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1 , I i , i ■ i i : , , I I i RIDING EDUCATION IN RACING I — g sn Advice and Experience of a Famous Developer of Jockeys. 8 ■ Richard Wootton, Veteran and Successful Operator in Many Lands, Talks About Methods. There isnt a more experienced, wiser or more nuiissful developer of horses and jockeys than Rieharil Wootton. who has raced in England. Australia. New Zealand. South Africa and India, al. ways with success. He has been an eminent educator of riders. Among those which developed under Woottons eye. hand and methods were his s. u Fr;:nk Wootton. contemporary with Daniel Maher in English riding premiership a dozen or so years ago. Another young Wootton. Stanley, took on weight tco early and was stopped by it. j Frank Wcotton is still a line rider despite his weight. He is among the be-f crosscountry jock- eys of England. In South Africa the elder Wootton developed W. H. McLaebaa and took him to Australia, where he iR still I leader, and in Aus-tialia and New Zealand such expert jockeys as the two Codbys— Charles and Norman — Crockett and Courteney. Recently, in an interview with an attache of the Sydney Referee. Bichard Wootton reflected his method of rider making through a talk about joe keys and their education. What he said is well worth perusal and is reprinted below. It applies !• race riding in all lands and is full of wisdom and experience. "You must get your riding material wottng. make a friend of him as. far as possible: and give him opportunities. he makes a mistake when riding work, do not belittle him by calling him down before the other boys. I am not going to say I have never lost my temper, bat if ■ boy has not • carried out orders 1 have found it more effective lu say, aflCV the gallcp. Get off and lead the , horse home. Youre better on the ground." You are going to get a lot more out of a boy if you . tell him his errors eiiiietly. He will respect you more, as it saves him from the jeers of the other , youngster*. •education is not absolutely necessary, but intelligenee. truthfulness rind obedience are. 1 do not mind a boy having a bit Of devil in him. but. above all. he must be truthful to do wood for himself or his i-nioloyer. If is always important, that you sliouM know how a rider got away in a race, or what happen, d his mount in mining. If you know from your own observation that a boy is making cm uses, and. iu blaming others for what weie his own mistakes, is not sticking to the truth. y*ou lose faith in him. Dont | make excuses. is my advice. A b y loses mis value when lie begins to talk about what the others din | to him in the races. ENCOURAGEMENT. PLUCK. RESTRAINT. "Encourage the younger lads as much as possihlp. If they wi: . a race tell I iiem they did well, even if you do not think they have ridden as they should When tliey gel elder, and have had more experience, let them know of their mistakes after a win. The mere fact of winning does not mean thai lad has ridden well, even if he slo u!d think so. and that is the time to point out to him where lie might have done belter. "Pluck is essential. Xn pluck, no rider. is my idea. You must have healthy boys, too: as sickly ones are nervous, and cannot he expected to do much good. Eiders must have nerve. See as much •f your boys a peoalbU. and they must contiuuail.v ride work. Without that they caaM be fit, and I many race* have been lost through the rider not being ill as good condition as the horse. "Many promising youngsters are spoiled by I few wins. Their parents sometimes start to inter- , fere: dont want their boys to work too hard in the stable: and think they should have more holi ■ days. People slail to tell tliein how clever they are, and then, if they get a bettor for themseHes. , its awkward. When boys start tipping they are not nark good to ■ trainer. You have to dodge | them. One good thing is that if they make a few •n. stakes as to the chances of horses in your stable j their backers get tired. I have had some experiences that way. So far as boys stopping banes . on their employers is concerned, little of that goe-s ea. I dor.bt whether it happened 10 me more j than twice. "It benefits lads to put them wilh good jockeys | when ridng work. They lean something that way. Another thing I always impressed on my boys was, | when BOt riding in races to watch the good jockeys When I fir-t went to England I told Frank to | never take his eyes off Maher. The result was that what he learned in that fashion, added to his | own knowledge, greatly helped lfini. 1 believe in boys getling as much experience as possible. It ] does them good to go away to vide at meetings, provided they are under proper control. "I dont like an iexperieuccd boy to use either whip or spiles. Spurs are a curse. They are Used ! ioo much in Australia and America and, anyhow. hey are not necessary on free-going horses. That sort do their best without punishment. Another reason for my objection to spurs is that the positon of most boys in tile saddle inclines them to have them against the ribs of the horses all the time, and that cannot be good. 1 do not believe in putting spurs nn boys until they have had ■ lot of experience in riding races without them. "Nor do I believe In a whip — more races have been lost than won by it. If a whip must be used for educational purposes give the boy a very short one. with which he can only tap a horse on the shoulder. He should do a lot of riding before he is giveu one with which he can hit behind. "There is a great deal in educating a rider how J to handle a horse at the start. The fault with most of the boys lure is that when they line up at the hairier they held a hoises head as if in I | vise, and this hecks them when they jump off. Without letting the reins go so that a horse can ; twist round a rider should leave the head loose enough to enable the horse to reach off immediately it gets away. Many horses get inlo bad positions soon after the start of a race, owing to the way they an handled at the barrier, and the chances of winning naturally suffer. SOME RACE RIDING SIDE LIGHTS. "Teich boys to work in toward the rails, net out. and always look out for bealen horses. You can rarely pass | beaten horse on the inside, and when a boy s.i s one coming bach be should roll out from him. He should not check his mount, but with a horse traveling at top speed it lakes little to affect him. A slight roll of a riders body will take ■ bene eat, and that is the best way to avoid a beaten hoi se when it is dropping back. When a l.oy finds he cannot win be should give others •very ciiati •. It was tlis hat mad" my boy i rank popalar with the roaacer risTcra in England. If his mount was beaten be got out of the way .,: . ohers that might win. "In rMlafl a waiting nee ■ boy should always get ■ posh ion before he gets hold of his horse. Some Jecheye haee aa Me* that la order to ride a wait ins nee -ii is ahaeal aeceeaary to mU a barn up iimiiedi.i lelj after S barrier rise, and lliis oeea sionally causes it to he altogether too far back early la a raee. |a fWaefSjamc they are giving away ■ bug start arhea !.:•■ nee is racked, on ami it is always possible to coacede tee much. "All riders arill strike a inn of bad luck, and that causes them to gel anxious and depart from inelbods thai pi o ioii-ly brought them slim — On occasions in Kglami my s,m Frank was worried by failure;, tbea started to use the whip too freely, and otherwise ilianued his methods. I reminded him thai he wa~ tjettiag away firm the style of aoraesaanahip that at— gal bin into prominence, aad told bias be bad better g»i back to it. He did. and all cam. tight. The same holds good with oilier rideis The- are sure to be orilioized if they lose, bti: auxielv on their part will do them moie harm I baa Bead. To than my advice is lie patient." It they hae shown thty can ride their turn is sure to tome again. I have already told you Unit jockeys who tip are ameng my aversions. and, almost needless to say, the one BThe drinks is another."
