HAIN^DBOOK OF THE TURF. 293 



function than weight-bearing ; but Prof. Stillman says that in 

 both actions, that of weight bearer and also of propeller, the 

 fore leg does more than its share. M. Baucher, the eminent 

 French savant, is also authority for the statement that the 

 weight borne by the anterior and posterior extremities, as 

 determined by placing them upon different weighing machines, 

 was as 210 for the former to 174 for the latter, the total weight 

 of the horse being 850 pounds. 



Weig:ht-carrier ; Weig-lit-puUer. A term meaning, 

 generally, a horse capable of carrying more than the required 

 weight for his age or class, and yet maintaining the extreme of 

 his speed ; one pulling, in a race, a driver who is overweight ; 

 a horse that is handicapped, as, " Nelson was handicapped by 

 the tw"eiity pounds overweight of his owner, who drove him." 

 Mr. Marvin utters a self-evident truth when he says : " Other 

 things being equal, the horse that carries the least weight will 

 stay better, go faster and remain sounder than the weight-car- 

 riers." The weight-carrying power of the race horse depends 

 upon these particular points of conformation: 1. Length 

 and obliquity of shoulder blade; 2, strong loin muscles; 3, 

 good substance and fine quality of bone ; 4, pasterns not too 

 sloping ; 5, absence of undue weight of body beyond that which 

 would be necessary for the movements of the limbs, and for the 

 performance of the various vital functions. 



Weig-lit-cloths. Loaded saddle cloths used in racing. 

 They are fitted with pockets, and made to carry different 

 weights, with the amount of each marked on the inside, from 

 four to twenty-five pounds. It is said that Lord George Ben- 

 tinck, the great English turfman, had a large number of saddle 

 cloths exactly alike excepting in weight, by means of which 

 weights from four to sixty pounds could be carried. The sheet 

 lead forming the weights should be covered with wash leather ; 

 and the weight-cloths should be put on well forward, the leads 

 being equally distributed on each side. 



Weig-ht for Ag^e. The standard weight apportioned 

 to horses according to their ages ; a standard used only in races 

 where the different ages can start, special weights being fixed 

 for races in which only horses of the same age may start. 

 Weight is not only based upon age, but on the distance to be 

 run, and as the year passes away the horses grow older and the 

 weight is increased. Thus, as an example, a three-year-old 

 w^hich carries, at a half mile, 104 pounds in January, would be 

 weighted 106 in February; 107 in March; 109 in April; 110 

 in May; 111 in June; 113 in July; 115 in August; 116 in 

 September, and 117 in October, November and December. 



