374 RACE RIDING. 



The knees should be very little bent, in fact only sufficient to 

 give their joints some " play." The heels should be a trifle 

 depressed, and the feet should be kept parallel to the sides of 

 the horse, and should be placed well " home " in the stirrups. 

 The legs and feet should be kept perfectly steady. The head 

 should be held well up, the eyes looking straight between the 

 horse's ears, the shoulders down, and not rounded, and the 

 hands on each side of the withers, with a good steady hold on 

 the reins, so that the horse may go well up to his bridle. The 

 fingers, wrists, elbows and shoulders should be kept as loose 

 and pliable as possible. As Tom Cannon kindly pointed out to 

 me, the position should be such that the points of the shoulder, 

 knee and toe should be very nearly in the same vertical line, 

 and the whole attitude should be characterised by grace and 

 ease. The balance of the body should be preserved by the 

 grip of the legs, a light pressure of the feet on the stirrups, 

 and the hold the rider has on the reins, while the knee-joints 

 act as a spring to " give and take " to the motion of the horse, 

 so that the weight may be carried smoothly forward at each 

 stride, and that there may not be the slightest jolting, or up- 

 and-down movement. By riding in this manner, the horse's 

 muscles which are used in galloping, will act to the greatest 

 advantage. The balance should be true and well maintained, 

 so that in the event of a stumble, swerve, or any unexpected 

 movement, the horseman may be ready to throw his shoulders 

 back, grip the saddle with his knees, and " catch the horse by 

 the head " in a moment. 



I am well aware that many good English and Australian 

 jockeys do not ride exactly as I have described ; for instance, 

 several turn their toes out and depress them. We should, 

 however, remember that if a man who has a bad style rides 

 well, he does so, either in spite of his faulty method, or would 

 ride all the better were it improved, or because some physical 

 peculiarity necessitates his adopting a style of his own. 



