I So Bits and BiUi)ig. 



or the like, you have only to apply the running-rein or 

 a martingal ; or, if you prefer it, the same qualities of 

 seat, hand and heai-t will enable you to put a well-pro- 

 portioned, light, "unjointed bit into your horse's mouth. 

 But the great majority of riders do not belong to the 

 class we have described above, and have neither the 

 steady seat nor the confidence that arises from it, there- 

 fore seek after something more powerful than the com- 

 mon snaffle. Indeed, as a general rule, one finds tlie 

 bitting severe and the tackle complicated in the inverse 

 proportion of the qualities of the rider ; and as to a light 

 hand, it is altogether out of the question with people 

 who " stick" on their horses after the fashion of a mon- 

 key mounted on a poodle, and derive their chief support 

 from the reins. To such persons we would say, im- 

 prove your seat in the first place ; until you learn to 

 keep it with ease, altogether independent of the reins, 

 you will be always looking out for something Pelhamy 

 that will afibrd you a gripe to hold on by ; just the very 

 reason you can't master your horses with a snaffle, and, 

 at a pinch, something w^ith the action of a curb-bit, 

 which you are afraid of, because it affords little or 

 nothing to hold on by. If your judgment were only 

 equal to your pluck, you would soon become independ- 

 ent of these hybrid instruments that pretend to com- 

 bine the action of snaffle and bit, and, like most other 

 makeshifts, answer neither purpose perfectly and re- 

 liably. 



We do not, however, mean to say that a Pelham 

 should never be used ; as a matter of fancy, fashion or 

 old habit, many a good rider will cling to it ; but then 

 its dimensions should be as carefully adjusted to those 

 of the horse's mouth, and, moreover, to the other pecu- 

 liarities of the individual animal's build and temper, as 

 we have shown to be necessary with the unjointed bit ; 

 and this brings us to another form of jointed bit — that 



