DRIVING ON FOOT. 179 



animals that jump about much when being 

 mouthed, and with horses that rear, the standing 

 martingale is of great service in preventing the 

 rein getting over the back, and in giving the 

 breaker command over these refractory subjects. 

 Besides this, I find that the presence of the 

 driving pad and rein-bearers is of great use in 

 allowing me to shift the rein up and down as 

 I like. 



The breaker should avoid driving the horse on 

 foot, straight in front of him, more than he can 

 help ; for, if he does so, he can hardly escape, at 

 times, from keeping a " dead pull " on the animal's 

 mouth. The objectionable practice of driving 

 " youngsters " on foot for miles along a road, as 

 may be seen in full operation at Newmarket and 

 other training resorts, is the fruitful cause of the 

 dead mouths and habit of boring possessed by 

 many race-horses. The young animal, to relieve 

 the bars of his mouth of the constant pressure 

 of the mouth-piece, naturally, gets his chin into 



N 2 



