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IMPROVEMENT IN STYLE OF RIDING. Charles Ballard Tells of Difference Between Old-Time and Present-Day Jockeys. That the standard of horsemanship displayed in racing lias been materially lowered by the so-called m.eikey seat of the modern jockey, but that present day style in riding, with other changes in racing, has worked a marked improvement in the tempt ra-ment of the thoroughbred race horse, is the interesting opinion of Charles Ballard, a well known professional rider, who .won many of the important stake races i n Canadian and American tracks fifteen or twenty years ;|..n. Pallard has just returned to New York front Cuba, where he attended the races at Havana, and before the war he saw and took part in the sport in many parts of Barope. In speaking of conditions today, as compared with those of his first years in the saddle, he said to a reporter of the New York Herald: "There is a big difference between the old-time Jockey and the jockey of today. The old-time jot key was taught to rate a horse. In other words, lie had to know a betse. Horses then were trained and raced that way. Put now they train and ran- for ■peed. Its all speed. They race from end to end. anrl the jockey hasnt much time to wait; he has to keep going. "The crouch seat, the starting gate and the almost complete elimination of the spur have done u great deal to improve the disposition of the modern race horse. "The old-time jockeys were fine horsemen, and, barring accidents, would rarely get beat on the best ■horse, but some of them were hard on their mounts. It was no uncommon sight to see a horse come back to the scales with big welts under his belly. The first thing a trainer did when a horse came hack to the stable in that condition was to use freely applications of salt and water. One can imagine how severe this treatment must have been for the horse. The crouch seat prevents a jockey from being able to punish his horse severely. Starting Gate Helped Improve Racing. "The starting gate, which met with so much opposition here and in England before it was adopted, has done wonders to improve racing. A delay of ten minutes now is unusual. In the old days half an hour at the post was not uncommon, anil I remember seeing the horses over an hour and a half at the post before the start for the American Derby was made at Chicago in 1S93. ••Tod Sloan had a great deal to do with discarding the spur. He never liked to use them, and if the owner or trainer insisted he would use rowels so dull they would not even scratch a horses sj,|es. Sloan was a finished jockey, and he could ride any kind of horse. He seemed to know a hone intuitively the moment he got on his back. His hands were as light as a cord, ami the way he used to jolly the mean-tempered horses into running their best was really wonderful. He had one great ad-vaataga over most of his rivals. He never had to waste to mike the weight. "What a pity the Jockey Club does not raise th" scale. There are so many bays who devoted their earlier life to riding and after a few years have to give it up on account of increasing weight, just when they are at their l est. ••The Kuropean scale is much better. Some of our jockeys that had outlived their usefulness here went abroad and did the best work of their lives where the heavier weights permitted them to ride. Among others. I think of Fred fatal, Tony Hamilton and Frank ONeill. Tatal was a sensation in Hungary. Hamilton was equally prominent in Russia and ONeill was the most sought after jockey in Barope before the war. yet these jockeys could hardly evel get a mount before they left this country. Continual wasting to make weight weakened them, as it docs many another good rider, in such condition that th. .v could not do justice to the horses they rode."
