308 FAULTS OF MOUTH. 



of the tushes), so that the curb chain will have no tendency 

 to work up out of the chin-groove. I am no believer in 

 the saying, with reference to various kinds of bits, that 

 there is a key to every horse's mouth. Experience tells 

 me that the great cause of pulling lies in the brain, upon 

 which, rather than on the jaw, an impression has to be made 

 in order to correct the vice. Besides, we must remember 

 that in hunting and other forms of 'cross-country riding, it 

 is not enough to be able to control a horse's speed ; but we 

 must also use a bit which he will " face." 



THROWING UP THE HEAD AND STAR-GAZING 



are difficult habits to correct. By working the horse in 

 the manner described in the preceding paragraph, and 

 by riding him in a properly adjusted standing martingale 

 (see page 87), I have always succeeded in making the most 

 inveterate practiser of these tricks bend his neck to the 

 rein as long as I used this martingale, against which the 

 animal invariably ceased to bear after a time. But in 

 some instances, even after being for months under the 

 influence of the standing martingale, I found that if I re- 

 moved this appliance, the animal, on quickly becoming 

 aware of its absence, would resume his old game of throwing 

 up his head on slight provocation. The object, as I have 

 already explained, of the standing martingale is to teach 

 the horse to abstain from carrying his head too high, by 

 learning that if he does so, he will save the bars of his mouth 

 from the painful pressure of the bit. 



Mr. Kemp, A.V.D., tells me that horses may be broken 

 of this objectionable habit by using a noseband, inside 

 the front part of which three or four cowrie shells (small 

 marbles would have the same effect) are sewn ; the 

 noseband being kept in position by a standing martingale, 



