86 



The trainer, as well as the boy, should use judgment. The 

 pace must be graduated so as to fit the conditions of the 

 horse and rider. The fight to " come through the nearest 

 way " is what loses many a rider a race that he tries honestly 

 to win. 



The jockey should be taught that every inch of an angle 

 he makes in coming home must tax the strength of the horse 

 and lessen his chances at the finish. That strength would 

 be left in him and proper judgment been used, and he would 

 have had it with which to finish at the wire. 



In entering the head of the stretch the jockey should be 

 taught to avoid making an angle, and should take a bee line 

 for the wire. Every foot of ground at this point tells on 

 him, for this angle makes him run more than sixty feet more 

 than he should. When trailing behind two horses that are 

 running abreast the jockey should wait until the horses split 

 at the turn, which they are sure to do, and then come 

 through between them and save the turn. 



If there is any fear in a boy's composition, he has no 

 business on a horse. Still, there are are lots of timid boys 

 who become good riders, after having overcome that fear 

 of a horse that they first entertained. Courage and confi- 

 dence are the prime requisites, and the whole effort of the 

 trainer must be to instill these two properties into the lad 

 who aspires to become a jockey. 



A timid boy thrown from a vicious horse would stand a 

 much greater chance of being hurt than one who had all his 

 wits about him and was watching for a soft place in which 

 to fall. 



When placed in the saddle by a trainer a boy should be 

 first taught how to hold the reins. Then he should be 

 informed of the method by which he may cling with his 

 knees to the sides of the horse. 



In the event the horse is a plunger and one that is apt 

 to rear and endeavor to shake him off, the boy must be 

 taught to keep the head of the animal up. This is a very 

 essential point, for in case it is not remembered distinctly 

 the boy is liable at any time to let the horse get the mastery 

 and run away with him. This may result disastrously to 

 both the boy and the animal. Therefore, a trainer can not 

 be too careful in this respect. 



