ACCOUTREMENTS FOR THE HORSE. 



Every accoutrement for the horse, however orna- 

 mental and pictorial, beyond the mere saddle and 

 bridle, is to be rejected, as being in bad taste. The 

 crupper and breast-band are now almost obsolete ; the 

 saddle-cloth has nearly disappeared ; nettings are, ge- 

 nerally speaking, abandoned; and the martingale itself, 

 valuable as it may be for horses of a certain character, 

 is rarely to be seen. SimpHcity, indeed, as regards 

 female equestrianism, is now imperatively (and, strange 

 to say, most judiciously) enjoined, by " that same tickle 

 goddess. Fashion," in obedience to whose sovereign 

 behest, a lady's horse, in the olden time, was dis- 

 guised, as it were, " in cloth of gold most curiously 

 wrought." 



