BITS, BEAEING-KEIN, HEAD CHECKS. 177 



ness not prevail. A horse can never be radically cured 

 of this propensity to pull, unless the driver is determined 

 not to gratify the morbid habit, but to ease away when- 

 ever he rushes for the bit, and teach him that his comfort 

 and ease of going is dependent on his ceasing to pull. 

 The celebrated English jockey, Chiffhey, wrote a treatise 

 on riding a race horse with a slack rein. I have never 

 been fortunate enough to see it ; but, judging from the 

 success he met with in " his mounts," his practice indi- 

 cated the truth of this theory. Before leathern bits were 

 in general use, I made one with a silk handkerchief. I did 

 not transmute the silk into leather, but wound the hand- 

 kerchief through two rings for check pieces. A pulling 

 mare that I made it for was reconciled, and worked as 

 kindly as any I ever drove. Some horses will not take 

 hold of the bit, not even bearing enough on it to keep the 

 reins straight. In some, this results from want of con- 

 dition ; others seem to be afraid of pressure at all times ; 

 while with others, it only occurs when they are very tired. 

 The bit is frequently the cause; and when a horse has this 

 very troublesome failing, I shift the bits, and sometimes 

 find that he has a liking for some peculiar pattern, and 

 will pull sufficiently to steady him, which is all that is 

 required. The bearing-rein has a great deal to do with 

 the education of a trotter ; and though, like many other 

 things, fashion has proscribed it for a time only to sanction 

 a more stringent use of it at another period. Very few 

 horses require to be checked alike. A difference of a few 

 holes will sometimes make a variation of ten seconds in 

 the time for a mile. 



When a horse requires his head to be elevated very 

 high, then the " Kemble Jackson," or head check, is most 

 proper. Having a distinct bit for the check rein, allows 

 the one attached to the driving reins the right position in 

 the mouth, which would not be the case if it were drawn 



