|How to catch thong of whip.| A very good way to learn to catch the thong neatly round the stick is this: chalk a large pot-hook or S on the wall; stand opposite to this with the whip held in the proper position, the thong undone, and the point of the lash under the middle finger of the right hand, the forefinger rather pointed up the stick (fig. 27); then with the point of the whip quickly follow the line as traced on the wall, beginning from the bottom end, and moving it across from left to right; the top part of the S should be done by a back turn of the wrist, first upwards and then downwards, which will bring the fingers uppermost at the finish. Never let the point of the whip drop at the beginning of the S, and never hit at the thong, but on the contrary make it come up to the stick. If you find that the thong is caught rather too low down, it can be very easily sent up higher by catching it again as above, but with rather a shorter and more jerky motion, in fact describing a small S.
FIG. 28.—THONG CAUGHT UP BEFORE LOOP HAS BEEN TAKEN OFF.
This is done almost entirely by the wrist, with only a slight movement of the arm.
FIG. 29.—TAKING OFF LOOP.
|Taking out loop in lash.| Having caught the thong (fig. 28), the next thing to be done is to take out the loop which will be found in the middle of the stick, so that all the turns should be from right to left; otherwise it will very soon come undone. To do this, lower the stick so as to enable the left thumb to seize the loop (taking care not to move the left hand from its correct position while doing so); now move the whip hand out to the right front as far as possible, keeping the wrist well bent and holding the lash tight with the left thumb (fig. 29). This movement will take off the turns on the lower end of the stick. Now place the whip under the left thumb, and turn the spare end of the lash once or twice round the handle |End of lash round handle of whip.| (fig. 30). With the right hand retain the point of the lash securely under the inside of the right thumb, which will prevent the thong getting loose. If the point slips up, it can be pulled tight again by catching hold of it with the left thumb and forefinger, and drawing the right hand away.
|How to keep lash pliant.| The thong should be kept pliable by being rubbed with salad oil or mutton fat; otherwise it will be found difficult to keep it in its proper place when caught.
The following rules should be followed in hitting the horses:—
