RACE-RIDING. 308 



sufficient if he have the race in hand ; but he should 

 win by a clear length whenever he is in doubt as 

 to the state of the horses he is running against. 

 This is a nice point for a jockey to decide upon, 

 and one which is highly esteemed by his employers, 

 who are always anxious that the powers of their 

 horses should not be unnecessarily exposed. Per- 

 haps one of the finest specimens of science in this 

 peculiar department of the art of horsemanship, 

 was displayed by those celebrated Newmarket 

 jockies, Kobinson and Chifney, in a struggle for the 

 St. Leger stakes at Doncaster in 1827. 



All good jockeys avoid the use of the whip as 

 much as possible. When a race-horse is in the 

 fullest exercise of his powers, and doing his best, it 

 is unnecessary, for it cannot make him do more ; 

 but the blow of a whip often does harm, particularly 

 if it fall under the fiank. Instead of its having 

 the effect of making the horse extend himself over 

 a larger surface of ground, it may have quite a con- 

 trary effect, from his shutting himself up, as it 

 were, or shrinking, to avoid the blows. The spur, 

 properly used, is a much better instrument for in- 

 creasing the speed of a horse, although there are 

 times when the application of the whip, or the 

 mere act of flourishing it in tlie hand, is eminently 

 serviceable to the jockey. We mean when his 

 horse hangs to one side of the course or the other, or 

 towards other horses in the race, or exhibits symp- 

 toms of running out of the course, or bolting. A 

 jockey ought to be able to use his whip with vigour 

 when necessary, and (though this do not often 



