172 THE COMPLETE HORSEMAN 



It may be said generally of all the bits of 

 various fashion which have been invented for 

 the special benefit of pullers that they answer 

 well at first but that after a time horses find 

 out some ' defence ' against them which counter- 

 acts any good effect they may have had. Bad 

 hands make most pullers and a man with good 

 hands can generally ride a puller in an ordinary 

 bit without much trouble. '' Hands rather than 

 ironmongery '' is an argument that always holds 

 good in the bitting of horses. 



A capital bit for a horse that has a bad one- 

 sided mouth is the invention of Lord Lonsdale 

 and is made by Messrs. Champion & Wilton, 

 Oxford Street. It is a snaffle jointed in the 

 middle, one-half of which is twisted and the 

 other plain with a crank at the corner. It is 

 used by putting the crank part to the hard side 

 of the horse's mouth. That is put the light side 

 of the bit to the hard side of the mouth. This 

 looks ' contrary,' but crede experto. 



Martingales and breastplates call for little 

 notice. Both are better done without if it is 

 possible. At one time it was de rigiieur to wear 

 a breastplate out hunting, but nothing draws 

 attention to a horse having bad shoulders sooner 

 than a breastplate and unless in a very hilly 

 country, where of course they are necessary, they 

 should never be used. 



Martingales are of two kinds, with variations 

 of each. These are the standing martingale and 

 the running martingale. The standing martingale 



