BRITISH TURF. !)9:i 



The use, or rather the abuse of whip, is to be 

 avoided as much as possible, especially with a 

 timid, or a sulky horse ; for when a horse is doing 

 his best, blows of the whip w^ll often throw him 

 out of his stride, and wdth those of the latter de- 

 scription, may occasion the loss of the race, by 

 causing them to " shut up" as it is called, which 

 means shrink to avoid the blows to such a degree, 

 as materially to interfere with their pace. 



In most cases where punishment is required, 

 the spur, properly used, is to be preferred, and in 

 more than one instance we could name, the spur 

 has worked wonders with horses which were sup- 

 posed to have stood no chance in the race. 



The St. Leger of 1822 may be quoted in corro- 

 boration of this theory, and it shows that the 

 jockey should never despair of winning. Theo- 

 dore, the wanner, was trained by Mr. James Croft, 

 who tried him at Parlington a few days before the 

 race, with Violet, Corinthian, and a grey colt 

 belonging to the Duke of Leeds, which were in 

 the same stable, and which came in second, third 

 and fourth for the St. Leger. In this trial, Theo- 



rider is at all times to retain this firm hold of his horse's head. When 

 the rider finds that his horse is settled in his stride, and that he 

 begins, as a horse sometimes will, to reach with his head for a little 

 more Uberty of the rein, the rider should (to prevent the horse's 

 changing his legs or altering his stride) gently raise his hands oS" his 

 horse's withers, or quietly let them slide along that part, and give 

 him the necessary hberty without letting the reins quite loose." 



VOL. II. Q Q 



