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CHAPTER XX. 



KEEPING DOWN WEIGHT. 



Objects— Theory of " Wasting" — Permanently Keeping Down Weight — 

 " Wasting " for Race Riding. 



OBJECTS. 



The alternative of keeping down weight or giving up riding 

 is often presented to hunting men, as well as to jockeys. 

 In the latter case, the problem to be able to ride 8 st. 7 lb., 

 is frequently impossible of solution, even by incurring serious 

 danger to health. In the former, the effort, if judiciously 

 carried out, will in the vast majority of cases be highly 

 beneficial from a hygienic point of view ; for certainly not 

 one man in a hundred would weigh more than 14 st. when 

 in the pink of condition, and even at that weight one ought 

 to be able to see as much sport as an ordinary man would 

 require, supposing that one was well mounted. An undue 

 amount of fat in the rider is not only a burden to the horse 

 which carries him, but it also diminishes a man's riding 

 powers, and generally has a bad effect on his nerves. From 

 a hunting and ordinary riding point of view, I shall assume 

 that reduction of weight is not carried beyond a healthy 

 limit. With jockeys, it has often to be pushed as far as 

 human endurance will permit. In all cases, injudicious 

 methods of " wasting " are liable to produce severe constitu- 

 tional disturbance. In guarding against such an ill result, 

 it is useful to understand the principles which regulate 

 bodily supply and waste ; for on these two factors depends 



