12 THE BRIDLE BITS. 



being cultivated and developed in both sexes, it is neces- 

 sary to study and practice ^' the art and science " of horse- 

 manship, so long as the mania lasts ; otherwise the pros- 

 pect of broken necks, as the result of unskilled enthu- 

 siasts in equestrian performances, are likely to render the 

 amusement and criticism of spectators anything but 

 agreeable to the riders. 



There is general ignorance in this country in regard to 

 the respective uses of the great variety of bits, as well as 

 in regard to the proper way of holding and fingering the 

 reins, the delicate use of the bit and the management of 

 the horse. The consequent uncertainty of performance 

 is inevitable with men w^ho bravely try to imitate a kind of 

 horsemanship to which they were not trained in youth, 

 owing of course to a want of place and op^Dortunity and 

 general daily practice in the field. 



Heretofore practical horsemanship had been little 

 known in our more Eastern States ; having fair roads we 

 preferred the buggy to the saddle, but in consequence of 

 equestrian tastes acquired in the late war by the enor- 

 mous body of cavalry that the emergency created, ama- 

 teur riding is now more practiced as an amusement than 

 as a necessity. There is raw material in the young people 

 of both sexes in the Southern States^ of which excellent 

 riders are made. A country life and *^ dirt roads " in the 

 interior require the daily use of the saddle as a means of 

 intercommunication, and this has necessitated horseman- 

 ship and given an excellent seat to many w^hose training 

 and skill have developed with their years. 



Forty years ago a clerk in a New York counting-house 

 would have been reprimanded by his employer, and run 

 the risk of dismissal, if he were known to keep a horso. 

 Times, however, have changed and with them many 

 despotic restrictions and fanatical ideas, and now clubs 

 for every game, accomplishment and amusement that tend 

 to develop the muscle and the mind exist and are being 



