152 Bits and Bitting, 



horse opening its month too wide, nor can the old- 

 fashioned noseband do this effectually either ; the train- 

 ing-halter does so most eflRciently and in the simplest 

 manner. It consists of t\\ o cheek-straps whose upper 

 ends are made fast in the buckles of the snaffle-head- 

 stall.* These cheek-straps support, by means of two 

 rings, a noseband composed of three pieces: i. The 

 noseband proper ; 2. A strap about 7 inches long, sewed 

 into the ring on the off side ; and 3. A shorter strap, 2 

 to 3 inches long, and terminated by a buckle, which is 

 sewed into the ring on the nearside. The cheek-straps 

 are buckled into the headstall outside, so that the nose- 

 band comes to hang below the rings of the snaffle, and 

 the two back straps are then buckled together, so that 

 the longer one comes to lie in the chin-groove, as a curb 

 would with a bit, leaving, of course, a sufficient play to 

 the horse's under jaw without allowing the animal to 

 open it beyond a certain distance, and thus securing 

 perfect independence to the mouthpiece, and permitting 

 of its acting in the proper place and direction. 



It must, however, be well understood that this halter 

 is not intended to be permanently employed ; its great 

 value is, that it enables us, by preventing the young 

 horse from escaping the action of a light snaffle mouth- 

 piece to avoid the necessity for employing sharp ones ; 

 in fact, all violent measures are thereby rendered un- 

 necessary during the period of training or handling ; 

 and when this is once over, we may lay aside our 

 halter, and either use the plain snaffle or put a curbed 

 bit into the animal's mouth, which has been by this very 

 means perfectly prepared for either ; and that this is a 

 real advantage we must admit. t 



*It is, of course, necessary for this purpose that there should be a 

 bcckle on each side. 



tit is but justice to confess that the writer of these lines having 

 become acquainted with the training-halter when he was an old rider, 

 was at first incredulous as to its value, but he soon became a convert. 



I 



