138 



POLO PONY GEAR. 



[Chap. VI. 



animal from opening his mouth too wide, should be 

 used with every pony which is the least inclined to 

 pull ; for its presence will give us control over the 

 entire of his head, and not only over his lower jaw, as 

 we would have without it. With a bridle made and 

 applied as I have described, we can obtain great power 

 over a pony, especially if we add a standing martingale 

 fixed to the nose band, or to the rings of the snaffle. 

 The most generally useful bridle for a puller is 



«E11 



ifiii 







y^ . tit : '4{ _^5i ^m'm'Mm lio'iiiiFiE 



Fig. 58. — Curb chain protected by india-rubber tube ; ditto, by leather guard. 



that shown in Fig. 54. It is used with a gag and 

 is called the " Stansted Bridle." 



In the first edition of this book I recommended the 

 Mohawk bridle (Fig. 53) for polo ; but I regret to say 

 that I have been compelled to alter my opinion. My 

 remarks had been based on the fact that I had used 

 this bit with great success on one or two hard-mouthed 

 ponies ; but, later on, I was obliged to discontinue it, 

 because I found it cut their mouths badly under the 

 tongue and on the bars of the mouth, an injury which I 

 found this bit caused to a large number of ponies 

 ridden in it. Although it may be a very good bridle 

 for hacking and driving, it is too severe for polo, at 



