260 EACECOUESE AND COVEET SIDE. 



and, what's worse, lie won't drink ; and so tie 

 goes off when he's never had a fair chance of 

 coming on." 



'* And two or three false starts — not to say 

 half a dozen or more — don't quiet his nerves ? " 

 I suggest. 



*' No, indeed they don't," the famous jockey 

 rejoins. " As I sit on my light saddle I can feel 

 their hearts against my legs, beat ! beat ! beat ! 

 bump ! bump ! bump ! Then if a careless or 

 clumsy boy is on them they get a bad start after 

 all, and out comes that blessed whip, and so 

 they go whipping and bumping all over the 

 course. Spurs, too, hard at it, though they 

 don't often touch the horse where they want to ; 

 and so they never give the poor thing fair play. 

 "Why, I make bold to say that if you examine a 

 hundred horses that I have ridden in races you 

 won't find a sign of a spur on three of them. 

 You see the whole secret of the matter is this — 

 races are not won entirely at the post. You've 

 got to think of winning all the way from the 

 start. You must nurse him on his journey ; and 

 if you want to nurse a horse to get him home, 

 don't use your whip. He must jump into his 

 bridle, of course, and keep there, but you don't 

 want your heels rammed back into his flanks and 

 your hands up with a short rein punishing his 



