22 FACT AGxVINST FICTION. 



felt tliat there was no other work demanded of him 

 than keeping a foremost place, nothing could afford 

 a rider greater pleasm^e than sitting on the saddle 

 and simply guiding him to tlie best line, and 

 choosing the lightest going and the most prac- 

 ticable fences to keep him there. 



I had another horse, but I forget his name now, 

 who had no mouth when he was out of temper, but 

 temper made the orifice through which he ate his 

 food as obdurate to the touch as his manger or a 

 pillar of stone. He never attempted to bolt nor 

 run away, but if in working with the hounds you 

 offended him, he did not become hot nor wildly 

 eager, but for all that he over-pulled you, and was 

 very difficult to stop or turn. This imj^ossibility 

 of mouth I at last obviated by passing the curb 

 chain from his double rein through his mouth, 

 instead of under his chin, and with the bit so dealt 

 witli lie would not pull an ounce, and, what was 

 more, he did not so materially lose his temper. I 

 have tried this plan since on pulling horses, and it 

 never fails in its effect ; but what power a curb 

 chain so placed can possess, I am utterly at a loss 

 to discover, for it acts in no way with severity, 

 nor in any severe manner, and yet the hardest 



