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CHAPTER VI. 



POLO PONY GEAR. 



Bits and bridles — Saddles — Whip — Spurs — Bandages and boots. 



BITS AND BRIDLES. 



There Is perhaps some truth in the saying, when 

 applied to bits, that '' there is a key to every horse's 

 mouth," although there are some hot-headed and 

 spoiled animals which no bit ever invented could stop, 

 if they really mean pulling. Most ponies, I think, 

 will go kindly If we can only find the bit which suits 

 them ; but therein lies the difficulty. My editor. 

 In " Illustrated Horse- Breaking," points out that the 

 cause of pulling and other bridle faults lies in the 

 brain, and not in the mouth ; and that we would 

 employ our time better by trying to remove it by 

 breaking, than by seeking after a particular kind of bit. 

 The two principal causes which make ponies pull at 

 polo are excitability and pain. We see these causes at 

 work in a pony which, having got excited in a gallop, 

 for Instance, gets pulled up short by a job in the 

 mouth, the pain of which adds to the pony's excite- 

 ment and prompts him to fight against the bit. In 

 the selection of a bridle, our object should be to find 

 one which will be powerful enough to stop the pony, 



