92 Horses and Horsemastership, 



runaway will go. But a strong pull and a sudden 

 release, repeated several times if necessary, will occasion- 

 ally be successful in throwing the animal out of his 

 stride, of which advantage should be at once taken by 

 a fierce tug at one rein only. Tliis may result in bring- 

 ing the horse down, but that is not the most undesirable 

 thing under the circumstances. Sawing the mouth may 

 also be resorted to, which means rapid alternate tugs at 

 each rein. Throwing one's self off a bolting horse is an 

 extremely dangerous thing, and should never be done 

 except it is apparently the lesser of two evils, such, for 

 instance, as the close proximity of cliffs or a shop 

 window for which the animal is heading; indeed, in the 

 latter or similar cases is is as well to defer it until the 

 moment before the impact. If such a contingency 

 should arise, both stirrups should be quitted before 

 jumping, or rather vaulting off. 



A horse which is inclined to bolt should always be 

 ridden with a running or standing martingale and a 

 noseband fitted so as to admit two fingers between it 

 and the nose. The former prevents him getting his head 

 up, which, of course, nullifies the effect of the bits on 

 the bars of the mouth (interdental space), and the latter 

 prevents him opening his mouth and so easing the action 

 of the bits. He should also be carefully bitted (i.e., the 

 iDits should fit properly, being neither too wide nor too 



