62 Training the Work Horse 



horses the habit is dangerous to the rider. To 

 overcome this, one must use a martingale and an 

 over-draw check-rein (p. 327). Occasionally a horse 

 shows a disposition to carry his head too low, in 

 which case the over-draw check-rein should be used. 

 In common practice there are two other forms of 

 side-reins used on the bitting-harness, the '' elastic" 

 rein, and '^running" rein. The elastic rein is com- 

 posed of rubber and is attached the same as the 

 leather side-rein described above. The leather side- 

 rein is often spoken of as the ^^ fixed rein." The 

 running rein is made from a small rope or sash-cord 

 and is attached as follows : The surcingle and 

 bridle are similar to those described above save both 

 side- and check-rein are removed. Tie the cord 

 or rein in the lower ring of the surcingle on the off- 

 side, pass it through the bit and back through the 

 ring at the top of the surcingle, then down through 

 the bit on the near-side and back to the lower ring 

 on the near-side and tie fast. Instead of tying the 

 ends fast to the rings on the surcingle, this rein is 

 sometimes modified by passing one end up through 

 the ring at the top of the surcingle then down to the 

 other end and tying the two ends together in such a 

 way that they will slip through the rings on both the 

 bridle and surcingle (Fig. 9). Each of these reins 

 has its advantages and disadvantages: the fixed 

 rein sometimes produces horses with ^'lugging" 

 mouths ; the running rein sometimes produces 



