A BUDGET OF " TIPS:' 329 



To avoid it, the cheeks might be bent backwards, after the 

 Wimbush pattern. 



Correct Bitting gives control in harness without in- 

 flicting pain. Any suffering that cannot be got rid of by the 

 horse dropping his head to the right position, is barbarous 

 cruelty, however it may be glossed over or concealed. Half 

 the horses that one se^ in London and elsewhere, poking 

 their chins in an unnatural manner, are made to do so 

 by the use of powerful bits and severe curb-chains — yet 

 ignorance cannot be brought to see it, although the evils 

 of it are frequently and earnestly set forth. 



Blinkers are generally considered indispensable ad- 

 juncts to harness. Why, T do not know. 



Bearing-reins are only tolerable when the snaffle bit is 

 suffered to hang well below the corners of the mouth, and 

 when the reins themselves are of such a length that the 

 instant the horse lifts his head and sets off, they become 

 amply slack. I cannot at all see why they should be 

 thought an absolute necessity for draught purposes, when 

 not used in the saddle. There are, of course, cases in which 

 they are advisable ; when, for instance, extremely nervous 

 or badly-broken animals are of necessity driven through 

 crowded thoroughfares ; but otherwise I cannot believe 

 that they are either necessary or ornamental. 



Fashionable Coachmen concoct an instrument of 

 torture by drawing up the gag-bit until the horse's mouth 

 is dragged back quite two inches : a curb much too 

 long and very much too wide being next added, and 



