FINDING OUT THINGS 



Penny started laughing at the figure I cut, and I 

 laughed louder than he, but I couldn't help noticing 

 that, when I was doing that neck crouch, the horse's 

 stride seemed to be freer, and that it was easier for me 

 too. Before that I had seen a jockey, named Harry 

 Griffin, riding with short stirrups and leaning over on 

 the horse. As he was the best jockey of the day I 

 put two and two together and thought there must be 

 something in it, and I began to think it out, trying all 

 sorts of experiments on horses at home. The " crouch 

 seat," the "monkey mount," or the thousand and 

 one other ways it has been described, was the result. 

 Then the time came when I determined to put it into 

 practice. But I couldn't screw up enough courage the 

 first time I had a chance. I kept putting it off. At 

 last, though, I did really spring it on them. Every- 

 body laughed. They thought I had turned comedian. 

 But I was too cocksure to be discouraged. I was 

 certain that I was on the right track. I persevered, 

 and at last / began to win races ! 



In the whole of my experience I have found that 

 a boy with a nervous temperament makes the best 

 jockey. He is quick and alert to take in a situation, 

 and he becomes a human ferret, finding out things for 

 himself. The Tod Sloan of that day was a bundle of 

 nerves, and he discovered new things every day. I 

 will give you an instance. It was at the Ingleside track 

 at San Francisco that I learned that a horse runs 

 better when " pocketed." Of course it is rough on 

 the nerves of a rider, but the horse breathes in a space 

 where the air doesn't come to him in a rush, and all a 

 rider has to do is to watch his chance and slip through 

 when he thinks the time has come for the effort. He 

 will find his mount fresher and quicker to put it all in. 

 Another thing which I learned about the same time 



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