2 ;8 RIDING VICIOUS HORSES. 



the reins only with the lower jaw. A standing martingale 

 attached to the rings of the snaffle will greatly add to the 

 power of the rider in all cases, except when the horse gets 

 his chin into his chest ; and even then, if the animal is 

 really taking charge of his rider, the standing martingale 

 enables the latter to turn the horse and thus slacken his 

 speed and get him under control. A Chifney bit (Fig. 53) 

 may also be tried. Blackwell's nose-net has been re- 

 commended. Its good effect as a rule soon wears off, and 

 its appearance is certainly very unsightly on a saddle horse. 



SHOULDERING 



Is a form of jibbing, in which the animal tries to press the 

 rider's legs against some convenient object. The rider should 

 pull the horse's head towards the wall, tree, or other rubbing 

 post, and should proceed in the manner just described for 

 combating jibbing. 



GETTING THE TONGUE OVER THE BIT 



Is a very troublesome trick ; because it generally lessens 

 the rider's power of control over his mount, and often 

 prompts the animal to pull. With a curb, the gridiron bit 

 (Fig. 54), is a perfect preventive against this vice. As 

 already stated, a horse is less liable to want to put his tongue 

 over a Langham-Reed port (Fig. 96), than over one which 

 has an ordinary port. 



The usual plan adopted, in order to stop a horse getting 

 his tongue over the mouth-piece, is to shorten the cheek-pieces 

 of the bridle so as to bring the bit higher up in the mouth. 

 Here, an unjointed snaffle would be more effective than a 

 jointed one. This preventive measure is often unsuccessful ; 

 and even when it answers its purpose, it has the serious 

 objection of interfering with the proper adjustment of the 



