Mouthing gear.—The gear I use for giving a horse a good mouth—in other words, for teaching him to obey the indications of the rein and leg—consists of a bridle with a heavy, smooth snaffle, which has leather guards on each side; a standing martingale; long reins; a driving pad, or cross-trees which prevent the reins going over the horse’s back, and which is kept in place by a crupper and rein-bearers hanging down on each side of the quarters (see Figs. 41 and 42).

The standing martingale is attached to the

rings of the snaffle and to the girth of the driving pad, and is lengthened out, as much as is compatible with its preventing the animal from getting the snaffle off the bars of his lower jaw, and on to the corners of his mouth (see page 70 and Fig. 3). The reins are 22 ft. long, are made of 1½ inch “circular” webbing; they pass through the rein-bearers, and buckle on to the rings of the snaffle. The reins are separate from each other; so that, if the horse tries to bolt away when being driven on foot, he can always be pulled round and held fast, by letting go one rein and holding the other tight. The rein-bearers are made about 3 ft. 6 in. long on each side for a horse about 15·2 high, and can be taken up or let out as may be necessary.

Bridling and saddling a Horse for the first time.—These operations may be accomplished with great ease, by means of the rope-twitch (see page 113), and, if necessary, by tying up one fore-leg; especially, if the animal has been rendered quiet in the manner described in Chapter III.

Mouthing on foot.—After making the horse sufficiently steady to pay attention to the instruction about to be given—if this has not already been done—the breaker, while remaining on foot, should take the reins in his hands, and, by gently “feeling the mouth,” “clucking” to him, and, at times, cracking the whip, should get him to circle round him, to the left, for instance. If the animal resents the outward rein touching his quarters, the driver should, at first, work with this rein on the driving pad or cross-trees, as in Fig. 41, and then, as the horse gradually learns to bear the pressure without flinching, he should bring it down, as in Fig. 44. By the aid of the rope-twitch (see page 113), to be used by an assistant as may be necessary, it is very easy to overcome any resentment the horse may evince to the rein coming against his hind-legs. We need not, except, perhaps, in very rare cases, employ this form of punishment here; for the horse, on finding that the rein does not hurt him, will quickly cease from manifesting irritation at its presence. The employment of pressure with the outward rein will teach the horse the use of support from the rider’s outward leg.

When we have got the animal to circle quietly to the left for a few times, we should turn him to the right with the right rein, acting on his mouth and quarters, so as to teach him, on feeling the indication of the rein on his mouth and side, to turn his quarters, as well as his head and neck (see page 56). He should now be circled to the right on the same principle. After he has learned to do his circles readily and collectedly, with the reins hanging down, he should be made to perform them with the outward rein on the driving pad; so as to accustom him to the feel of the rein in the position it would occupy, when he is being ridden, or driven in harness. If he refuses to turn when the rein is on the pad, a cut or two with the whip will soon teach him to come round quickly. When he is perfect in circling and turning at the trot, we should teach him to rein back, taking care to ease the reins and allow him to “collect” himself, after each step he takes to the rear. When turning, stopping, restraining, or reining back the horse, our pull on the reins—to use Mr. John Hubert Moore’s expression—should resemble that which we would employ in drawing a cork out of a bottle, it being free from any snatch or jerk. While circling the horse, the breaker should stand to the side and a little to the rear of the animal (see Fig. 43). This mouthing on foot should, I think, be confined almost entirely to circling, with, of course, frequent changes, and occasional reining back, and should be continued until the required softness of mouth and suppleness of neck are attained. If the animal be found to be “harder” on one side of the mouth, than on the other, he should be worked more on the former, than on the latter;

until he goes equally well on both. The reader need only see this method of driving on foot practically demonstrated, to recognise its immense utility, and to acknowledge the fact that it entirely does away with any necessity for the objectionable process of lunging (see page 64).

American horse-tamers use the long reins, without the standing martingale or driving pad, and pass them through rings on a specially prepared surcingle, through the shaft tugs of ordinary single harness, or through the irons of stirrup leathers. Men who try to mouth horses in this manner, are apt to fail to teach their pupils to bend their necks to the rein, and, at the same time, to go up to the bridle; for the animal thus instructed, will always be liable to resist the action of the mouth-piece by chucking up his head and getting the mouth-piece off the bars, and on to the corners of the mouth. In breaking for harness, and, especially, for fast trotting on level ground, the necessity for teaching the horse to bend his neck, to get his hind-quarters under him, and to moderate his speed in response to a pull on the reins, is not nearly so imperative, as in educating the charger, hunter and steeple-chaser, who must have always a “spare leg,” ready for any emergency.

The principle of the specially constructed driving pad and cross-trees, is an idea of my own, which I have found of great use. By its employment, we have no need of the bearing reins, which some of the old Irish breakers were accustomed to use; for, if the horse holds his head too low down, it can be easily got up into its proper position when circling the animal, by “playing” with the outward rein, which, in this case, should rest on the driving pad. I cannot approve of rendering the neck rigid by the combined employment of martingale and bearing reins. With respect to the objections to the use of the last-mentioned appliance, see page 55. With skittish animals that jump about much when being mouthed, and with horses that rear, the standing martingale is of great service in preventing the rein getting over the back, and in giving the breaker command over these refractory subjects. Besides this, I find that the presence of the driving pad and rein-bearers is of great use in allowing me to shift the rein up and down as I like.

The breaker should avoid driving the horse on foot, straight in front of him, more than he can help; for, if he does so, he can hardly escape, at times, from keeping a “dead pull” on the animal’s mouth. The objectionable practice of driving “youngsters” on foot for miles along a road, as may be seen in full operation at Newmarket and other training resorts, is the fruitful cause of the dead mouths and habit of boring possessed by many race-horses. The young animal, to relieve the bars of his mouth of the constant pressure of the mouth-piece, naturally, gets his chin into his chest, in order to transfer a portion of the pull on to the crown of his head. Instead of acting in this fashion, the breaker, if he wants to take his pupil for a walk on foot, might, after having mouthed him in the manner I have described, put on the leading-rein crupper (see page 148), and lead him where he wished, without incurring any risk of spoiling his mouth.

The whole of this mouthing on foot, might be taught the horse in one lesson of, say, an hour’s duration. With a young animal that had never been bridled before, the instruction might be spread over two days, a couple of lessons of half-an-hour’s duration each, being given on each day. In point of fact, one or two lessons will, in almost all cases, be sufficient to teach the horse to obey the indications of the rein properly. After that, he will require only a few days’ careful riding and bending to make his mouth perfect.

If the animal prove headstrong or sulky, he should be brought under control, in the manner described in the preceding chapter.

The method of mouthing which I have described, is as applicable to “spoiled” horses, as it is to animals that have never been handled. To my thinking, one great beauty in it—apart from its immense advantage of never giving the animal the chance of getting the upper hand, which he might easily do, were the rider in the saddle—is, that the breaker who employs it, can tell at any moment how his pupil is progressing, by his touch on the reins, and can, accordingly, with well-grounded confidence, use his own judgment in regulating the amount of instruction. The man, however, who trusts to tying the horse up with side-or pillar-reins to the breaking snaffle, in order to get his mouth soft, must necessarily work, more or less, in the dark, and by rule of thumb. Instead of tying a horse up in a fixed position, and thereby cramping the action of his muscles, we retain them supple and ready to respond to our slightest touch, by keeping them in a constant state of change, from contraction to relaxation, without, however, inducing fatigue, the effect of which, on the nerves, is to cause the muscles to work in a slow and ill-regulated manner.

After having broken the horse thoroughly to the snaffle, we may, if required for special work, break him, in the same manner, to the curb, the principles of which I have described in my book on Riding on the Flat and Across Country.

When one is unprovided with a driving pad made after my pattern, one may use, as a makeshift, a saddle, through the stirrup-irons of which one may pass the reins (see Fig. 44); not forgetting the standing martingale, a substitute for which may be readily made by connecting the rings of the snaffle to the rings of a running martingale, by a loop of leather, or cord.

Colonel Wardrop, who commands the 12th Lancers, shewed me a method he practises, of driving horses over jumps with long ropes which pass

through the stirrup-irons and rings of the snaffle, and are fixed on tightly to the girths and stirrup-irons, on their respective sides (see Fig. 45). This excellent authority on the art of training horses to safely negotiate the difficult lines of country met with in Ireland, tells me that he has found this method of great use for teaching horses to “gather themselves together” in proper style, when coming up to the big banks and ditches that may be seen to perfection in the counties of Kildare and Tipperary. For reasons which I have fully explained in this book, I would advise that the horse should, at first, be thoroughly taught to obey the indications of the rein in the manner I have described. After that, Colonel Wardrop’s plan might be useful for giving the horse a few practical lessons over the obstacles in question.