Sentence:  And when the Cup came on he stirred them up ′round the barrier and he flew out of the barrier and he pulled and <WSD>reefed</WSD> and pulled and <WSD>reefed</WSD> and Lewis didn′t let him settle down until about three furlongs from home and when he did settle the horse was all out of stride and he went back through the field a fair bit. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To pull or yank strongly, especially in relation to horse riding.