" HANDFULS." 69 



Now turn we to the consideration of pullers, which may 

 be " handfuls" indeed, exhausting themselves as well as 

 their riders with their misplaced zeal. There are pullers 

 with hard mouths, and pullers with light ditto, the latter 

 being the most difficult to manage at the beginning of 

 a run, and the former at the end of it, when their mouths 

 become dead, and they begin to go upon their shoulders. 

 No bit and no bridle can be recommended for any but 

 individuals. I have seen a Bucephalus noseband have a 

 good effect in a few cases, and fail in many. Messrs. 

 Langdon's noseband is a Bucephalus put a good deal 

 lower down than usual. It is apt to pinch the corners 

 of the mouth, between itself and the bridoon, and, while 

 it maddens some horses, deadens the mouths of others, 

 and stops some few. 



Most horses are amenable to a gag. One made in a 

 crescent shape, with no joint in the middle, is preferable 

 for many horses, as it is less severe than the common 

 gag-snaffle. But the objection to a gag is that, if used 

 with a curb, you have no bridoon at least no light one ; 

 if two snaffles are used, you have no curb, and under 

 these circumstances most horses put their heads up more 

 than is comfortable or becoming. Major Dwyer's bit is 

 a very powerful instrument, but, unless exactly fitted, 

 more than likely to hurt the horse's mouth. All the 

 bits on this principle which I have seen have been severe 

 ones ; of course, with less " port" they would be easier. 

 I have not had an opportunity of seeing one tried on a 

 regular runaway, such animals being luckily not very 

 common; but moderate pullers certainly cannot hold 

 their own against it, and it is to be specially recom- 

 mended for ewe-necked horses. But when all is said 

 and done, it is the hand that holds the horse, not the 



