Steeplechase Riding 2 1 1 



ing the tips of his blue fingers to warm 

 them). 



Trainer. — "And mind you keep cool " 



Jockey (fairly roused). — " Garn and stuff 

 yourself! 'ow could I keep anything else a 

 day like this ! " 



I am rejoiced to see that the " powers that 

 be " have now come to allow a 9 st. 7 lbs. 

 minimum in steeplechasing. In a former 

 book, published some eight years ago, I wrote, 

 "... I think that at least 7 lbs. might be 

 taken off steeplechasing weights, making the 

 minimum 9 st. 7 lbs. You may own a re- 

 markably smart horse, which is put up in 

 the handicap scale so much, that, although 

 he mig-ht stand a fair chance of givins^ the 

 weight away to the rest, is yet not big and 

 powerful enough to carry 13 st. or 13 st. 7 lbs. 

 three or four miles across country, and then, 

 as in many cases, race up a hill with it to 

 the finish. In my opinion, nothing is gained 

 by putting these crushing weights on a horse, 

 and surely, if it be right for an animal ever 

 to carry them racing, then it would be for a 



