80 THE BRIDLE BITS. 



the end of the war. We rode him afc three steeple-chases 

 and won tlie regimental challenge cup three times, and 

 brought it and its gallant winner home " when the cruel 

 war was over." 



-K>^ 



CHAPTER VIII. 



EASTERN HORSES. 



Horses found their way into Europe from the East, 

 where they were highly prized and used for the saddle. 

 The smaller the horse the easier it is to handle him and 

 use him to a powerful bit. And as horsemanship and 

 swordsmanship were highly estimated accomplishments, 

 and inseparable in those countries in ancient times, as they 

 are still in many parts, the art of single combat required 

 the nimble action of the small horse to charge, strike, 

 wheel and retire to insure victory over a less active foe, 

 unskilled in the game of cavalry tag. 



As a test of horsemanship and training it is a common 

 practice in Mexico to ride the small, active mustang at 

 full speed against a stone wall, and rein him up to a dead 

 stand with his forefeet asrainst the base of the wall. This 

 is certainly a great feat, and one that could not be per- 

 formed by our large saddle horses. It shows the power 

 of the bit and the training of the horse to its use in yield- 

 ing to it instantly, instead of resisting its power. 



Captain Nolan, of the Fifteenth Hussars, and of Bala- 

 klava Light Brisfade fame, contends that " the English 

 horse has no superior in anything." But both Nolan and 

 Sir George Cox wrote more from theory than from prac- 

 tical knowledsre or unbiased minds. Nolan savs : *'I 

 have heard it said that the English horse is not adapted, 

 like the Arab and others of Eastern breed, to skirmishing. 



