406 THE HORSE 



excellent trial-riders, and when this is the case their services 

 are very valuable. 



It is seldom sufficient to have only two horses in a trial, 

 as then the pace is often not good. There should always be 

 a pace-maker, and it is better to have two when possible. 

 With four or five horses running in the trial a true pace 

 should be ensured. 



The introduction of the starting-gate has done much to 

 equalise the chances of each horse at the start, though much 

 still remains possible to be gained by the skill of the rider. 

 Unless a horse is "on his toes " the moment the barrier 

 is raised much extra exertion is needed to start into motion, 

 for it is an axiom of motor mechanics that it requires double 

 the force to move a mass from a state of rest, than to propel 

 it when in motion. Formerly there were various little 

 dodges to gain an advantage at the start, and my mentor, the 

 late Sam Adams, so well known in connection with the 

 tampering of the scales after he had won the Cambridge- 

 shire, on Catch-'em- Alive in 1863, and who also rode Lozenge 

 in the dead-heat with Wolsey for the same race in 1867, 

 and was on his back again in the run-off, when he won, 

 took infinite pains with my education in that respect, 

 the fruits of which were afterwards reaped in many a race. 

 Archer was wonderfully good in this respect, and having 

 gained the start, which he almost invariably did, allowed his 

 horse to stride out for the first two or three hundred yards, 

 before he drew it back to a steadier pace. In his day there 

 was none of that loitering in the earlier stages of a race 

 which became so prominent a feature just prior to the 

 advent of Tod Sloan. Nowadays time is lost in the efforts 

 of the riders to maintain their balance at the start, and too 

 often a grotesque exhibition is seen. 



After getting off well, and settled into a place, the jockey 

 must keep every faculty at its fullest stretch, to take advan- 

 tage of every phase of the race, if he is not tied down with 

 special orders. Very often there are only one or two 

 animals he fears, and if he sees one of these in a momentary 

 difficulty he should instantly force the pace, to take the 

 fullest advantage of the mishap to the other. It may be a 



