HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP 117 



all more or less severe, and no doubt there are many horses 

 that have not been properly broken, or that have been badly 

 ridden after breaking, that require something out of the com- 

 mon to keep them under control, especially when excited. But 

 in most cases the easier the bit, and consequently the less pain 

 the horse has to endure from it, the more pleasantly he will go. 

 When a man once takes the idea into his head that a horse 

 wants something more severe than its ordinary double-rein 

 bridle to hold him, he may go on getting a bit a little higher in 

 the port, and then one higher still, from that to a Chifney, and 

 so on (there are plenty of them severe enough to hold a bullock 

 if main strength and the amount of pain caused to the animal 

 by their use or abuse would hold him), till he got to the severest 

 he could find ; and still the horse would pull. But put the 

 same horse back on to a common double bridle, with some one 

 on his back for a time possessed of patience and good hands, 

 and he will go more pleasantly than in any of the jaw-breaking 

 bits. Those bits which have moveable mouthpieces answer 

 very well for most horses ; they are not necessarily severe, and 

 as the mouthpiece moves up and down it encourages the horse 

 to play with it, and helps to keep his mouth fresh. When a young 

 horse is first bitted, however, it is best to use a bit that has a 

 fixed mouthpiece. 



Moveable mouthpieces, after being in wear some time, get 

 open at the joints, and, if not looked to, are apt to pinch the 

 horse's mouth. The objection to a Pelham is that it is often 

 desirable to use the bridoon only, and the mouthpiece for bit 

 and bridoon being one, this is less convenient than when they 

 are separate ; besides, the mouthpiece of the Pelham being 

 jointed in the centre like the snaffle, it has the effect (especially 

 after being worn for a time) when the bit reins are tightened 

 of squeezing the bars of the horse's mouth instead of bearing 

 fairly on them. 



A noseband is often used for horses that have not very 

 good mouths, and I think often with better effect than a severe 

 bit. When it is used, it should be on the cheek-pieces of the 



