DRESS AND EQUIPMENT 95 



pleasant to ride ; and with all horses of this 

 class, to get rid of them is the best thing to do. 

 But most horses pull either as the result of 

 bad riding or injudicious bitting. If you have 

 bad hands or indifferent nerve, and the courage 

 to confess it to yourself, you practically cannot 

 ride with safety and comfort any horse which 

 you cannot hold in an ordinary double hunting 

 bridle. It is advisable to have the bridoon 

 plain and rather thicker than is ordinarily the 

 case, and the curb-chain sew^n up in leather. 

 As a matter of fact the great majority of men 

 oet alono- fairlv safelv with this bit, or with 

 a broad, plain snaffle. There is much to be 

 said for the latter for indifferent riders, as with 

 this bit it is not easy to pull a horse into his 

 fences or throw him down. But, for the 

 man who has taken to heart some counsels 

 written in the earlier part of this book about 

 not holding on by the bridle, some further 

 liberty and variety is possible, and he will be 

 able to ride horses that catch hold. The thing 

 to do is to find out what sort of bit suits a horse 

 best, and having found it, to take care that it 

 fits him and is put on right. In, say, some seven 

 cases out of ten, the double hunting bridle will 

 do all that is required. These can be obtained 

 with any length of cheek-piece to the bit, and 

 ha vino- found the lenoth with which you can 



