that a horse is not unnecessarily fretted by links becoming twisted underneath his jaw. Ordinary curb-chains are single or double, thick or thin, to suit the fancy of purchasers; leather curbs are sometimes used instead of a chain, and chains encased in leather are occasionally seen. In the well-kept harness-room we frequently admire the glittering polish of the bits. Alas! when the curb or snaffle has been a short time in use, its pristine brilliancy has departed, and although the steel may be kept well polished, there are usually an appalling number of tiny scratches.

The secret of an irreproachably cleaned bit is an expensive mill fitted with brushes sprinkled with fine emery powder. But it takes almost an expert to clean steel properly with this machine. The ordinary groom will act wisely if he ceases to scratch bits with a burnisher, and uses a paste consisting of brilliantine and 1 paraffin.

Now, as regards the bridles suitable for the rearer, bolter, kicker, star-gazer, borer, or puller, and other horses that are ill-tempered, or as crafty in their own way as "The Heathen Chinee."

Owners of rearing-horses may feel disposed to try the Russian-Rearing-Bits before mentioned, but they had far better send the horse to a careful breaker to be cured of the vice. This bit is simply an instrument of torture, because it not only half maddens the horse, but is apt to nearly break the jaw. Many hard-pullers can be mastered by a pair of light though very decided hands and a Hanoverian pelham; but, in spite

of the time-honoured adage, "There is a key to every horse's mouth," there are some horses which from constitutional defects cannot be made amenable. The intemperate "rushing" brute which looses its head, apparently, at the sight of hounds, can only be kept in hand by means of

a powerful bit; and though sufficiently strong tackle will enable you to restrain him from bolting, the pain goads him into a state of frenzy, which makes him anything but a pleasant mount. A horse which can only be kept under control with a gag snaffle and chifney bit in the huntingfield may be a delightful mount for a solitary ride with nothing more than a chain snaffle in

his mouth.

The "Champion" snaffle, named after its inventor, the well-known saddler, is a very useful bit for some pullers in harness. The checks of the bridle are buckled to the two inner rings, and the reins to the two outer rings. The sliding action caused by this adjustment allows very considerable power to be exercised over the horse.

The "Bucephalus nose-band" is often usefully employed in conjunction with a bit of good leverage; the nose-net is said to give good results with a puller, but only for a time, the restraining effect of the contrivance seeming to wear off more or less rapidly. The star-gazer may be made to carry his head properly by buckling the rings of a snaffle to a martingale of suitable length or shortness, but this plan is open to the objection that the dead strain may teach the horse to pull. Perhaps the better system is to take a long pair of reins, pass the buckle ends through the rings of the snaffle and carry them down to the breastplate, thus combining martingale and reins in one: "piped reins answer best for this purpose, as they run more freely. With this arrangement of gear a rider with good hands may overcome the stargazing trick. In very bad cases an Irish martingale, a six-inch strap with a ring at each end, placed on the reins under the jaw, or a single ring through which both reins are passed before being brought, one on either side of the neck, to the rider's hand, prevents all risk of the stargazer throwing the reins over his head.

"

The horse afflicted with the contrary vice, boring, or carrying the head too low, may be taught to keep it up by the use of the gagsnaffle, which is so contrived that by means of a piped rein buckled high on the cheek-piece and carried through extra rings on the bit, the

mouthpiece can be pressed into the corners of the mouth.

Many devices have been tried to cure horses with "one-sided" mouths; circular pieces of stiff leather with a few studs rivetted on them and fixed on the bit answer the direct purpose, but are liable to make the horse shy of "going up to the

bridle." Messrs. Champion & Wilton have a bit for one-sided mouths which has given excellent results; it is a plain steel bar bent almost to a right angle, and "twisted" on the lower sur

CAPTAIN HAYES' BREAKING SNAFFLE

face of the end which applies to the callous side of the mouth. This simple device is said to be very effective.

A carriage horse with a fairly good mouth should go well in a "Liverpool Bit" or else a "Sliding-cheek-driving-bit "; anything approaching to a high port should be avoided as unneces