BITTING. 77 



adopted to calm the irritability of man or his slave than 

 patience, kindness, and an entire absence of all desire to 

 fight ? 



I do not much care for nosebands ; they seem to me to 

 interfere with the proper action of the bridle, by preventing 

 the headstall from going forward, and also the cheek of 

 the bit. The only really useful noseband is one that is 

 detached from the bridle-cheeks and has a separate crown- 

 strap. This, when worn low on the nose, is effective 

 in preventing a horse opening his mouth widely, and 

 thus displacing the bit from the bars. Martingales I 

 simply abhor, for hunting purposes, although I have 

 heard some good authorities advocate the use of the 

 standing martingale, even when crossing country. I think 

 it is only allowable in case of a confirmed "star-gazer," 

 who goes at his fences with his head in the air, instead 

 of looking straight before him when he jumps. A 

 running martingale might be found useful with some 

 horses for park or road riding, inasmuch as it can be made 

 effectual for keeping the head of a flippant or unsteady 

 goer properly in place. When made use of for this 

 purpose it should be adjusted in such a way as to allow 

 the pull of the reins to be directly in line with the top 

 of the withers, and should be lengthened for a horse who 

 holds his head already sufficiently low. 



I have seen Irish horsebreakers in the country im- 

 provise a martingale, by putting the reins underneath 

 the horse's neck, and then passing them through two 

 rings, kept together by a strap. It answered pretty 



