The Life of Fred Archer 215 
to see how I can steal a length or two by getting the rails, 
or anything of that sort, and then I generally manage to get 
well away. But what people say, and what I sometimes read 
in some of the papers about the starter favouring Archer, and 
his being off a couple of lengths to the good, is not true. In 
fact it's rubbish. 
" Of course, I don't mean to say that I don't do my best 
to get away when the flag falls, but it isn't the getting away 
first so much as how you get away — ^how you set your horse 
going. I mean, that makes aU the difference. You can't 
set a horse going at once if you have a tight hold of his head_ 
You often see a jockey at the post in a five-furlong race pulling 
at his horse, as nervous as he can be, watching the starter. The 
flag falls, and he lets go of the reins, ready to start off at his 
best pace. I've always got my horse ready to go, but not 
pulling at him, and then when we do start I'm off at full 
speed at once. If you watch you'll often see that some jockey 
was off a couple of lengths before me, but if his horse wasn't 
ready he doesn't keep his advantage." 
There is a lot of good advice in this that might be assimi- 
lated by some of the present-day jockeys. 
The interviewer suggested to Archer that he was not as 
severe on horses as he used to be. " You're quite right," he 
frankly replied. " It's a great mistake to knock a horse 
about, and I know that a few years back I was a severe rider. 
I've learnt better by experience. I rarely hit a horse more 
than twice in a finish now, and I rarely or never have rowels to 
my spurs. You can hurt a horse almost as much without, 
for the matter of that, if you want to, but it's bad pohcy to 
hurt them." 
What a world of difference it might have made if Archer 
had adhered to the views he expressed that day, when he 
said : "I shan't put myself out and ride quite so much. 
I've headed the Ust for eleven years, but I've got so many 
things to look after that I can often do more useful work at 
