PELHAMS. 209 



varies at every touch of the rider's hands on the reins. 

 With a straight bar mouthpiece, it rests chiefly on the 

 tongue, and is then a very easy bit ; while with a port 

 and unjointed mouthpiece the Pelham will act as an 

 ordinary curb. The Hanoverian Pelham is a powerful 

 form of bit It has a jointed port attached to short 

 " cannons," on which are fixed rollers thai rest on the 

 bars of the horse's mouth. Many persons consider it 

 very effective with a puller, and that, for park hacking, 

 or for showing off a horse's paces, it is one of the best 

 bits in light hands. 



Pelhams have a marked tendency to make horses carry 

 their heads too low, by reason of the strong downward 

 pull they exert on the headstall of the bridle to which 

 they are attached. This appears to be owing to the 

 presence of the joint in the centre of the mouthpiece 

 and to the fact that the upper arms of their cheeks are 

 generally far too long. 



With some riders, this tendency may be partly due to 

 the habit they have of riding on both reins, which, with 

 the Pelham, on account of the action of the snaffle reins, 

 causes the mouthpiece to be drawn up towards the 

 corners of the mouth, and the curbchain to work up on 

 the branches of the lower jaw. The forward action of 



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