158 HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 



returning to the inn, it was lielcl that in the absence of evidence of 

 any alteration in the relation (jf tlie parties, that of inn keeper and 

 guest must be presumed to have continuetl ; and that the occasional 

 absences did not destroy the inn keeper's lien upon the liorses for 

 his l)ill. — Reports of Common Bencli, (Englisli), new series, Vol. 12, 

 638-G44. 



Lie-off. To make a waiting race by keeping some dis- 

 tance in the rear of the other horses. A jockey is said to " lie 

 out of his grotmd," when he pushes the lying-off tactics to 

 excess, and gets so far behind that he has little or no chance 

 of recovering the lost ground. 



Liig-lit-liarness Horse; Lig-lit-hariiess Kace. 



Terms applied to the trotter, and to a trotting meeting. 



"The only guide to the scientific breeding of the light harness per- 

 former, is the standard rules." 



Limited Heats. A race in which the heats shall not 



exceed a given number. 



No high-class, resolute, game horse should be forced to continue a 

 supreme effort for more than five heats; beyond that nxunber it 

 ceases to be manly and dignified sport. It is cruel to trot a horse 

 mile after mile every thirty minutes until from sheer exhaustion 

 the very best drop several seconds back from their first heats.— H. 

 D. McKinney, in Tiie Horseman. 



Line-trotter. A square trotting horse ; a horse, whose 

 hind and fore feet in trotting, are in the same line; undoubt- 

 edly the fastest trotter, and one which goes easiest to himself. 



The truest kind of action is what we may call line-trotting. The horse 

 does not sprawl to get his hind feet outside of his front ones. The 

 hind foot goes low, and the fore foot is lifted just high enough to 

 let the hind one go under, not outside of, the front one. — Training 

 the Trotting Horse, Charles Marvin. 



Lips. The lips of the horse are remarkably sensitive and 

 flexible, and can be extended in various directions. Any one 

 who has seen a horse take a small piece of sugar from a child's 

 hand will appreciate the delicacy and efficiency of these organs 

 as agencies of prehension. The lips should be clean and com- 

 paratively thin. A slack or drooping condition of the lower 

 lip indicates want of vigor ; and a long or large upper lip is a 

 very objectionable conformation, and usually, with the presence 

 of a thick tuft of hair on the upper lip, are indicative of coarse 

 breeding. 



Lipstrap. A small leather band that passes through a 

 loose ring in the curb-chain, and buckles to the lever of the bit 

 on each side. Its use is to prevent the horse from taking the 

 branch of the bit in his teeth and thus destroy the effect of 

 the curb. 



List. A dark stripe running along the spine of some 

 horses, and occasionally extending to the shoulders and legs. 

 It was a theory of Mr. Charles Darwin, the great naturalist, 

 that this stripe — which is found in the Cleveland Bay and the 



