must often follow that of the other in a manner that precludes the substitution of a single bit.

The snaffle should be buckled to the under cheek-pieces of the bridle, so that it will lie up in the corners of the mouth without pressure.

The mouth-piece of the curb should be of proper width. It is to rest upon the bars of the mouth; for which reason the port should be of a size to hold the tongue, but it must not be high enough to torture the horse. The other dimensions of this bit are determined according to laws of mechanics. The cheek-pieces will be of such a length as to permit the loosely-fastened curbchain falling into the groove of the chin; the branches will be double that

length. As the curb-chain is fastened to the lower part of the eyes of the cheek-pieces, two and a half inches will be found to be about the length of those arms, and the branches will then be five inches long.

When the bits have been fitted, and the horse has become accustomed to them, they should not be shifted.

There is little to be said in favour of martingales. The martingale tends to keep the snaffle in place upon a young or a tender-mouthed horse, who throws up his head to a heavy hand; but its intervention denies that delicate tension on the mouth that we are seeking; and it will not cure, although it may restrain, the habit that seems to demand its use. The standing martingale,

b

buckled into the bit, is a cruel instrument that may throw the horse. The least objectionable of all the martingales is that attached to a noseband. But this, to be of any service, confines the head of the horse too much for him to make the necessary efforts to recover from a mistake. None of these contrivances will prevent a horse rearing, and the last-named will answer all the purposes that the others may.

I believe that every horse is susceptible of being taught to carry his head in position, and I shall endeavour to show how this end may be brought about.