SUMMERING & CONDITIONING OF HUNTERS 8o 



truth is that a horse which will not go in a double 

 bridle, light or heavy according to the amount of spoil- 

 ing his mouth has undergone, will not go comfortably 

 for long in any bridle the lorimer can fashion, and 

 is, therefore, no horse for a hunting stable. Many 

 hard pullers will go all right for a few days in some 

 new bit, and you fancy that you have at last 

 defeated them ; but it is generally only for a time. 

 As soon as they have become accustomed to the 

 new form of restraint they find out how to defeat it 

 and you, and pull as hard as ever. 



A form of bit which I have a great fancy for is 

 the ' Ben Morgan,' recommended by Major Fisher in 

 his excellent work ' Stable and Saddle Eoom.' 

 You can hardly call this a fancy bit. It is merely 

 a half moon turned the reverse way, and I have 

 found several horses and ponies which did not go 

 quite kindly in an ordinary bit and bridoon go 

 nicely in this, and there is nothing to irritate or 

 upset the lightest-mouthed horse. 



My advice is, do not ride a horse in a flying 

 country in a snaffle bridle. You will have falls if 

 you do. A number of horses come over from 

 Ireland which have never had anything but a 

 snaffle in their mouths before, but to my mind they 

 are not perfect hunters till they have been taught 

 not to fight against a light double bridle, and they 

 can all be taught this by a man with good hands 



