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CHAPTER IX. 

 Racing Saddlery. 



BRIDLES MARTINGALES SADDLES LEAD CLOTHS WEIGHT JACK- 

 ETSSTIRRUP LEATHE&S AND WEBS GIRTHS. 



Bridles. From a racing point of view, there is a great 

 deal of truth in the old remark, that if a horse cannot 

 be held with a snaffle, no other bit will hold him. The 

 disadvantages of a curb are, that it tends to make the 

 horse " gallop round" by causing him to bend his neck 

 and lower his head too much, and also, that, with it, he 

 will not "go up to his bridle" as freely as he will with 

 a snaffle. However, when every kind of snaffle has been 

 tried, without success, to control a hard puller, the lesser 

 of too evils had better be chosen, and some of his gallop- 

 ing form must accordingly be sacrificed. 



The choice of snaffles will generally lie between the 

 ordinary plain, the twisted, the chain, the chain covered 

 with leather, the double-ringed, the gag, the double- 

 mouthed, the New Market in which the nose-band takes 

 some of the pressure and the thin racing snaffle. I don't 

 like the last mentioned, as, I think, it tends to make horses 

 pull. 



In case of doubt, a double bridle may be used, so- 

 that in the event of the rider not being able to hold his 

 horse with the bridoon, he may have the bit reins ready 

 to take up. Horses, that can be held with a snaffle, gallop 



