50 HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP 



but if we are going to race over fences they must 

 be quite short, and if we are going to jump a 

 six-foot rail in the show-ring, they must be shorter 

 still. It must be remembered that all this shorten- 

 ing must be done before we begin. There is seldom 

 time or opportunity for any shortening, once the 

 horse is in motion. 



I have sometimes ridden with plaited reins, 

 which are supposed to have the advantage of 

 conferring a better grip for holding pulling horses. 

 This is surely unsound, because although they 

 may help a grip when one's fingers are ap- 

 proaching exhaustion, they certainly make it 

 more difficult to shorten the reins, which is a 

 matter of much greater importance, and even with 

 ordinary reins one of very considerable difficulty. 

 When riding excitable horses with light mouths, 

 it is astonishingly difficult to shorten without 

 informing them of what is being done. It requires 

 a great deal of experience, guile and dexterity, 

 and if on the top of that is added the extra burden 

 of handling plaits, the difficulties become insur- 

 mountable. 



