PULLING. 445 



time speaking determinedly to him, and not in a 

 frightened tone. If the brute will not obey, we must 

 use severe measures, and in extreme cases, it is well 

 to "saw" the bit from one side to the other, in order 

 to hurt his mouth so much, that from very pain he 

 must perforce yield. I believe that many bad accidents 

 have occurred through riders becoming frightened 

 and refraining from the use of force in stopping a 

 hard puller, who is thus allowed to run away. I 

 think that if people could keep their heads clear and 

 not clutch on to the saddle and let the reins loose, 

 or maintain a dead hold of them, which is equally 

 ineffective, but husband their resources for determined 

 attacks, very few horses would succeed in bolting 

 with their riders. Of course a great deal depends 

 on the strength of the seat of the rider ; for we 

 must sit very tight and not let our mount feel us 

 wobbling about in the saddle. We should never 

 forget the power of the voice as a factor in horse 

 control, and our attempts to stop a pulling animal 

 should always be accompanied by a sternly ex- 

 pressed word of command. In my travels abroad, I 

 have ridden some extremely bad pullers which were 

 said to bolt with men ; but although I certainly 

 had trouble with such animals, none of them suc- 

 ceeded in running away with me and taking me 

 where they liked. My husband also has a similar 

 record in this respect, so I cannot help thinking that 

 when a rider is actually bolted with, he or she must 

 have got frightened and confused at a critical moment 



