266 HOW TO RIDE A HORSE. 



head is in a perpendicular position, and the reins should 

 be supplied with buttons to prevent these rings from being 

 caught on the bnckles of the reins. 



The Bridle should be of white or russet leather, of 

 good quality, and it will be more satisfactory if its buckles 

 are of polished steel and detachable (that they may be 

 easily cleaned), rather than covered with leather, and sew- 

 ed fast to the bridle. Covered buckles are usually so 

 weak as to easily get out of order. The bridle should be, 

 for elegance, as plain as possible, and it may have either 

 single or double head-straps, according to the sort of bit 

 which has to be used. Some persons use a nose-band, 

 buckled sufficiently short to prevent the horse from open- 

 ing his mouth to its full extent, but it is possible so to train 

 a horse as to render this unnecessary. 



The Bit. — As to the form of the bit, it is the opinion of 

 many that there should not only be a different bit for each 

 sort of "mouth," but that there should be various bits to 

 suit the varying temper of the same horse. Baucher, who 

 is high authority, insists, on the contrary, that one sort of 

 bit is sufficient for all horses, and for all occasions. He 

 recommends a particular form of the hit and hridoon bridle. 

 (See Baucher's chapter.) The snaffle should be small, and 

 not long. The curb-bit he describes thus: "Branches 

 straight, six inches long from the eye of the bit to the ex- 

 tremity of the branch ; the canon, or that part of the bit 

 which acts against the bars of the mouth, is three-fourths 

 of an inch in diameter; the width of the port at the bottom 

 is two inches." 



The "Pelham" bit, (see fig. 26) a combination of the 

 snaffle and the curb, if of sufficiently large size, is more 

 elegant in its appearance, having but a single head-piece, 

 and is very effective. The "Hanovarian" (see fig. 27) is a 

 powerful variation of the Pelham bit, and in the hands cf 



