474 



THE MODERN SYSTEM 



if, as with holding the reins sufficiently short, 

 we have laid ninch stress on the fixedness 

 and grasp on horseback, we intended that 

 grasp, like the curb of the bridle, for occa- 

 sional use ; but by no means that the rider 

 should be a mere fixture, as though nailed to 

 the saddle. On the contrary, he should learn 

 to sit at his ease, pliable to the motions of his 

 Horse, and in full possession of that equipoise, 

 so much the boast of the schools. The cus- 

 tom of forcing a shying Horse up to the object 

 which causes it, with severity, seems an un- 

 reasonable way to make the Horse better, as 

 he may be apt to confound the punishment 

 he receives as connected with the object he 

 shies at. It is far better to go on with him, 

 hold firm in hand, to scold him, and suffer! 

 him to deviate as little as possible from thej 

 road. 



In speaking of bridles, we should observe , 

 that the curb alone, and with single rein, is an 

 unfair bridle for the Horse, and entirely de- 

 ceptions to the rider, since its first effect is to 

 torture, and ultimately to banien the Horse's 

 mouth, depriving it of that sensibility which 



is the basis of what we should call a good 

 mouth. The curb beside, is an awkward bit 

 wherewith to turn a Horse, it beins: onlv cal- 

 culated for pulling straight forward. In former 

 days the snaffle was deemed tiie severest bit, 

 no doubt from its having been made small 

 and sharp. Since then we have changed the 

 snaffle into a mild bit ; not but that tlie folly 

 yet remains with ingenious bit-makers and 

 inconsiderate Horsemen, of using hard and 

 sharp snaffles. Young Horses should be first 

 put to work with mild bits, and chiefly ac- 

 customed to the snaffle, which will ensure a 

 good mouth, sufficiently hard for fair pulling, 

 yet with a due share of sensibility and lia- 

 bility to be affected and acted on by the 

 occasional use of the curb. The snaffle bit 

 should be of considerable thickness, particu- 

 larly at the ends next to the reins, and net 

 made so long that the joint would work into the 

 bars of the Horse's mouth. Many riders prefer 

 a ffood snaffle bridle Horse to any other : still 

 we think there is an additional convenience in 

 the double-reined bridlj, 'a case of a rein 

 brcakino- 



