i62 HORSEMANSHIP. 



buckles and billets are unsightly and needless, but I prefer 

 a buckle on each side of the throat-latch as doing away with 

 that long end so often seen dangling down. When riding 

 with the double bridle, the tyro is recommended, the horse 

 being light-mouthed, to tie the bit rein evenly in a knot, 

 dropping it on his neck. There is nothing "muffish" in 

 this, for some of the best and most experienced horsemen, 

 when riding high-couraged horses, ride only on the bridoon 

 or snaffle (the difference between the bridoon, and snaffle 

 is that the former has no cheek) the bit being handy to 

 take up if needed. Grooms are apt to run the ends of 

 the bridle head-stall too far through the loops, and so leave 

 an unsightly surplus of loose leather. Another mistake these 

 men are constantly making is to buckle the throat-lash, or 

 latch, too tight. Nothing looks worse unless it be to let it 

 hang loose below the lower bend of the jaw. It should be 

 just tight enough to prevent the bridle coming off over the 

 ears. Many a horse is maddened by the agony inflicted by 

 a too sharp and severe curb-chain. The reader's attention is 

 respectfully directed to the chapter on the Segundo system 

 of bitting. A runaway horse has been known to pull up of 

 his own accord on the curb parting. Where a horse has 

 a thin, fleshless, sharp-edged lower jaw, a leather strap, 

 buckskin for choice, which, pipe-clayed, looks clean and neat, 

 should be placed under the curb-chain, by which simple ad- 

 dition much pain is avoided without sacrifice of leverage 

 on the cheek of the curb and chain. 



The standing or head martingale, is an arrangement that 

 can only be used in hacking and driving, and is both safe 

 and serviceable in the case of an awkward brute that insists 

 on getting his head up and star-gazing. 



A great improvement on the running-rein martingale, isan 

 attachment to the stirrup bars of the saddle, invented last 



