160 BITS AND BITTING. 



the buckle and pierced with five or six holes. The 

 martingal has the same contrivance, as nsual, of a 

 buckle for forming a loop through which to draw the 

 girths ; but the other end of the strap (inch wide), 

 instead of being split into two naiTow ones, each carry- 

 ing its own ring, is left of its full width, and carries 

 one ivory ring [of 1 J inch internal diameter and 2 J 

 external, leaving, therefore, f of an inch for the thick- 

 ness of the ivory. The usual length of the martingal 

 from the ring to the buckle is 3J to i feet, the latter 

 affording scope for adjustment ; and there is, of course, 

 a neck-strap for cariying the martingal, which is too 

 well known to need description. 



Let us now suppose the horse to be saddled and 

 bridled with a plain snaffle, the first step will be to 

 buckle the chin-strap into the rings of the mouthpiece, 

 the martingal having been previously put on in the 

 usual manner, and its length so adjusted that the large 

 ring it carries may just reach the level of the joints of 

 the shoulders. The next step will be to buckle one 

 end of the running-rein into a D ring attached for 

 that pui'pose to the pommel of the saddle on the near 

 side ; the other end of this rein is then earned forward 

 through the ring of the martingal (from rear to fi'ont), 

 from thence through the ring of the chin-strap from 

 left to right, and back again through the martingal 

 ring (from front to rear), from whence it goes to the 

 rider's right hand. It is evident that a pull on this 

 running-rein will act directly on the mouthpiece, draw- 

 ing it back and somewhat downwards towards the 

 horse's breast-bone ; the great value of the whole ar- 

 rangement being, that by taking the running-rein and 



