210 THE HORSE 



cannot raise its head higher than the fore-leg will permit, 

 and is obliged to move in a circle, owing to the curve in 

 which it is bound. It may therefore safely be left where it 

 is for hours if need be, as the writer frequently has done 

 in the middle of the great bustard plains of Spain. 



How TO Knot Eeins. 



It is very important to know how to make a knot in reins 

 so that they will not become untied, and there is only one 

 knot which can be depended upon to stand any amount of 

 friction. When the right length has been arrived at two 

 turns of the reins must be taken around two fingers, and 

 then the end of the reins passed through the double loop 

 and drawn as tight as possible the buckle end being 

 toward the rider. Nothing can disturb this knot if well 

 made, and this is the right way to knot the reins when 

 riding a very hard puller in a race. 



Side-lines. 



By the help of side-lines twelve to fifteen horses can be 

 travelled by one man, thus saving labour and expense, and 

 formerly, before the days of railways, it was the invariable 

 method of taking dealers' lots from one fair to another. 

 It might have been of much use during the Boer War — but 

 the War Oftice officials knew not what side-lines were, and 

 did not care to learn. Every cavalry soldier should be 

 taught the method, for the amount of men required to 

 exercise or move horses on a campaign can be reduced 

 to a minimum. 



Side-lines consist of hempen loops, made for the purpose, 

 with long ropes attached to them. A loop is passed over the 

 neck of a horse, resting upon its shoulders, while the rope 

 is fastened to the plaited tail in the manner already de- 

 scribed, the length being first adjusted so as to allow for a 

 certain amount of play from the loop round the neck ; and 

 enough laps are then made round the tail to use up the rest 

 of the rope. The halter of each horse is fastened near the 

 middle of the side-line of the horse in front of it, so that its 



