BLINKERS AND BLINDNESS. 97 



himself, and oftentimes more surely. Riding-horses 

 swerve and shy quite as much as carriage-horses; 

 but the former can be guided to a disconcerting 

 object and so be able to investigate it, while the 

 horse that is pulling a vehicle must be kept in the 

 beaten road." 



Is a horse more easily managed under the saddle? 



" Undoubtedly. A good rider is not so liable to 

 accident as the driver whose horses checked, trussed, 

 and tortured by fashionable harness have their 

 natural action encumbered. Forced as their move- 

 ments are into an artificial gait, when they become 

 thoroughly alarmed, the ease and dash with which 

 they can throw off all restraining bonds, prove their 

 mighty strength and make man feel helpless in his 

 own inventions." 



Then it is not surprising that with blinkers or 

 without they sometimes get unruly? 



" The}^ know well the power or lack of it, of the 

 hand which guides them, and the voice which en- 

 courages them to do their best." 



Is the martingale an essential equipment in 

 riding? 



"It bears the same relation to the riding-bridle 

 that the bearing-rein does to the harness of a horse 

 driven. The latter holds up and back the horse's 

 head to an unnatural position, while the martingale 

 pulls it down, to emphasize the arch of the neck." 



Then it is not important? 



" Not in the least, and there are times when the 

 use of it is very dangerous. Riding with a party of 

 hunters one day, we came to a fast-running stream 

 7 



