THROWING UP THE HEAD. 439 



there is nothing hurting the animal's mouth, he should 

 be ridden by a groom in a standing martingale, at a 

 length which will prevent him from getting his head 

 too high. I like the Irish plan of buckling the standing 

 martingale to the rings of the snaffle, better than that 

 of attaching it to the noseband, because it teaches the 

 animal to "give" to the bridle, and not to lean per- 

 sistently on the noseband. The noseband method is 

 generally adopted by polo players. The precaution of 

 seeing how the horse behaves when he finds that he 

 can no longer indulge in his favourite vice, should 

 always be taken before he is ridden by a lady ; because 

 at first the checking influence of the standing martin- 

 gale is sometimes resented by efforts to rear and plunge 

 badly. If the use of the long reins is understood, it is 

 better to have the horse circled and turned with them, 

 but very few people are capable of using them in an 

 efficient manner. When the animal finds himself 

 unable to successfully resist this fixed defence and 

 prefers to carry his head quietly, rather than to hurt his 

 mouth by violently throwing his head up, he may be 

 safely ridden by a lady in this martingale, and she will 

 then be able to control him. Very few horses will fight 

 against the martingale for any length of time, and as 

 this most useful article of gear is considered to be 

 indispensable to polo players for controlling their 

 animals, its value to ladies who cannot, by reason of 

 their perched-up position in a side-saddle, lower their 

 hands like men, is inestimable. 



