74 HORSES 



martingale prevents the horse from throwing up 

 his head, and thus the bit falls into the right 

 position. You must, however, remember that 

 throwing up the head is the only method the 

 animal has of protesting against the unmerited 

 pain which his rider inflicts. 



No boy or man who is not an accomplished rider 

 should ever be allowed either a martingale or curb. 

 The former is an instrument of considerable use in 

 controlling a young horse in the hands of a good 

 horseman, but I would never advise a beginner to 

 risk anything that is not perfectly trained. 



When I began to ride regularly the first bit of 

 horseflesh I owned was a game little mare with 

 an extraordinarily light m^outh, and fortunately for 

 me her late owner advised that she should never 

 have anything except a plain snaffle. In those 

 days I had confidence in the strength of my muscle, 

 and did not appreciate the importance of delicate 

 handling. The consequence of this was, if I 

 wanted to stop I took a dead pull at the reins, when 

 up the mare's head would go, with her ears in my 

 face, and the bit in the corners of her mouth. In 

 that position I could pull until I was tired out, but 

 it never inconvenienced the mare or arrested her 

 onward progress. Gradually it dawned upon me 

 that physical force was of no avail, and I got into 

 the habit of treating her mouth as a thing to be 

 touched very tenderly. 



You will understand that if I had tied her down 

 with a martingale she could never have taught me 



