HORSES TO JUMP 25 



and John Leach admirably depicted as a 

 " washball seat." But these conditions do not 

 apply to the readers of this book. 

 I have seen a man ride over the biggest banks 

 in a certain Irish Hunt, with his horse in a gag 

 and a long cheek-bit. When he first appeared 

 he was looked upon by the field as some mad 

 or io-norant stranger. But after having' had a 

 good view of his heels in a fast twenty-five 

 minutes they quickly changed their opinions, 

 and I have no doubt that some of them at 

 any rate profited by the lesson. This parti- 

 cular horse was a charming ride, bitted as 

 he was, but unwieldy and unbalanced in a 

 snaftle. 



Generally speaking, a medium double bridle is 

 the bit I like a young horse to go in when he 

 is finished. This must not be understood as a 

 hard-and-fast rule, for the severity of the bit 

 must be in proportion to the lightness of the 

 horse's mouth and the flexibility of his neck. 

 I think there is undoubtedly a danger of horses, 

 that bridle too freely and are over-bent, be- 

 coming affected in the wind. Certainly cases 

 occur of horses whistling in a double bridle but 

 not in a snaffle, or at any rate they are at times 

 more difficult to detect as whistlers in the latter 

 bit. 



