DUMB JOCKEYS. 103 



against the blunder of doing too much. Again, none of 

 these contrivances are of any use for correcting the 

 extremely common fault of one side of the mouth being 

 harder or softer than the other ; the reason being that their 

 bending is applied only in a straight line, namely, from 

 front to rear. So inadequate are they to the purpose of 

 giving a horse a good mouth, as compared to the "long 

 reins," that I mention them only to warn my readers 

 against their employment. 



I may remark that elastic reins are sometimes used with 

 a dumb jockey. They are wrong in principle and useless in 

 practice ; for they do not allow the complete freedom from 

 pressure which the horse should experience as a reward for 

 obedience when he bends his neck and yields to the reins ; 

 unless, indeed, they are so loose as to fail to perform their 

 intended work. 



