THE SADDLE ROOM 167 



them, and it is not unknown for these very 

 necessary articles to be ' quite forgotten/ 



As Solomon said of books so may it be said 

 of bits : '' Of making them there is no end." 

 Speaking of them Major A. T. Fisher says very 

 pertinently : '' No woman in a milHner's shop is 

 more tempted to buy what she does not want 

 than is a man in that of a saddler. Therefore do 

 not go and buy everything and anything which 

 may be the latest invention, especially in the way 

 of bits.'' Which is thoroughly sound advice, for 

 the fewer and simpler the bits about a place the 

 better. 



The simplest bit is a plain snaffle, and it is also 

 the easiest for the horse. In a banking country 

 it is also the safest bit to ride in — if the horse can 

 be held in it. In all cases where a single snaffle is 

 used the noseband put on low down is absolutely 

 indispensable. 



There are many different kinds of snaffle of 

 which I prefer the plain unjointed or half moon 

 snaffle. The ordinary jointed snaffle perhaps 

 comes next. The double-jointed snaffle and the 

 twisted snaffle, though some people make a great 

 fuss about them, I do not care for ; neither should 

 I advise the reader to use a double - mouthed 

 snaffle. This latter is an ingenious instrument of 

 torture. There are two mouthpieces each of 

 which is jointed about a couple of inches from 

 the cheek. The two mouthpieces are kept 

 separate by a steel ring about | inch in depth 

 and the joints in the bits are at opposite sides. It 



