12 THE MARTINGAL. 



which might as well have been hanging on the pegs in the 

 saddle room, for all the assistance it conld afford the 

 rider. Others I have seen so short, that the horse's head 

 has been fastened to his chest, so that if he goes close to 

 the ground, and is apt to stumble, the rider must pull his 

 head down, and by these means, force him to fall, instead of 

 assisting him to recover. 



If the horse is inclined to poke his nose out, as most 

 horses will, if they have a thick and narrow jole, and the 

 head badly put on, the rider should carry his inward hand 

 a little lower than the usual position, keeping the outward 

 hand in its proper position, for while the outward hand 

 raises the horse's head, the inward hand will cause him to 

 yield and bring his nose in. By paying daily attention to 

 this rule, the horse will soon be brought to carry his head 

 in the required position, at least, as far as the imperfection 

 of his form will allow him ; for we cannot undo what na- 

 ture has done, though we may remedy it to some extent, 

 without tying his head down with the martingal. 



Again, for a kicking horse, the martingal is very im- 

 proper, as it will prevent the rider from keeping his horse's 

 head up; and if his head is held down by the martingal, he 

 has every chance to kick, in spite of his rider. I have 

 known horses kick till they have thrown themselves off 

 their legs ; but since they cannot get both ends up at one 

 time, if the rider can keep his horse's head up, he can never 

 kick so as to be dangerous. For these reasons, I affirm, that 

 the martingal is useless to a good rider, and dangerous to 

 a bad one. 



I will here make bold to remark, that were the few rules 

 which will be found in these pages carefully observed and 

 practised in the training of horses, such articles as nose- 

 bands, martingals, and all restraints independent of the 

 hand, would be almost unknown. However, should my 

 reader be unfortunate enough to be obliged to have recourse 

 to them, I have explained how they ought to be applied. 



