4IO 



CHAPTER XVI II. 



STEEPLECHASING. 



Steeplechase riding — Grand National Steeplechase Course. 



STEEPLECHASE RIDING. 



Before riding a chase, the jockey should go round and care- 

 fully examine the course, if it is strange to him, in order to 

 find out the easiest and safest parts of the fences, which 

 knowledge may be most useful to him when his horse is tired ; 

 to mark where the " taking off" and " landing" is soundest ; 

 and to observe the nature of the ground, so that he may 

 know when to travel fast, where the " going " is good, or when 

 to take a pull at his horse, where it is heavy, or where, 

 as may occur over a natural line of country, he may make 

 a slight detour with advantage. 



He should, above all things, make up his mind to go 

 straight, and should never allow his horse the chance of even 

 trying to refuse. If he knows that his mount is incapable of 

 making a wilful mistake, he should merely regulate the pace, 

 and should, on no account, interfere with his fencing ; for 

 a pull at his mouth, or a touch of the whip or spurs, at a 

 critical moment, can only tend to make him shorten or lengthen 

 his stride, and, consequently, to blunder. If the horse be 

 dangerously impetuous, he should " drop his hands," speak 

 soothingly to him, and sit as still as possible. If he be liable 

 to chance his fences, and not jump big enough, the jockey 

 should take a good hold of his head, and should rouse him 



