On Starting — Riding Races — Jockeys. 27 



courage are the requisites of a jockey. Short races 

 are detrimental to young riders; it encourages 

 them to fight for the start, and to ride like 

 chimney-sweeps on donkeys. I have never seen 

 worse riding than amongst the young crack jockeys 

 this autumn. Three great races were thrown away 

 by a celebrated young jockey, because he could 

 not wait ; and he would flog his horse. These boys 

 forget to keep a reserve ; if you order them to 

 wait till the last moment, up they go 100 yards 

 from home, take the lead, and the patient jockey 

 hunts him down and wins by a head. Thousands 

 of races are won by a judicious pull, and hundreds 

 are lost by the abuse of whip and spur. 



" Parce puer stimulis, et fortius utere loris." 



These are the most ancient and the best orders 

 on record. In riding a long race on a horse of 

 superior speed, study the clever instinct of the 

 lurcher in running down a hare: he never dis- 

 tresses himself by over-exertion ; he always keeps 

 a pull in hand when the hare is about to turn, he 

 stays away to command the enemy ; his tact is to 

 drive him to the fence and pounce upon him at 

 the moment he dwells to clear the well-known gap. 

 Although in the open country, the dog feels his 

 advantage ; he will not rush in to kill, because he 



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