much better than another ; but we can do a good deal to stop him from running away. Here the real knack consists in prevention, and therefore the watchful horseman will never let his animal get out of hand. Immediately he feels that the horse is ready to break away, he will steady him and calm him down by the voice and pats on the neck.

A horse often runs away because the bars of his mouth have become insensible on account of the rider pulling at him, which in this case is like pulling at a wall, and consequently the horse can bolt when he likes.

To keep the mouth fresh, the rider ought to use the snaffle and curb alternately ; that is to say, he should not let the animal take a bearing on either reins.

Some horses run away with their heads high, others bring the chin into the breast. We should always try to lower the heads of the former with the curb, and to raise those of the latter with the snaffle.

If the horse succeeds in bringing the head so low down and in rounding the neck so much that the cheeks of the curb are in contact with the breast, the more the rider pulls at the curb reins, the less will the bit act on the mouth,^[1] and the more will he maintain the wrong position of his head and neck. The only thing he has to do in this case is to saw the snaffle.

With horses which get the chin into the chest it is well to use a gag snaffle, which acts upwards instead of backwards. It is also useful with a horse that has a heavy head and neck, which such an animal always tries to make his rider carry. Of course I offer this advice only to those who do not know how to balance their horses.

A horse is often said to run away when in reality he is only carrying away his rider.