44 BREAKING AND TRAINING 



Mouth Gag. — ^This appliance is easily made 

 out of some hard wood such as oak or box, etc. 



A block of wood about two inches thick should be 

 taken and bored through the centre, leaving a hole 

 for a chain which is fixed on to the head stall. 



The gag should be a little wider than the horse's 

 mouth and its surface ought to be projected in ridges 

 parallel to its long axis. This ridging causes additional 

 pain, which is exactly what is wanted in order to teach 

 a horse the penalties attached to biting. 



The Standing Martingale.— The standing 



martingale is one of the best appliances that can be 

 used if you wish to teach a horse to bend his head 

 and neck. When an animal throws up his head with 

 this on he immediately feels a painful pressure on his 

 mouth from the bit, and so learns to abandon this bad 

 habit for the sake of his own comfort. The standing 

 martingale should be attached to the rings of the 

 snaffie and shortened or lengthened in accordance 

 with the discretion of the breaker. Any improve- 

 ment in the animal's habits should be rewarded by 

 some easement. The uses of the standing martingale 

 are several. For " star gazers," for instance, no 



