302 HORSEMANSHIP. 



legs, and feet, and occasionally to turn his head 

 round, with all his limbs in action at one and the 

 same moment, and yet not disturb his horse's 

 action; and this in addition to great anxiety of 

 mind, lest he should upset his horse, and so lose 

 the race. The upshot is, if his horse answers the 

 opinion entertained of him, by cutting up his com- 

 petitors by severe " play," he wins his race, and 

 has the character of being a stout, honest horse. 



The Two-mile Race. Orders, " To icaitr In 

 this case the jockey goes off at a steady pace, with 

 a good hold of his horse's head, as near to the other 

 horses as he likes, but not attempting to go in 

 front. Thus he continues in his place to within a 

 certain distance from home, probably specified in 

 his orders, when he brings out his horse, as the 

 phrase is, challenges all the others at once, and 

 wins, if his horse be good enough. This is one of 

 the easiest tasks a jockey has to perform, and if he 

 is pleasantly mounted, he gets an agreeable ride. 

 We shall say little of races more than two miles, 

 for two reasons — First, because the same observa- 

 tions apply to them as do to those of two miles, 

 with proper allowance for the extra distance ; and, 

 secondly, because four-mile races are now very 

 nearly abolished. In the latter, the chief qualifi- 

 cation for a jockey is strength of constitution and 

 a firm seat, added to a very correct idea of pace, 

 for a four-mile race seldom comes to a very nice 

 point at the finish. 



The duty of a jockey is to win his race if he 

 can, and not to do more than win it. A neck is 



