THE USE OF THE BRIDLE 



sideration of personal safety to life and limb. 

 That is a very false position in which a man finds 

 himself, when the animal is on its legs again, who 

 cannot clear his foot from the stirrup, and has let 

 his horse's head go ! 



I believe, too, that a tenacious grasp on the 

 reins saves many a broken collar-bone, as it cants 

 the rider's body round in the act of falling, so 

 that the cushion of muscle behind it, rather than 

 the point of his shoulder, is the first place to 

 touch the ground, and no one who has ever been 

 " pitched into " by a bigger boy at school can 

 have forgotten that this part of the body takes 

 punishment with the greatest impunity. But 

 we are wandering from our subject. To hold 

 on like grim death when down, seems an accom- 

 plishment little akin to the contents of a chapter 

 professing to deal with the skilful use of the 

 bridle. 



The horse, except in peculiar cases, such as a 

 stab with a sharp instrument, shrinks like other 

 animals from pain. If he cannot avoid it in one 

 way he will in another. When suffering under 

 the pressure of his bit, he endeavours to escape 

 the annoyance, according to the shape and setting 

 on of his neck and shoulders, either by throwing 

 his head up to the level of a rider's eyes, or 

 dashing it down between his own knees. The 

 latter is by far the most pernicious manoeuvre of 

 E 47 



