MANAGEMENT OF THE BRIDLE. 41 



had escaped his observation, yet, if he has good action, 

 and a tolerable rider, he earns the character of being a 

 " capital hack." 



Now to metamorphose " a hack " into " a hunter " is 

 principally effected by the bridle, and yet the great 

 difficulty of the art is to learn not how much, but how 

 little to use it ; in short, a considerable portion of what 

 the bridle has done has to be undone. Accordingly, 

 instead of being encouraged to travel on his haunches 

 with his fore legs lightly touching the ground, the latter 

 must be required to bear the greater portion of the burden, 

 which it is the duty of the hind legs to propel. The 

 head has to be brought down to its proper level ; and to 

 induce or rather to oblige the horse to make his eyes 

 the lantern of his feet, to study geology instead of astro- 

 nomy, he should be slowly ridden, with a loose rein, over 

 every little hole, grip, or heap that would be likely to 

 throw a hack down. Whenever he can be made to 

 stumble (if the rider feels that he will not actually fall), 

 the reins should instantly be dropped. In like manner 

 he should be walked for several days over the roughest 

 ground that can be found, particularly land that has been 

 excavated to obtain the substratum and left in holes. 

 With a perfectly loose rein he should be gently trotted, 

 gently cantered, and gently galloped over a surface of 

 this description, the rider always dropping the rein when 



