Hurdle race

“ A hurdle race is a constant drive from start to finish.
The hurdles should be cleared by as narrow a margin as possible. From the standpoint of speed it is better to strike the top bar lightly rather than to clear it by several inches, for this margin makes a loss of time. The athlete shown in the illustrations is E. H. Cady, and these photographs give a very good idea of the position a man should train himself to assume when clearing the sticks. The eighth illustration gives a very good idea of the distance of the landing-spot from the hurdle, as shown also in the diagram. ”

“ It has been remarked that steeplechase horses are usually in the first place schooled over hurdles, and many animals remain hurdle racers till the end. More speed is required for hurdles than for a steeplechase course, and there is more money to be won over hurdles than over “a country.” No hurdle race is worth so much as the Grand National or the Lancashire Handicap Steeplechase, the two richest prizes now offered; but, with the exception of these, hurdle-race stakes are as a rule of greater value. ”

“ The usual hurdle race is over 120 yards, with ten flights of hurdles 10 yards apart, so that a distance of 15 yards separates the start from the first flight, and the same distance the last flight from the finish. The hurdles are 31⁄2 feet high, with perfectly-level top rails. In correct 'hurdling' the 'three-stride method' is essential, that is to say, three strides are taken on the flat between the hurdles, and the athlete rises 6 feet from the obstacle, taking it in his stride, so that retardation of speed is reduced to a minimum. ”

“ We can’t expect to win every event, but we’ve just got to get five out of the eight to clinch the championship. We’ve already lost the hurdle race, but if we get the mile run, the broad jump, the pole vault, a hammer throw and one other we can win, for they count the most. ”

“ But there was work for him to do in the hurdle race. The best amateur runners in Canada were to be with him in this race, and there is a field for choice among Canadian bank athletes. They were to start from a distant part of the grounds, run around the great oval, and finish close to our carriage, where eager faces were hopeful for his success. Geoffrey made a bad start—not having recovered after being once called back. The first hurdle saw him over last, but between the jumps his speed soon put him in the ruck. There is no race like the hurdle race for excitement. ”

“ Taking the hurdles is the main thing. There’s really only two running steps between, if you throw out the short step. And what a fast runner makes in those two steps, he’ll more than lose on the hurdles, if he doesn’t do ’em right. Three feet lost on a hurdle is thirty feet on the race, a good second and a fifth. No one wins a race by that much. The work that’s cut out for you is to get your jump so near perfect that you don’t lose anything in going over. Then just steady, hard running will put you ahead of the fellow who hasn’t your staying power. ”

“ The races were well contested; the flat race being won by the Lieutenant, who "beat his opponent by three feet," which seems rather unfair, as no man ought to be allowed more than two feet to compete in a running match. In the hurdle race the Lieutenant commenced well against the Captain, but was unable to run him through—having unfortunately slipped in taking the fifth hurdle. ”

“ In my time, I’ve ridden steeple-chases, hurdle-races, and every species of race that the divil ever invented, but a faster thing than that morning’s ride I never saw nor heard of. The horses were well matched as to speed, mine was rather the freshest, but then the Carlist was the lighter weight ”

“ Here we have £1,000 given for a race for five-year-olds and over, the primary condition of which is that no runner shall have previously won a steeplechase or hurdle-race, or a flat race of any description; point-to-point races not counting as steeplechases. ”

“ Artificial steeplechase courses are often made on athletic grounds ; but the leaps are generally far too sensational, and constructed rather to afford merriment to the spec tators than a fair test of the competitors leaping powers. A prettier sight than a well-contested hurdle race can scarcely be imagined ; but few first class hurdle racers are met with outside the universities and public schools. ”

“ Between each pair of hurdles lies a distance of ten yards; each barrier is three feet and six inches high. The runner must clear the barrier in such a way as to interrupt his advance as little as possible, by rising neither too high 239 nor too low, by taking his jump neither too long nor too short, by landing in the right position, by adjusting his inter-hurdle strides to the distance and to his own powers. It has been known since the race was first practised that the average man must take three strides between hurdles ”

“ Comparatively few races are, however, run under these rules, as the weather conditions render it impossible to have a separate season for cross-country sport and steeplechases, and hurdle races are incorporated in programmes of flat racing held through the spring, summer and autumn, though the ground is frequently so hard as to be unsafe. ”

“ Each player is timed and his record kept on a piece of paper. If a player drops anything he must carry it back to the starting point and make another trip with it. The next player begins at the table to which the first one took the baggage and carries it, in the same way, back to the first table. So it goes on until everyone has played expressman. The player who succeeds in transferring the baggage in the shortest time is, of course, the winner.
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A Hurdle Race
The next time you are kept indoors by the weather, you and a brother or sister may enjoy a hurdle race. ”

“ This sometimes necessitates slowing up before each hurdle, which is bad; and consequently it is more advisable to train for eight strides, in that case jumping from alternate feet. This makes the race more complicated, and is a form that should be avoided, although there are many men who are compelled to adopt it. ”

“ It is rare fun, scrambling through hedges, tearing across ploughed fields, leaping wide ditches and brooks, and seeing fellows tumbling in head over heels. Then we have running races in the play-fields, of about a hundred yards, which is enough considering the pace at which fellows go. Better fun still are our hurdle races; and a fellow must leap well to run in them. ”

“ Last year hurdle racing chiefly occupied his attention. After a dead heat with Mr. Godfrey Shaw for the Northern Counties Championship he was beaten by that redoubtable performer in the run-off. Strictly attending to training he won the race which now gives him his title of Amateur Champion of England at 120 yards of hurdles, although, through the neglect of the authorities in not properly marking out each man's course, a misunderstanding arose which led to an order to run off again, when Mr. ”

“ Wally swung into the saddle with a quick movement, and turned him, not towards the gate, but in the opposite direction, which further puzzled Shannon. But he was a stock horse first and a hurdle racer as an afterthought; and a good stock horse knows his rider's mind, if that rider is a good man. He made one tentative movement towards his paddock mates, now moving away towards the gate ”

“ But hurdle-racing is poor sport, neither jumping nor racing.
When the horse will leap the hurdle willingly and perfectly, it should be taken into the fields and put over fences, ditches, and streams. Most horses are at first timid in facing water, but with a little care a horse may be made to attempt any obstacle that is offered. In riding at broad water or at any wide jump, the rider should sit down in his saddle and send the horse forward in a good pace so that the momentum will carry the mass over. ”

“ The pupil should put her horse into a steady canter, going to the left round the school; and for this purpose the hurdle or bar should for the time be removed, so as to enable the lady to get her horse into a good free stride. When the instructor sees that she has her horse in proper form, the hurdle should be put up again and well sloped, because, even so, the horse will jump considerably higher in all probability than the rider expects. ”

“ But the athlete must restrain this inclination and force himself to take a short step, even if he has to work over it for months, or he will never be able to acquire skill or speed as a hurdler. That first short step after clearing the hurdle gives the runner his impetus, and the other two steps easily follow. The third step is shorter than the second in order that the runner may gather himself slightly for the spring over the next hurdle. ”

“ On the third day practise the start two or three times, and try clearing one hurdle about three times. On the fourth day do the same thing. On the fifth day place two hurdles on the track at their proper distances, and negotiate them two or three times. On the sixth day repeat this performance with three hurdles. After this first week of out-door practice, whenever the hurdles are being jumped, the athlete should rush at them with his utmost speed from the proper distances, so as to become accustomed to them. ”

“ The hurdles of the long course are 20 yards apart, but on the short course the first hurdle stands 15 yards from the start, the next eight are ten yards apart, but the tenth is 15 yards away. Hurdling demands judgment and skill as well as strength and speed. ”

“ The design in giving the early lessons in jumping over the narrow hurdle is to habituate the horse to take what is offered it without running out, for when it has been disciplined to leap an obstacle that could readily be avoided, it will not look for means of escape when brought to [146] face other objects. My horses will cross over doubles, in and out, the reins hanging upon their necks, and the obstacles no more than two feet in width. In fine, a well-trained horse will jump anything within its powers without urging and in the safest manner. ”

“ When the pupils have gone through these motions intelligently, the teacher will take his place in front and to the right of the hurdle, facing the wall. The hurdle should always be placed in the middle of one of the long sides; and ladies prefer to jump on the left hand, in order to avoid touching the wall with their legs if the horse should go too near it. ”

“ A squad of the boldest riders are jumping, six in line. One can see by the way they come that every man will go over: first the small ditch, hardly a check in the pace; then a rush at the hurdle embankment, the horses' heads very grand and Greek as they rear in a broken line to take it. Their faces are as strong and wild as the faces of the men. Their flanks are slippery with sweat. They clear the hurdles, and stretch out for the wide ditch. ”

“ Hurdle [125] racing on skates is a difficult accomplishment, even when low hurdles are used, and success depends not alone on speed. The contestant who has not undergone the hardest practice over the bars and learned to take them in much the same manner as does the hurdler who is running on cinders, might as well save his breath, and possibly a hard fall. Of the four contestants entered Don was acknowledged the best, since his long training at track hurdling enabled him to perform on ice in beautiful style. ”

“ Their powers of endurance are indeed, almost incredible: when trained for a chappow, or plundering expedition, they will carry their rider and provisions for seven or eight days together, at the rate of twenty or even thirty fursungs—that is, from eighty to one hundred miles—a day. Their mode of training is more like that of our pugilistic and pedestrian performers, than that adopted for race-horses. When any expedition of great length, and requiring the exertion of much speed, is in contemplation, they commence by running their horses every day for many miles together ”

“ Horse-racing has so long figured in the eyes of the unlearned in turf matters as a "pastime," that the idea of there being any "business" to transact in connection with it has often drawn from persons, who know no better, an expression of surprise; but before any race meeting can be advertised, or any race be run, much work of a thorough kind has to be got through, the whole machinery of racing has, in fact, to be evoked. ”

“ The skill and accuracy of an accomplished hurdler is remarkable, and the race is frequently run inside 16 seconds; a record of 15 seconds, and even a trifle less, has been accomplished.
In this country, running long jump and high jump (and to a less extent the pole jump) alone are practised to any extent, although as occasional events the standing high and long jumps are contested, and, still less frequently, the old-fashioned hop, step, and jump. ”

“ Those who could not sprint, leap the bars, throw hammer or discus, or do any other of the ordinary stunts, might, at least, have some chance of winning a prize in the climbing of the greased pole, the catching of the greased pig, the running of the obstacle race, or testing their ability to hop in the three-legged race, where each couple of boys would have a right and left leg bound together, and then attempt to cross a given line ahead of all like competitors. ”

“ There is always a hurdle six feet long and four and a half in depth, swung by a chain at either end from an oak laid across the channel. And the use of this hurdle is to keep our kine at milking time from straying away there drinking (for in truth they are very dainty) and to fence strange cattle, or Farmer Snowe's horses, from coming along the bed of the brook unknown, to steal our substance. But now this hurdle, which hung in the summer a foot above the trickle, would have been dipped more than two feet deep but for the power against it. ”