24G HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 



order to enable the rider to conform to the movements of the 

 horse in the best possible manner. The body should be 

 slightly bent forward, free from all stiffness, and the position 

 such that the points of the shoulder, knee and toe should be in 

 the same vertical line, the whole attitude characterized by 

 grace and ease. But the jockey should always sit down at the 

 finish. 



Standing Jump. [Eq.] In a standing leap the horse 

 steadily raises himself on his hind feet, more or less perpendic- 

 ularly, according to the height and extent of the object to be 

 passed over. Having balanced himself a moment, he com- 

 mences his spring by very forcibly extending the previously 

 contracted angles of his hind limbs, which action propels the 

 body upward and forward, but more particularly to receive it 

 in its descent, during which change of position the hinder 

 limbs, which had been gathered up to keep them from inter- 

 fering with the obstacle passed over, are now let down to 

 receive the hind quarters. 



Standing Martingale. When the standing martin- 

 gale is attached to a properly fitted noseband, it restrains the 

 horse from getting his head too high, makes the action of 

 either snafile or carb-bit more effective, and checks the inclina- 

 tion of a fresh horse to bounce or bolt. It should be so fitted 

 as to hang loose until the moment that the horse attempts to 

 take any improper liberty, when the pressure of the noseband 

 over the sensitive junction of the bone and gristle wiU give 

 him a hint to be quiet. 



Staples. Metallic pieces somewhat similar in size and 

 shape to Ds, which are firmly fixed to the tree of a saddle. 



Star. A chief performer , a term applied to the champion 

 of the turf for the year ; as the saying of John Splan, " Guy was 

 the star* performer of the year." 



Star-gazer. A term used to denote a horse that holds 



or keeps his head highly elevated, with the nose thrown out, 



when in motion. 



A star-gazer with an ewe neck, or a borer that can only go with his 

 nose close to the ground, is totally unfit for military purposes.— 

 Seats and Saddles, Francis Dwyer. 



Starring. Campaigning. 



This starring system which has been so fashionable for a term of years 

 has, witlioiU donbt, been a source of great injury to the trotting 

 turf, not alone by making fast time the only attraction to draw 

 people to the course, but inaugurating the hi]ipodromiiig evil that 

 has done far more injury. The large purses advertised meant 

 only a division of the gate money; and people who had been 

 induced to visit the arena, expecting to see a true struggle for the 

 thousands of dollars said to be at stake, went away dissatisfied 

 when the transparency of the humbug was made apparent. — Horse 

 Portraiture, (1868), Joseph Cairn Simpson. 



