220 THE PERFECT HOUSE. 



has a way of his own ; and some of them have very 

 good ways ; for, as I have taken occasion to state before, 

 they drive well. But what I have set down above may 

 be of service to gentlemen who drive their own horses, 

 and to those young men, who, having as yet no settled 

 method of their own, may think it Avell enough to try 

 that which I have found to answer. Another word 

 about bits. I am opposed to the use of severe bits, 

 and complicated things of that sort. Some of the in- 

 ventors of such things say that I am prejudiced ; but I 

 don't think I am. If a man has a horse that cannot be 

 driven with a bar-bit or a snaffle, he may as well sell 

 him, except it is a very exceptional case. Where are 

 these kinds of severe complicated bits most in use ? 

 Why, in England. Five hundred or a thousand of them 

 are used there to one that is used here. And where do 

 the horses trot the best ? These bits are mostly invent- 

 ed by men who have had no practical experience what- 

 ever as to what sort of driving a fast trotter requires to 

 keep his gait square and bold, and induce him to do 

 his best when it is called for. When a horse has a good 

 mouth, — and a bad one is almost always the fault of 

 bad breaking and driving, — the easier the bit you use, 

 the better he will act for you, and the more speed he 

 will show you." 



This, also, touching the matter of punishing horses 

 when they break : — 



" In nine cases out of ten, a horse punished without his 

 knowing what for is punished for his driver's fault, not 



