Appliances for Horse-training 223 



of a science than we generally do in this country, 

 their abandonment of long-rein driving must carry 

 weight in assessing the value of the appliance. 



The advantages that it offers for training are that 

 the horse is under perfect control from the first ; he 

 can be exercised and disciplined when in poor con- 

 dition, he can be taught to go true on either foreleg 

 at a canter, and to jump. Long reins afford a good 

 means of gentling horses that have had no previous 

 handling, and of dealing with refractory animals. 

 The disadvantages which apparently led to the prac- 

 tice being abandoned for some time are that the 

 trainer acts on a foreign fulcrum, which gives him 

 immense power and is likely to result in hard 

 mouths. The reins are heavy,^ so that mechanical 

 means must generally be resorted to in order to keep 

 the animal's head in the correct position. Passing 

 the reins through supports, or even through the stir- 

 rups, certainly lightens the weight on the horse's 

 mouth, but this is not sufficient to prevent the head in 

 many cases from being carried too low, with the nose 

 too much tucked in. It is obviously better not to 



1 Leather long reins weigh 4 lbs., webbing ones 2 J^, and rope is un- 

 suitable for the purpose as it is liable to gall a horse, especially if he 

 breaks away. 



