BITS AND BRIDLES. 139 



which game ponies have often to be pulled about very 

 sharply. If it is employed as a last resource, its lower 

 bar should be covered with india-rubber. 



An india-rubber Pelham (Fig. 28) and the '' Kerro" 

 bridle (Fig. 30) will be found useful for light mouthed, 

 excitable ponies. The india-rubber Pelham will 

 wear better if covered with leather, for ponies are 

 apt to bite through the unprotected rubber very soon. 

 The leather after a short time becomes soft from the 

 saliva of the mouth, and will then prevent the bars 

 from becoming bruised, or the lips pinched. The 

 "Kerro" bridle is a Pelham. I have not been able 

 to find out the name of its inventor. It consists 

 of a roller of wood which revolves on a steel bar, and is 

 covered with either leather or india-rubber. It gives 

 the rider, by reason of its thickness, great power over a 

 pony. Besides being a useful bridle for some excitable 

 pullers, it is excellent for a pony whose mouth has 

 been cut or bruised by a severe bit. 



The Ben Morgan bit (Fig. 29), which consists of a 

 half-moon mouthpiece turned downwards, is a most 

 useful bit for many pullers ; seemingly because it 

 bears on a different part of the pony's mouth to 

 that pressed on by the ordinary curb bit. This bit 

 is particularly useful, when the bars of a pony's mouth 

 have become sore through the action of an ordinary 

 curb. 



The half-moon Pelham (Fig. 31), in conjunction 

 with a leather curb chain, is especially good for forming 

 the mouth of a young pony, or for riding a very 

 light-mouthed pony at polo. A curb bridle of some 

 kind is almost invariably necessary for a pony at polo. 



Besides the bits I have described, which will be 



