Thus John Splan says : " Lady Thorne was pitted against 

 George Wilkes, Dexter, Lucy, Goldsmith Maid, American Girl, 

 Mountain Boy and George Palmer, and held over them in 

 nearly all her engagements." 



Hold the Horse Tog-ether. Used to denote the art 

 of saving a horse at the finish, especially in a running race, 

 from overdoing himself when there is no occasion for it ; the 

 act of easing up on the horse at the bit, an inch at a time, as 

 the situation of the finish among the contestants allows; to 

 drive without forcing the horse. 



Holders. Hand loops attached to the reins for the pur- 

 pose of better holding and controlling the horse, particularly if 

 he is a hard puller. 



Have the reins made the ri<;ht length, and don't have three or four 

 yards of leather hanging down behind the sulky. Have the holders 

 on the reins good length and wide, and be sure that you have them 

 in exactly tlie right place, so that if the horse, from any cause, 

 either from breaking or otherwise, should take an extra hold of 

 the bit you are ready and in the right position to handle him with 

 ease. I drive all my horses with holders on the reins, and I think 

 no man should ever drive in a race without them.— Life with the 

 Trotters, John Splan. 



Hole in Him. A defect. " That horse has a hole in 

 him," means that he has an out, an unsoundness, a fault. 



