RIDING TO HOUNDS 229 



simple bit, though horses are occasionally to be 

 found which will only go pleasantly in one 

 particular bit, and are difficult to control with 

 any other. Many horses have a trick of getting 

 their tongues over the bit, which in most cases 

 is due to carelessness in allowing the bit to 

 hang down too low when they were first bitted ; 

 and when they do this a rider possesses very 

 little control over them. Such horses, if deter- 

 mined goers, are almost unrideable unless some 

 means are adopted of preventing them from 

 putting this habit into practice. A horse should 

 always be ridden in the easiest bit in which he 

 can be controlled, and the amount of falls that 

 are caused by bits being too severe is incalculable. 

 They not only cause a horse to jump short, and 

 drop his hind-legs into the ditch on the far side, 

 but they also cause him to snatch at the bit, or 

 toss his head up, from being afraid of being hurt, 

 when the rider wishes to steady his horse in its 

 gallop. Without a smooth, easy, but firm hold 

 of the bit, it is impossible to race a horse at a big 

 place without first pulling him out of his stride, 

 and then setting him going again. 



Saddles may be comfortable, or the reverse, 

 and there is a great difference as to whether they 

 are easy to remain in, or not. A plain-flapped 

 saddle, that slopes forward, gives a horse that 

 stops suddenly in his track, or is a determined 

 kicker or bucker, an undue chance of getting 

 rid of his rider. If plain flaps are preferred, 

 there should be some stuffing underneath, that 

 will raise the front of the flap sufficiently to 

 prevent the leg having a tendency to slip forward, 

 especially when going down steep hills. Stuffed 

 flaps are easier to ride in, and give a more secure 



