ii8 RIDING 



bit headstall, and should be buckled beneath the bridoon head- 

 stall, low enough and tight enough to assist in preventing the 

 horse from opening his mouth too wide, but at the same time 

 not to interfere with his breathing. A martingale is often used 

 with good results for horses that are inclined to get their heads 

 up. It should be a running martingale, attached to the breast- 

 plate, having two rings, one at the end of each strap of the 

 martingale ; the bridoon reins are passed one through each ring, 

 and buckled to the bridoon in the usual way ; or if the reins 

 are sewn on to the bridoon, the buckle in the centre can be 

 undone and the rein passed through the rings in that way, and 

 used in the same manner as when riding on the snaffle with 

 running reins. 



Standing martingales, for riding purposes, are certainly 

 the most useless and dangerous thing that can be put on a 

 horse. They are attached to the breastplate also, but where 

 the rings are sewn on to the straps in the running martingale a 

 small buckle and strap, commonly called a billet, is sewn on 

 to the standing one, and these are buckled to the rings of 

 the bridoon ; the length is adjusted by another buckle on the 

 breastplate, low down, through which the end of the martingale 

 is passed and is let out, or taken up, as is considered neces- 

 sary. In some cases they have only one billet, which is 

 buckled to the noseband, but in either case there can be no 

 question of give and take in the matter, for the rider, having 

 once put it on and mounted, has no control over it it must be 

 a fixture. Supposing the horse stumbles badly, about the first 

 thing he does to try to recover himself is to throw his head up, 

 but if he has a standing martingale on as soon as he does this 

 he is checked sharply in the mouth at the very moment when 

 his head should be at liberty. The consequence is very likely 

 a pair of broken knees, whereas, if he had not been tied by the 

 martingale, he would in all probability have recovered after a 

 scramble. Then again, no sane man would attempt to ride a 

 horse over a fence of any size with such an obstruction on, 

 unless he had previously made up his mind to see what sort of 



