i 3 8 THROUGH STABLE AND SADDLE-ROOM. 



ful, and I often wonder that such an arrangement 

 is not more frequently made use of. 



A gag-snaffle, as its name implies, gags the 

 mouth, and is constructed so as to draw up the 

 corners of the mouth when the reins (which are made 

 round at that portion of its length) are drawn tight, 

 the round part being made to run through two 

 metal eyes, which are fixed on what are best de- 

 scribed as cheek -pieces, or shanks. Such a bit is, 

 however, only used in special cases, and in order to 

 keep a horse's head up and prevent his boring, and 

 is never used alone, but in connection with either 

 another plain snaffle or a bit, and is not a thing to 

 be used by just anybody with impunity. I very 

 nearly killed myself when riding a steeplechase 

 through being forced against my will to use a gag- 

 snaffle. I lost the race and, as I say, nearty lost 

 my life. I ought, had I been wise, to have refused 

 to ride ; moreover, the gag was a bad one of its 

 kind, and did not run smoothly and properly, as it 

 should have done. If properly made and fitted, 

 and used carefully and with discretion, a gag is for 

 ordinary purposes, at times, exceedingly useful, 

 but in bad hands exceedingly dangerous. It 

 is, however, the only bit I know of which will 

 keep a horse's head up if he is a persistent borer, 

 but, like the oft-repeated answer to queries in the 



