152 BITS AND BITTING. 



to those already enumerated, which was, that when the 

 reins of the snaffle came to be shortened, the cheek- 

 pieces of the headstall bulged out to the right and left 

 up to the point at which they were held fast by the 

 noseband, and being stopped there, a certain proportion 

 of the pull on the reins was transferred from the mouth- 

 piece to the noseband, where it, of course, was wholly 

 inoperative; so that this latter, instead of promoting 

 the action of the former, actually interfered with it, 

 making the horse lean still more on the hand than 

 hitherto. 



It is as well to mention here that the method now 

 introduced of passing snaffles, used for draught-horses, 

 through rings at the lower end of the cheekpieces, in- 

 stead of buckling them on directly as heretofore, is 

 grounded on the same principle that of making the 

 action of the mouthpiece altogether independent of the 

 noseband. 



But these ring-snaffles do not, of course, prevent the 

 horse opening its mouth too wide, nor can the old- 

 fashioned noseband do this effectually either ; the train- 

 ing-halter does so most efficiently and in the simplest 

 manner. It consists of two cheek-straps whose upper 

 ends are made "fast in the buckles of the snaffle-head- 

 stall.* These cheek-straps support, by means of two 

 rings, a noseband composed of three pieces : 1. The 

 noseband proper; 2. A strap about 7 inches long, 

 sewed into the ring on the off side ; and, 3. A shorter 

 strap, 2 to 3 inches long, and terminated by a buckle, 

 which is sewed into the ring on the near side. The 

 cheek-straps are buckled into the headstall outside, so 



* It is, of course, necessary for this purpose that there should be 

 a buckle on each side. 



