MODERN RIDING. 233 



that the hand may not be too much incum- 

 bered with reins, the bridoon rein, which, in 

 military bridles, is always a light, short rein, 

 passes through the left hand as above noticed, 

 where it may be readily seized by the right 

 hand, when occasion may require its assist- 

 ance, either to bend the horse, enliven the 

 mouth, or give more efficacy to the bridle 

 hand, which are the principal uses of the 

 bridoon rein, 



Sometimes, however, instead of the right 

 rein hanging loose, it is carried back through 

 the left hand ; and, as the left rein enters and 

 passes through that hand by the side of the 

 little finger, so the right rein enters and 

 passes through it between the fore finger and 

 thumb ; the rein thus being doubled in the 

 hand and its superfluous part forming a noose 

 between the hand and the body. 



The next method of holding the reins dif- 

 fers from the last only by taking up the right 

 rein of the bridoon or snaffle with three 

 fingers, thereby still having the curb rein 



