220 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



A snaffle, of course, is quite unfitted for riding or 

 showing a hack, owing to the fact that it acts by direct 

 pressure on the animal's mouth and gives no leverage 

 by which a horse may be made to collect himself. 



There are many varieties of snaffles, but for all ordi- 

 nary purposes for which a snaffle may be used, the 

 plain straight bar snaffle, the slightly curved (half 

 moon), or the plain jointed snaffle are the best. Twisted 

 snaffles and chain snaffles, composed of links, are all 

 very severe, and, as a general rule, do more harm than 

 good and should never be used except by an experi- 

 enced horseman.* This also applies to the use of the 

 gag, the object of which is to enable the rider, by means 

 of pulleys, to raise the head of an animal who bores, 

 or who charges his jumps with his head down. Should 

 the gag be touched, however, at the wrong moment, 

 it is likely to bring a horse down. In any case the 

 French gag is the best one to use, as it accomplishes 

 its object by means of a pull on the headstall, rather 

 than by squeezing the horse's lips, thereby making 

 them callous. 



Snaffles may be either leather-covered, to lessen their 

 severity, or an entire leather snaffle may be made. 

 If a metal bit is covered, it is preferable to do so with 



*The double-ring snaffle is the same as a single-ring snaffle, with 

 the exception of an additional pair of rings of the same size, placed on 

 the inside. To these inner rings the cheek-piece of the bridle is at- 

 tached, and when used in the ordinary way the only effect it has is to 

 permit of the full pull of the reins falling directly on the bars of the 

 mouth. The more general use of the bit is to convert it into a New- 

 market snaffle, by attaching a nose-band to the inner rings, in which 

 case, pressure may be brought to bear entirely on the nose of the 

 animal. It is often useful on a puller. Side lines, which are an at- 

 tachment rather than a bit, give the rider great control over a mean 

 horse, by means of pulleys on the saddle through which the rein passes, 

 before going into the rider's hand. This arrangement, it goes with- 

 out saying, should only be used by the experienced. 



