156 Bits and Bitting, 



It is evident that a pull on this running-rein will act 

 directly on the mouth-piece, drawing it back and some- 

 what downward toward the horse's breast-bone ; the 

 great value of the whole arrangement being, that by 

 taking the running-rein and right snaffle-rein into the 

 right hand, and the other snaffle-rein into the left ditto, 

 we can place the horse's head in any position we desire, 

 and get a pull on the horse's mouth either horizontally 

 upward or downward as may seem expedient.* 



The training-halter offers no obstacle to the employ- 

 ment of this running-rein ; indeed they may be very 

 advantageously used in combination, and afford a most 

 perfect command over the horse's head without the 

 slightest approach to violence, and by slackening the 

 end of the running-rein held in the right hand, its 

 action may be at once put an end to, unlike all other 

 contrivances of this nature, which are too apt to get 

 hitched. 



The use of Seeger's running-rein for race-horses is 

 perfectly unobjectionable. It gives the rider an im- 

 mense power over his horse, which may be used mo- 

 mentarily, to check an attempt to bolt, for instance, 

 and immediately relaxed, or it may be kept constantly 

 in moderate action — for instance, with a horse inclined 

 to throw up his head too high — and all this without in- 

 terfering with his running ; on the contrary, by using 

 this rein one may dispense with sharp snaffles or curbed 

 bits w^hich so frequently have that effect. Seeger him- 

 self, however, thinks it unsuited to racing or hunting 

 purposes. 



But it is chiefly in the handling of young animals, 

 whether for the saddle or draught, that these contriv- 

 ances are valuable, because they enable us to attain our 



* The advantage as compared with other running-reins is, that the 

 position of the horse's head depends on the length of rein grasped, 

 and not on the force applied. 



