82 Scats and Saddles. 



may be easily imitated, the cool judgment, energy, pa- 

 tience and promptitude that really constitute a good 

 race-rider are natural gifts. What interests us more 

 especially is, that this style of riding is in perfect accord- 

 ance with the principles we have been advocating : the 

 saddle is placed just over the fourteenth vertebra, it is 

 of such small dimensions that the rider can only sit on 

 one spot,* and under this, or very nearly so, the girths 

 are attached and the stirrups suspended ; nay, still far- 

 ther, a surcingle passing over the exact centre of the 

 saddle is generally employed. The length of the stir- 

 rups should, according to the best authorities, be such 

 as just to enable the jock to clear his saddle when he 

 stands in them, but never so long as to make him de- 

 fend on the reins in the least for his upright position; 

 therefore, when he does stand in the stirrups, he trans- 

 fers, through them, his weight to the centre of the sad- 

 dle, without, of course, disturbing the general equilib- 

 rium of his horse. When he wishes to bring the centre 

 of gravity more forward — which favors, as we have 

 shown, the propelling action of the hind legs — he does 

 this by bending his own body forward froTn the hips 

 upward., and throwing forward his head, his legs re- 

 maining straight down close to his horse ; and this bend 

 is altogether different from that of the rider who sits far 

 back in his saddle, with his knees drawn up to the 

 horse's shoulder. When it comes to the finish, the jock 

 sits down to " ride " his horse, just as a cavalry soldier 

 should^ the great difference being that the latter has but 

 one hand to ride with. Much of the success of starting 

 depends on the rider throwing his weight forward at 

 the proper moment, and not overdoing it, as good riders 

 well know. The bridle is a much greater difficulty with 

 the race-horse than the saddle, but this we must reserve 

 for the second part of our book. 



* Hibernicc, the racing saddle may be described as having only a 

 middle, and d — 1 an end at alL 



