384 THE HORSE 



bit, when he can run away fast enough to provide a sensa- 

 tional paragraph for the journals, if he has a mind to ! 

 Many a horse when standing still will hang his head as low 

 as he can get it, and the judicious use of a bearing-rein will 

 prevent this unseemly habit when out for show in a town, 

 but without worrying the horse. The bearing-reins should 

 be loose enough for the horse to make his utmost exertion 

 when at work without unduly pressing on the bit, but they 

 should be tight enough to take a good deal of the stress from 

 the driver's hands if the animal begins to pull desperately 

 hard, and shows a desire to run away. 



It is against the gag bearing-rein that the crusade should 

 be directed, for this can be made a veritable instrument 

 of torture, and is very powerful. A gag bearing-rein 

 is attached to the upper part of the head-stall, where it joins 

 the brow-band, then passed through a swivel attached to 

 a snaffle, which may be a twisted one, and after passing 

 through another ring attached to a strap depending from 

 the head-piece, is fixed to the pad-hook, where it can be 

 tightened to the fancy of the coachman. 



A bearing-rein should be fastened in the first instance 

 direct to the snaffle if a double bridle is used, or to the 

 cheek of a Pelham, and then much more freedom is allowed 

 to the horse. 



The bit should never have a bottom bar. If used without 

 a bearing-rein a horse can hook it over a shaft in single 

 harness, or over the pole in double harness, and an accident 

 may be the immediate result. 



Many horses have a one-sided mouth, which makes it 

 difficult to steer them in traffic or to prevent them cutting 

 a corner too sharp, and Mr. Walter Winans strongly advises 

 the American Cain bit to be employed in such cases. He 

 says : — 



"I have found a remedy for horses with dead sides to 

 their mouths, which are otherwise unpleasant, if not impos- 

 sible to drive. It is the American Cain bit, a snaffle which 

 pinches the horse's jaws and makes him drop it when he 

 endeavours to pull on one side, much as one makes a dog 

 let go a bone by pinching his lower jaw." 



