UC-NRLF 
 
 E77 MMD 
 

THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
BITS 
 
 AND 
 
 HORSES 
 
 Price One Shilling. 
 
 SEVENTH EDITION. 
 
 BEARING REINS 
 
 HARNESS, 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD FORDHAM FLOWER. 
 
 CASSELL& COMPANY, LIMITED. 
 LondoitParis' New Ybpk ari-d ' lelbcurne 
 
PRICE SIXPENCE. 
 illustrated ivith a Portrait of MACADAM, 
 
 TOE STONES OF LONDON; 
 
 OR, 
 
 MACADAM VERSUS VESTEIES. 
 
 EDWARD FORDHAM FLOWER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "BITS AND SEARING-REINS." 
 
 "On behalf of the ratepayers of the metropolis, Mr. Flower 
 denounces a continuance of the present system, and invokes the 
 pressure of public opinion on local authorities to return to the 
 common-sense plan of Macadam." Morning Post. 
 
 " And shall not the man who sets himself to right this wrong, 
 who in his capital sixpenny pamphlet, The Stones of London (pub- 
 lished by Cassell), has given us a likeness of Macadam, a history 
 of his road -reform, and an account of the gradual divergence from 
 his admirable " antiques vice," made of stones of six-ounce weight 
 and two-inch guage, till our streets have become the rough and 
 costly horse-traps that we know shall not Edward Fordham 
 Flower have his statue set up in the pages of Punch at least, if not 
 in some great London thoroughfare, to keep contractors in check 
 and surveyors at their work, as ' the Colossus of Roads ? ' " Punch f 
 
 "It would greatly add to the comfort of large numbers of 
 Londoners if the surveyors who have charge of the roads were made 
 to pass an examination in the first principles of road-making. A 
 pamphlet by Mr. E. F. Flower, which Messrs. Cassell, Fetter, 
 Galpin & Co. have just published, under the title of " The Stones of 
 London ; or, Macadam versus the Vestries," would be an excellent 
 text-book for such an examination. Mr. Flower points out the 
 reason, which he has more than once expounded in letters to the 
 Daily News, why our macadamised roads are always in such dis- 
 creditable condition." Daily News. 
 
 "The roughness of our roads, both in town and country, and 
 their utter unsuitability for traffic at certain seasons of the year, are 
 matters of notoriety, and if Mr. Flower can effect the needed reform 
 here, he will do as much in another way to ameliorate the condition 
 of the horse as he has already done by attacking the abuse of the 
 bearing-rein." Farm Journal. 
 
 CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED 
 
 LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK & MELBOURNE. 
 
BITS AND BEARING-REINS ; 
 
 WITH OBSERVATIONS ON 
 
 HORSES AND HARNESS. 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWABD FOBDHAM FLOWEB. 
 
 fcttton. 
 
 CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED 
 
 LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK $ MELBOURNE. 
 
 [ALL EIGHTS RESERVED.] 
 
 rtL />. 
 
PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION. 
 
 ALTHOUGH it may be true that " the evil that 
 men do lives after them," it happily is not always 
 the case that " the good is oft interred with their 
 bones/' The work to which Mr. Flower devoted 
 his later years still lives and grows, and through- 
 out the land men are gradually learning to see 
 and to condemn the unnecessary torture to which 
 fashion has subjected the noblest and most useful 
 of animals ; this is evidenced by the continued 
 demand for " Bits and Bearing-reins," which has 
 now exhausted the sixth edition. 
 
 Mr. Flower's sons have decided to republish 
 the work without any alteration or addition, but 
 thinking that readers may care to know something 
 of the man as well as of his work, the following 
 brief sketch of his life is appended. 
 
 EDWARD FORDHAM FLOWER was born on the 
 31st of January, 1805, being the younger son of Mr. 
 Richard Flower, of Marden Hill, near Hertford, a 
 
 M37C&55 
 
brewer, banker, and well-known agriculturist of 
 his day, who, among other public services, took an 
 active part in an attempt (not ultimately successful) 
 to introduce merino sheep into England, with a 
 view to improve the character . of the wool grown 
 in this country. His mother was Elizabeth Ford- 
 ham, of an old Hertfordshire family of that name. 
 One of his uncles was Mr. Benjamin Flower, a 
 political writer and newspaper editor of some 
 celebrity, who, when " advanced " views were less 
 popular than they are at the present day, suffered 
 more than once for the too free expression of his 
 opinions by imprisonment in Newgate. This 
 uncle was the father of the talented and accom- 
 plished sisters, Sarah and Eliza Flower, the former 
 of whom composed the words, and the latter the 
 music, of the hymn " Nearer, my God, to Thee," 
 now found in every collection of sacred poetry. 
 
 When the subject of our notice was a boy of 
 thirteen, his father, actuated chiefly by political 
 motives, sold his estate in Hertfordshire and all 
 his possessions in this country, and emigrated with 
 his whole family to America, founding the settle- 
 ment of Albion in what was then the "backwoods" 
 
5 
 
 of Illinois. In the conflicts which soon afterwards 
 took place between the advocates of negro slavery 
 and of freedom, he threw all his influence on the 
 latter side, and had a considerable share in pre- 
 venting Illinois from finally becoming a slave- 
 holding state. At the age of twenty Edward 
 Flower returned to England, and a few years after- 
 wards married Celina, the eldest daughter of Mr. 
 John Greaves, of Eadford House, near Leamington, 
 who, after nearly fifty-six years of married life, 
 survived him only a few months. Selecting Strat- 
 ford-on-Avon as his future residence, he commenced 
 to build the brewery, which has now become, under 
 the management of his sons, so important an ele- 
 ment in the commercial prosperity of the town. 
 
 During the early part of his residence at 
 Stratford, Mr. Flower lived near the brewery, the 
 rapid development of which was due to his 
 extreme assiduity and perseverance; but in 1855 he 
 built the pleasantly-situated house, a short distance 
 from the town, known as "The Hill," now the 
 home of his youngest son. Here all cultivated 
 visitors to Shakespeare's birthplace, especially those 
 from the other side of the Atlantic, were sure to 
 
6 
 
 meet with a hearty and hospitable welcome. Mr. 
 Flower took an active part in all the affairs of the 
 borough (of which he was four times chosen mayor) 
 and of the county, of which he was a magistrate ; 
 and the energy he threw into the organisation and 
 promotion of the tercentenary celebration of 
 Shakespeare's birth, in 1864, of the managing 
 committee of which he was chairman, will be fresh 
 in the memory of many. At the outbreak of the 
 war of secession in the United States, he at once 
 saw that it was a struggle between the causes of 
 slavery and freedom, and he wrote, spoke, and 
 lectured in advocacy of the course taken by the 
 Northern States. 
 
 Being a very ready speaker, and inheriting very 
 strongly the political convictions of his family, he 
 was at one time desirous of Parliamentary dis- 
 tinction, and at the election of July, 1865, at only 
 twc days' notice, he stood for the borough of 
 Coventry, losing the election by only a few votes. 
 In 1868, when it was thought that the Eeform Bill 
 just passed might have altered the balance of the 
 parties in the counties, it was determined to 
 contest the hitherto firmly -held Conservative seats 
 
of North Warwickshire, and Mr. Flower was 
 selected, in conjunction with Mr. Gr. F. Muntz, as 
 the Liberal candidate, with the result, however, of 
 the return of the old members. Shortly after this 
 a severe illness caused Mr. Flower to renounce 
 public life for many years ; and in 1873 he 
 removed his residence to London, though continuing 
 to the end to take the greatest interest in all that 
 concerned the town of Stratford, and rarely missing 
 attendance at the quarter sessions at Warwick, 
 whenever his health permitted him to be present. 
 
 As it was quite inconsistent with his energetic 
 nature to be idle, he henceforth devoted himself to 
 an earnest endeavour to mitigate the sufferings to 
 which horses are exposed by improper harness, 
 especially tight bearing-reins and severe bits. Mr. 
 Flower from his childhood had always a passion 
 for horses, having seldom passed a day of his life 
 without riding or driving, and had a great love for 
 the animals which were to him such a source of 
 enjoyment. Hence he could not bear to see them 
 ill-treated through the ignorance or carelessness of 
 their employers. He wrote, published, and largely 
 circulated, at his own expense, pamphlets upon 
 
8 
 
 " Horses and Harness," and " Bits and Bearing- 
 reins/' and either wrote himself or caused others 
 to write, innumerable letters and articles in various 
 journals calling attention to the subject. He gave 
 lectures upon it in various parts of the country, 
 and never lost an opportunity of denouncing, 
 exhorting, and entreating all those who, generally, 
 solely for fashion's sake, were offenders against the 
 laws of humanity. He also took up the question 
 of . road-making, showing in a pamphlet, called 
 "The Stones of London," how the admirable 
 methods of Macadam have been completely de- 
 parted from by his professed followers of the 
 present day. 
 
 In Eotten Eow, where he daily took his 
 favourite exercise, his noble, erect figure, finely- cut 
 features, and flowing white beard and hair, were 
 familiar to all, and will be much missed by a large 
 circle of friends, to whom his warmth of heart and 
 openness and generosity of disposition had through 
 life been strong sources of attachment. He died 
 at his residence, 35, Hyde Park Gardens, on the 
 20th of March, 1883, and leaves three sons (1) 
 Charles Edward, of Avonbank, and Grlencassley: 
 
9 
 
 Sutherlandshire ; (2) William Henry, RB.S. and 
 LL.D., Director of the Natural History Depart- 
 ment of the British Museum, and President of 
 the Zoological Society of London ; and (3) Edgar, 
 of The Hill, Stratford- on- Avon, and Middle 
 Hill, near Broadway. 
 
 November, 1885. 
 
AUTOBIOGKAPHICAL INTEODUCTION. 
 
 As my name has lately been associated with 
 efforts to abolish the barbarous custom of driving 
 carriage-horses with Gag bearing-reins, sharp 
 Curbs, and atrocious Bits, to show that I do not 
 speak without knowledge and experience, I will 
 sketch a few facts in my past life bearing on 
 the subject of horses. I do not remember the 
 time when I could not ride. At four years of 
 age I used to accompany a servant to our post- 
 town, three miles from my father's residence; 
 for letters, and before I was five went alone 
 every morning on my pony for them. 
 
 My father was an excellent rider, and hunted 
 with Lord Salisbury's hounds at that time. I 
 used to go out frequently with him. I and my 
 little pony (Moses) were well known to the then 
 Dowager Lady Salisbury, whom I used to follow 
 as well as I could, by scrambling up and down 
 the banks, and along the Hertfordshire lanes. I 
 
12 
 
 well remember being sent, at ten years of age, 
 alone, a distance of forty miles to carry a letter, 
 and bring back the answer the next day, that 
 being a quicker way of sending it across the 
 country than by post. That ride was done on a 
 donkey, a fine Spanish ass, which my father im- 
 ported with a large flock of merino sheep. In 
 my eleventh year I went, on that same donkey, 
 from our residence near Hertford to Gruildford, 
 in Surrey, on a similar errand ; indeed, at that 
 time riding and driving formed a large item in 
 my scheme of education, much to my satis- 
 faction. 
 
 Then the scene changed; but the ruling pas- 
 sion was still the same. We were in America, 
 bound for what was then the "Far West." The 
 road over the Alleghany Mountains for long dis- 
 tances was a mere track, or worse. I was then 
 just thirteen, and I drove a pair of horses in an 
 American carriage all the way, three hundred miles, 
 from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. My mother, who 
 was lame, did not like to trust the driving to any 
 one but me. Had I used bearing-reins, curbs, 
 &c., we should have come to grief. 
 
 Then we floated down the Ohio (in arks) before 
 there were any steamboats on its waters ; and 
 another long and difficult driving journey brought 
 
13 
 
 us to our destination. During the next few years 
 I took many long journeys with my horse and 
 dogs, sometimes lying out all night under a tree 
 and lighting a fire to scare the wolves, when I 
 would make a pillow of the saddle, and lie close 
 to my horse's back for warmth. In that way 
 we became friends, and I can never look upon 
 horses but with feelings of sympathy, knowing 
 how well they appreciate it, and how they suffer 
 when neglected or unkindly treated. But I must 
 get on with my story, though it is tempting to 
 linger over some of those wild journeys of my 
 youth. 
 
 Another change, and I returned to England, 
 but was never without a horse. When I could 
 not afford to give high prices, there was one 
 fault I could always put up with, and that was 
 what is called "temper." If a horse had a 
 character for being vicious, that was the horse 
 for me. I knew that probably by judicious 
 management and kindness I could make him 
 tractable, so I frequently got a capital animal 
 at a very low price, and I have done as much 
 riding and driving about the country as any one, 
 with no bearing-reins, and generally with a plain 
 snaffle bridle. 
 
 A few years ago I bought a fine horse with a 
 
14 
 
 bad character lie was a roarer, a jibber, a bolter, 
 and the late coachman told me I should never 
 be able to drive him; but I liked his looks, and 
 the result confirmed my good opinion. The roar- 
 ing soon ceased after the tight gag bearing-rein 
 was taken away; an easy bit was put in his 
 mouth instead of the severe one, which had caused 
 him to be restive through sheer pain ; he became 
 perfectly tractable, and I have driven him for 
 years both in double and single harness with 
 great comfort and safety. 
 
 I have for many seasons been well known in 
 various hunting-fields in the Midland counties, but 
 in consequence of a severe illness I have lately 
 been obliged to give up hunting ; and last year I 
 came to live in London, thinking that the E/ow 
 and the Park would in future be field enough for 
 me ; and so it would, and a very enjoyable one, 
 were it not disfigured and disgraced by the bar- 
 barous and senseless use of spurs, whips, curbs, 
 gag -bits, and bearing-reins. Fashion is strong- 
 stronger, I fear, than humanity but still I have 
 hopes. Fashion no longer orders horses to be 
 cropped, docked, and nicked ; therefore these new 
 forms of distortion and cruelty may give way. 
 
 If a few leaders of fashion would join with 
 men and women of common sense and lovers of 
 
i5 
 
 humanity, we would soon wipe out this blot upon 
 our civilisation. I am happy to have been 
 allowed to raise my feeble voice in the cause : 
 and I heartily thank all those (and they are 
 many) who have come forward to help and 
 encourage me. I shall persevere, and though I 
 am old, I do not despair of living long enough 
 to have it engraved on my tombstone,* " He was 
 one of those men who caused the bearing-rein to 
 be abolished." 
 
 E. F. FLOWER 
 
 35, Hyde Park Gardens. 
 
 * See Sir Arthur Helps' " Some Talk about Animals and their 
 Masters,'' p. 68. 
 
A FEW WOEDS ABOUT BEAEING-KEHSTS. 
 
 THE evils of Bearing-reins, of which the sole use 
 is to hold the horse's head at an unnatural and 
 dangerous height, have been so frequently and so 
 conclusively pointed out, that it might have been 
 hoped they would have become as obsolete as 
 cropping, docking, and nicking. 
 
 So far from this being the case, the evil has 
 been continued in an aggravated form by the 
 introduction of the " Gag bearing-rein." 
 
 The mouth of the horse is extremely sensitive. 
 The most valuable qualification for a horseman is 
 that he should possess what is termed " Hands." 
 The rarity of this qualification arises from the fact 
 that the hand of man is naturally far less sensitive 
 than the mouth of the horse. Hence ladies have 
 generally better hands than gentlemen, and gentle- 
 men better hands than grooms. 
 
 A horse in harness, without a bearing-rein, 
 has the free command of his limbs, under the 
 direction and control of his driver, communicated 
 
Plate 
 
 COMFORT. 
 
Plate Z 
 
 D n 
 
 DISCOMFORT. 
 
TORTURE 
 
17 
 
 
 
 to him by the ordinary bit. If the driver has 
 good hands the horse yields a prompt and ready 
 obedience, and the most perfect sympathy exists 
 between him and his master. A slip or a stumble 
 is not likely to occur, and should it happen, re- 
 covery is easy. 
 
 The first step in the wrong direction is the 
 use of the old-fashioned or simple bearing-rein 
 (PI. 2). 
 
 In this the bearing-rein is attached to the 
 ring of the driving -bit at B ; it passes through 
 a loop attached to the bridle at C, and is fastened 
 to a hook on the pad at A. The pad is pre- 
 vented from moving forward by the crupper. 
 Thus the head and tail of the horse are tied 
 together, more or less tightly, according as the 
 bearing-rein and crupper are respectively buckled. 
 
 This bearing-rein acts as a single or fixed 
 pulley (PI. 2, fig. 1), in which A, the power, is 
 equivalent to B, the weight. A is the groom's 
 hand or the power, B the horse's mouth or the 
 weight, and C the pulley. 
 
 This bearing-rein may at any time be un- 
 hooked from the pad, and the horse thus released 
 from its pressure ; a great relief when kept 
 standing for hours, and especially when going 
 up hill. 
 
18 
 
 Latterly a far more complicated and powerful 
 instrument has come into fashion. 
 
 This is the Bedouin, or Glag bearing-rein 
 (PL 3), which is attached to the top of the bridle 
 (at E). It is then passed through a swivel 
 attached to the separate bearing-rein bit, which 
 has nothing to do with the driving. Thence it 
 passes through the drop-ring (C), and is attached 
 to the pad and crupper as in the former case. 
 
 The effect of this is to double the power by 
 which it can be tightened, for by mechanics we 
 learn that 1 Ib. applied at A is equivalent to 
 2 Ibs. at B, a fact which every one can prove for 
 himself. 
 
 Thus it is evident what force is brought to bear 
 on the horse's mouth, a sufficiently sensitive organ, 
 even when unencumbered by another heavy bit, 
 with cruel cutting power. 
 
 Severe as is the simple bearing-rein explained 
 in PL 2, its evil is doubled by the gag system, for 
 its elevating power is, as we have shown, doubled, 
 nor can the coachman relax this terrible and 
 dangerous gag-bit, for separate as it is from the 
 driving apparatus, it would fall out of the horse's ' 
 mouth, and to put it in again would take time and 
 persuasion, or rather force. 
 
 The r>ain thus occasioned to the horse is intense. 
 
19 
 
 The action of every muscle is impeded. If a false 
 step is taken, recovery is rendered difficult. Dis- 
 comfort makes the poor animal restless. The 
 impatient movements occasioned by his distress are 
 not unfrequently visited by a cut from the whip of 
 an ignorant coachman ; the horse is called unruly 
 and ill-tempered, when he is only miserable. Some 
 new instrument of torture is forced into his mouth 
 in the shape of a bit, devised for the very purpose 
 of inflicting pain, until, with temper and mouth 
 both ruined, he passes into the hands of a 'bus- 
 driver or cabman, when his bearing-rein is cast 
 aside, and for the first time he is treated with 
 common sense and humanity. 
 
 It is a severe penance to any man who loves a 
 horse to walk along the fashionable streets or the 
 Park, and to witness the sufferings of horses from 
 this absurd and cruel practice. 
 
 Little does the benevolent dowager who sits 
 absorbed in the pages of the last tract of the 
 " Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals " 
 know of the sufferings of the two noble animals by 
 whom she is leisurely drawn along the " Lady's 
 Mile." 
 
 She probably fancies that the high prancing 
 step, and the toss of the head which scatters fiVies 
 of foam at every step, are expressions of pride and 
 
20 
 
 satisfaction at their task, when in fact they are 
 occasioned by pain, and a vain attempt to obtain a 
 momentary relief from their suffering. 
 
 Although the evil of bearing-reins has always 
 been clear to me, as will be seen by any one who 
 reads my introduction, the first time I expressed 
 my opinion in public was at the annual meeting of 
 the " Eoyal Society for the Suppression of Cruelty 
 to Animals" in 1868, following an eloquent and 
 powerful speech by the late Earl of Eomney. In 
 the appendix I shall reproduce part of that speech, 
 and my own also, as they have probably never 
 been read by any one from that time to this. But 
 no steps were taken to mitigate the evil ; indeed, it 
 has been increasing fearfully ever since, while the 
 eyes of the carriage-driving public seem closed, 
 and their hearts callous. 
 
 This last year I made another appeal through 
 the newspapers. Several editors were kind enough 
 to insert a few short letters of mine, which have 
 been extensively read both in town and country, 
 and I am happy to say with much good effect. 
 Expressions of sympathy and encouragement have 
 come to me from all quarters. Many noblemen, 
 gentlemen, and ladies have written to thank and 
 encourage me to persevere some to say they 
 never liave used bearing-reins, some that they 
 
21 
 
 shall in future abolish them, or that they have 
 done so, and that their horses go much better 
 without them. 
 
 Lord Portsmouth, for instance, a high authority, 
 says : " I never allow a bearing-rein to be used 
 in my establishment, nor did my father before me ; 
 I am sure they are both useless and cruel." 
 
 Thirty or forty years ago, when country people 
 were obliged to drive long distances, the simple 
 bearing-rein was sometimes used, but then it was 
 always unfastened in going up hill, to ease the 
 horse and allow him to exert his strength ; but now 
 I seldom or never see a bearing-rein unfastened, 
 even when standing for hours. 
 
 At that time four-in-hands were much more 
 common than they are now, as also were fast 
 coaches, and then there were plenty of good coach- 
 men. The " Tantivy " was a famous coach, going 
 from London to Birmingham, via Oxford, 120 miles 
 each day. There were four drivers, three of whom 
 used the simple bearing-rein, but Cracknell, who 
 drove from London to Oxford, never did. I well 
 remember sitting on the box with him when one 
 of his fellow- coachmen was ill, and for months he 
 drove the whole distance in one day, and back 
 the next, ten miles an hour, including stoppages, 
 and was always exact to time. His horses had no 
 
22 
 
 bearing-reins or cruppers, and soon after that all 
 the other coachmen left them off. But now some 
 gentlemen who drive "four-in-hand" say they 
 cannot hold their horses without gag-reins, curbs, 
 and sharp bits, and even then when they pull up 
 a groom or two has to stand at their heads to 
 keep them quiet, they being so irritated by all 
 those barbarous contrivances. 
 
 These are some of the facts and arguments 
 with which I plead the cause of this long-suffering 
 and much-abused friend and slave of man. I have 
 written warmly, but I believe truthfully ; and now 
 I only ask my readers to look with observing and 
 unprejudiced eyes upon their own and other horses, 
 and they will see that I have not exaggerated the 
 case. Many, I am sure, will then agree with me, 
 and act as common sense and humanity dictate, 
 abandoning at once and for ever the use of the gag 
 bearing-rein. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 SINCE my first edition was printed, we have had to lament the 
 loss of one who, in his interesting works on various subjects, 
 has said much to deprecate this form of cruelty ; he was one of 
 the first to give me sympathy and encouragement, and I have 
 a melancholy pleasure in producing a short letter from him, as 
 his valuable opinion must give weight to mine. 
 
 " DEAR MR. FLOWER, Your letter in the Daily News of 
 to-day looks well, and I trust will have a good effect. You 
 have evidently been careful not in the least to exaggerate 
 the suffering and the mischief caused by this foolish and 
 detestable bearing-rein. 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 "ARTHUR HELPS." 
 
CRUELTY TO HORSES. 
 
 To the Editor of the " Times" 
 
 SIR, Much has been written and said about cruelty to 
 animals, and a very excellent Society is doing much to suppress 
 it, in many ways very successfully; but there is one most 
 cruel and barbarous practice going on all round us, of which 
 they take no notice, possibly because the perpetrators are in 
 the higher classes of society, which really makes it much worse, 
 for they ought to know better. This stupid and cruel practice 
 is the use of the gag or Bedouin bearing-rein to carriage-horses; 
 which not only puts the animal to present torture, but by 
 forcing the head into an unnatural position, brings on many 
 painful and fatal disorders. Let any one watch the horses 
 in the Park, or standing as they do for hours at the theatres, 
 shops, &c., with foaming mouths, and tongues swollen and 
 hanging out, trying to get a little ease to their poor heads and 
 necks, by tossing them up, putting them sideways, or in any 
 possible position, vainly appealing to their unheeding or 
 ignorant masters, or coachmen, to slacken, if only for a few 
 minutes, the torturing rein, and then say if we can call our- 
 selves a humane people? Probably, the master or mistress 
 only hires the horses, and cares nothing about them, so long as 
 they get through their work, perhaps thinking that a horse 
 with his head stuck up in the air looks finer than in a natural 
 and graceful position. Many other evils of this bearing-rein 
 might be pointed out, especially when coupled, as they fre- 
 quently are, with one or other of the atrocious bits now in use ; 
 but what I have now said may be enough to draw the atten- 
 tion of some who, while they consider themselves lovers of 
 
25 
 
 humanity, and are anxious to suppress cruelty when they see it 
 in isolated cases, and among the lower orders, yet are all the 
 time inflicting it in this aggravated and senseless manner. 
 T am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 E. F. FLOWER. 
 
 THE GAG BEARING-REIN. 
 
 To the Editor of ike "Daily News" August 20. 
 
 SIR, You were so good as to insert a letter from me on 
 this subject in your impression of the 10th inst., and I have 
 been kindly responded to by many communications, public and 
 private. I have also to thank you heartily in the name ot 
 humanity for your excellent article on the llth. Surely, 
 enough, one might think, had been said on this subject, but 
 such evils, are slow of cure. I have always paid much atten- 
 tion to horses and to their treatment, and since I have lived in 
 London have been particularly struck with the general unkind- 
 ness of coachmen to their dumb slaves, and the ignorance and 
 indifference of masters and mistresses. I seldom ride in the 
 Park or in the fashionable streets during the season without 
 having my feelings outraged by some flagrant sight of suffering 
 and cruelty. When I have occasionally called the attention of 
 the coachman to it, or asked him to slacken a rein, he generally 
 tells me to mind my own business, and if I spoke to the 
 master, he would probably say, " Oh, the horses are not mine, 
 I only hire them." Whereas if I speak to a carter, and explain 
 to him how much more comfortable the animal would draw 
 his load if left free, he usually thanks me, and often does 
 what I suggest. 
 
 Indeed, I find as a rule much less sympathy between 
 drivers and their horses in the upper than in the lower classes, 
 and yet it is to prosecute the latter that the energies and 
 funds of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
 
26 
 
 Animals are applied. Beyond printing arguments, and dis- 
 tributing them to those who ask for them, the Society say 
 they can do nothing ; but surely this infliction of the gag 
 bearing-rein ought to come within the Act for "torturing 
 animals," under which there are hundreds of convictions every 
 year. I have not heard of one gentleman or gentleman's 
 coachman being brought to justice, though his horses may 
 stand gagged and tortured for half the night. No wonder 
 there are so many complaints of the want of good horses, of 
 the high price, and of their wearing out so soon. By inserting 
 this you will oblige yours obediently, 
 
 E. F. FLOWER. 
 
 GAG BEARING-REINS. 
 
 To the Editor of the "Daily News" 
 
 Sm, Allow me space for a few lines on one point which I 
 omitted in my former letter on this subject. There is fre- 
 quently a cross-bar at the bottom of the bit, and when the 
 bearing-rein is taken away, it is possible that the horse, by 
 rubbing the pole or shaft, may catch the bit on it, and cause an 
 accident, therefore the cross-bar ought to be cut away (it is of 
 no use), or an easy bit substituted, or a plain snaffle, which 
 for single harness is best of all, if a coachman has good hands, 
 and knows how to drive by judicious management, and not, as 
 is too often the case, entirely by main force, though with some 
 horses it may be necessary to have a curb, especially if their 
 mouths have been spoiled by bad driving. 
 
 I am happy to know that in consequence of the present 
 discussion, some of your readers have abolished the barbarous 
 invention of the gag bearing-rein, and they assure me their 
 horses go much better. 
 
 Yours obediently, 
 
 E. F. FLOWER. 
 
AN EARNEST APPEAL TO LADIES WHO OWN OB 
 DRIVE CARRIAGE.HORSES. 
 
 CRUELTY OF THE GAG BIT AND BEARING-REIN. 
 
 You all know the oft-quoted lines of Grey : 
 
 " Where ignorance is bliss 
 'Tis folly to be wise." 
 
 Upon that principle, I suppose, people shut their eyes to much 
 of the misery going on around them; but if by knowledge 
 they can remedy the evil, it is surely folly to be ignorant. 
 Ladies little know the amount of pain that is being inflicted 
 upon their carriage-horses by the use of the gag bearing -rein, 
 and the atrociously sharp bits and curbs which their coachmen 
 are so fond of using. When next you step out of your 
 carriage, or go into the Park or fashionable streets, just look 
 at the animals' mouths, which are naturally as sensitive as any 
 part of your own frame how they are frequently foaming, 
 quivering, lacerated by all that torturing iron, while their 
 heads are gagged up by a strong leather rein, through a double 
 pulley, to the saddle, which is made tight to the tail by the 
 crupper; so that the mouth and tail of the poor animal are 
 tied together ; and in that way they have to draw their load or 
 stand for hours at theatres, shops, &c., imrelieved, while pro- 
 bably the coachman amuses himself by "touching them up" 
 with his whip if they venture Jby restlessness to show the 
 agony they are enduring. 
 
 The coachman's excuse for extra sharp bits, curbs, and 
 reins generally is that the horses pull. Of course they pull 
 when they are hurt, to get away from the pain. Few horses 
 pull whose mouths have not been spoiled by rough hands and 
 hard bits. Ladies are accused of liking to see horses with 
 their heads stuck up in the air (like wooden rocking-horses) 
 
28 
 
 And their legs prancing. Surely it is because they do not 
 know how much more graceful a well-fed, not overworked 
 horse is in its free, natural attitudes. Do, ladies, look at your 
 horses' mouths ; do not mind what your coachmen say about 
 the necessity of such barbarous atrocities of gag bearing-reins 
 and sharp bits, and the irritating use of the whip; make 
 yourself acquainted with the animals to whom you owe so 
 much of your comfort and pleasure they will well repay you 
 for any consideration and kindness. Let them be driven with 
 as little pain to themselves as possible, and there will be far 
 less danger of their running away, kicking, stumbling, or 
 falling down, as nearly all accidents arise from some irritating 
 cause to the horse, either in the harness or the driver. 
 
 CELINA FLOWER. 
 
 " ANOTHER source of great suffering to animals, and with 
 which I am less practically acquainted, is the use of the bit. 
 What is suitable for one horse is not suitable for another ; and 
 in changing a bit, it is a matter of the greatest consequence 
 that it is suitable, otherwise you will be putting the animal to 
 unnecessary pain. And then there is the bearing-rein : the 
 use of this shows a want of information and knowledge of the 
 horse, and a great lack of knowing what are the capabilities of 
 the animal." Extract from Speech delivered at Torquay by 
 Baroness Burdett Coutts (1874). 
 
 From the " Daily News" August I2th, 1874. 
 
 IN our impression on Monday a Correspondent made an 
 appeal to the owners or hirers of carriage-horses to abandon 
 the use of the gag bearing-rein, which inflicts a very consider- 
 able amount of pain and discomfort upon these much-enduring 
 
29 
 
 animals. We fancy that the ladies and gentlemen in question 
 have no idea whatever of the torture which is thus inflicted 
 on horses, or they would immediately order their grooms to 
 go back to the old bearing-reins, or abandon both altogether. 
 The old one was bad enough, to be sure. Its only object 
 was to keep the head of the horse high in the air, and to 
 make it paw and rear at starting, for the admiration of 
 nurserymaids) but it did not at all add to the safety of the 
 inmates of the carriage in going down hill, when the horse 
 could not possibly recover from a stumble, while the unfor- 
 tunate animal, in going up hill, lost that chance of "putting 
 its head down to its work" which is natural to beasts of 
 draught. The gag bearing-rein, however, is infinitely worse in 
 its operation, chaining up the animal's head in an unnatural 
 and cramped position; while, as our Correspondent says, it 
 is generally used in combination with a bit so inhumanly 
 constructed as to provoke the temper of the quietest horse 
 going. It is no wonder that perfectly-broken horses hired for 
 the season from some job-master are returned to him at the end 
 of three months in a fair way to become habitual jibbers, 
 through the fashion in which they have been treated by some 
 reckless groom who wants to cut a dash at starting. As for 
 gentlemen who own the horses they drive, the comfort of these 
 animals should be to them a matter of constant attention, and 
 not left to depend on the caprice or ignorance of a servant. 
 We are sorry to hear, moreover, that this evil English fashion 
 is being copied abroad, where bearing-reins of every description 
 were at one time wholly unknown. Of course, whatever 
 England does in the way of horses and carriages must seem 
 good in the eyes of the lucky speculator on the Bourse, whose 
 only aim is to have a gorgeous turn-out in the Bois. But 
 English gentlemen are said to know their horses, and have a 
 tender care for them ; and we shall be glad to find the instru- 
 ment of torture we have mentioned put aside as unworthy of 
 the humaner tendencies of our time. 
 
30 
 
 Prom the " Evening Standard." 
 
 IN another column our readers will see that Mr. Flower 
 renews his protest against bearing-reins, and lays before the 
 public his own experience. What he says on the subject is 
 well worthy of attention, and cannot be dismissed as the 
 utterance of some unpractical humanitarian. For a generation 
 past the writer has been pretty well known as a cross-country 
 rider in Warwickshire, and he is, therefore, presumably well 
 qualified to speak about horses. And the bearing-rein ques- 
 tion is one which ought, just now, certainly to engage the 
 attention of those who care to do real work in the prevention 
 of cruelty to animals. It is whispered that when the con- 
 ference of humanitarians was recently in session at the Albert 
 Hall, there were some fine specimens of horse-torture to be 
 seen in the waiting carriages outside. Besides, the old- 
 fashioned bearing-rein, which was sometimes not worse than 
 merely uncomfortable, is being superseded by a bearing-rein 
 which hauls at the bit by a pulley, giving a pull of two pounds 
 at the mouth for every one on the rein. This, when tightly 
 fitted, has the unsightly effect of sometimes causing the tongue 
 of the horse to hang out of its mouth. So it is supplemented 
 by a curb-bit fitted with a hbop, in which the tongue is held 
 straight, the bar of the curb passing under the tongue, and 
 acting cruelly on the most tender and sensitive part of the 
 mouth. Not only are such fashions as these cruel, but their 
 adoption spoils good horses, and indicates that in all proba- 
 bility the coachman knows but little of his business. 
 
 GAG BEAEING-HEINS. 
 
 From the " Spectator." 
 
 A CORRESPONDENT of more than one of the morning papers, 
 Mr. E. F. Flower, has been descanting with great force and 
 
31 
 
 good sense on the absurdity of bearing-reins, a part of the 
 harness which has no effeet on the horse except an irritating 
 one, which, when a " gag bearing-rein. " is used, as it is now 
 more and more frequently in London, is a simple instrument of 
 torture. The truth is that the popularity of bearing-reins is 
 due almost entirely to grooms and coachmen, who have an 
 ignorant liking for that uneasy motion of the horse's head 
 which it induces, and which, they think, imposes on the world 
 as "fire." Now, a very large number of the class of self-made 
 rich men, having no knowledge of their own horses, are com- 
 pletely in the hands of their coachmen and grooms, and yield 
 an implicit faith, therefore, to the efficiency of the bearing-rein. 
 If a few long-haired gentlemen or ladies would try how far it 
 would add to the freedom of their own movements to have 
 their back hair fastened tight down to the small of their 
 waists, they would form a better notion of the delights and 
 utilities of the bearing-rein. 
 
 "In England," says an American paper, "the greatest 
 cruelty to horses comes from the use of the bearing-rein, which 
 is used for pomposity. The horses, with heads stuck in the 
 air, and mouths fretted and foaming, look so much more dash- 
 ing and spirited ! The other day, while the Congress concern- 
 ing cruelty was in session, there was a long line of coaches in 
 front of the building, and in many horses were suffering most 
 intensely, while the wealthy owners were weeping over the 
 woes of the animals of the poor." 
 
 To the Editor of the " Daily News." 
 
 Sept. 12. 
 
 SIR, I have just received the following letter, and as it 
 bears forcibly upon the subject of my former letters to you, I 
 shall be obliged by your giving it a place in your valuable 
 paper. Yours obediently, 
 
 E. R FLOWER. 
 
 35, Hyde Park Gardens, Sept. 5. 
 
 c 
 
32 
 
 " Derby, Sept. 4. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, I have read with deep interest your letter 
 of the 10th of last month relative to the use of bearing-reins, 
 AS they are now frequently applied to single and double 
 harness. Every one who has noticed, as you have done, the 
 torture to which some horses are subjected by having their 
 heads held in such an unnatural position for a length of time, 
 must feel with you the desirability of abating this evil as much 
 as possible. You have only alluded to horses driven in 
 London, but thousands of poor animals are sadly irritated and 
 injured throughout the country by the improper use of the 
 bearing-rein. As soon as I had read your admirable letter on 
 this subject, two circumstances occurred to my mind which I 
 doubt not will interest you. About 40 years ago I was 
 driving with my father in a gig, when, on descending a slight 
 hill, the horse, a very valuable one, stumbled. 
 
 " My father, having great strength in his arms, and being an 
 unusually good whip, retained his seat, and although the poor 
 animal broke his knees badly, he recovered himself before we 
 alighted. We noticed the repeated but fruitless efforts the 
 poor horse made to save himself from falling, and in doing this 
 his weight upon the bearing-rein actually drew the hook (which 
 was the old-fashioned D-shaped one) straight out, which libe- 
 rated the rein, and allowed the horse to regain his feet. We 
 noticed the ill effect of the bearing-rein, and discarded its use 
 for the future ; and it is my firm belief, from personal observa- 
 tion and matured experience, that horses do their work with 
 infinitely less fatigue to themselves and less danger in falling, 
 in case they stumble, if they have the free use of their heads. 
 About the same period my father purchased a nearly thorough- 
 bred mare for a fraction of her value, in consequence of the 
 gentleman to whom she belonged being unable to drive her. 
 She had a tender mouth, and the moment the coachman put 
 the Bedouin rein on the hook of the pad she reared and 
 
33 
 
 plunged so violently as to be really dangerous ; but after being 
 driven by us a few times without a bearing-rein, she became 
 the most docile creature ever driven in single or double 
 harness. 
 
 " There are undoubtedly some few horses whose heads can- 
 not be sufficiently held up to be driven with comfort without 
 the bearing-rein, but these need not be so tight as to cause the 
 horse pain, or prevent his putting his head in a natural position. 
 
 " In the great majority of cases it would prove greatly to 
 the interest of all owners of horses to discard the use of 
 the bearing or Bedouin reins. Yours very truly, 
 
 " HERBERT M. HOLMES. 
 E. F. Flower, Esq. 
 
 "P.S. When I am again in town, I shall be much pleased tc 
 spend an hour with you, and hear the progress you are making 
 in your philanthropic efforts in behalf of the London horses. 
 I am glad to say there is little to complain of in this part of 
 the country; several gentlemen have abandoned the use of 
 bearing-reins since reading your letters in our local papers. 
 One, who drives into town most days eight miles of hilly road, 
 assures me he does it now in a quarter of an hour less time, 
 and with less distress to the horses." 
 
 Part of a Speech by the late Earl of Romney at the Annual 
 Meeting of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
 Animals in 1868. 
 
 " I WILL now apeak of the upper classes. I regret to saj 
 that a practice is now being revived which was in vogue some 
 thirty or forty years ago, but had been discontinued, and that 
 is putting bearing-reins upon the horses. I have no doubt 
 that half the persons who adopt this practice are quite uncon- 
 scious of the cruelty of it. I well recollect that when Sir 
 Francis Head came over from North America, he drew atten- 
 
34 
 
 tion to the extreme folly, without going further than that, 
 when you want an animal to work, of putting something upon 
 him which tends to restrain him from doing that work. For 
 some time the foolish fashion went out, but I regret to say that 
 it seems now to be reviving. It must be a source of grief to 
 see the number of animals in carriages to which this bearing- 
 rein is applied. The first thing is, whatever may be the form 
 of the neck of the horse, to bring him so to speak into the 
 same line, and the bearing-rein is introduced in order to bring 
 his head into the required position. He is then attached to a 
 carriage, and what is the next step 1 Perhaps the carriage is 
 ordered to the door a couple of hours before it suits the con- 
 venience of the riders to enter it, and they let the horse stand 
 there exposed to the heat of the sun and the biting of the 
 flies ; and there is the wretched animal with his head stuck up 
 in the air, unable to drive away a fly; and among those persons 
 who allow that, let me earnestly ask are there any ladies or 
 gentlemen who come here and satisfy their conscience by sub- 
 scribing a guinea a year to this Society, in order that some 
 wretched costermonger, who has to maintain himself and 
 family by working a donkey, may be brought before a magis- 
 trate, committed and punished because his animal has got a 
 sore? Those persons, by their want of sympathy, teach the 
 custom until it comes down to, and is adopted by, the coster- 
 monger. If I had the power, I should like to put these people 
 out in the sun half undressed, and let the flies bite them, 
 because they would very soon be able to understand what 
 torture they were inflicting upon those poor unfortunate 
 animals ; for while the wealthy classes can have no excuse for 
 their cruelty, often the poor costermonger pleads poverty and 
 the wants of his family as an excuse. The question is, can 
 anything be done by this Society to obviate the evils to which 
 I have referred ? Is there any mode which can be suggested to 
 these persons in order to show the mischief which they are 
 doing? I was talking to a job-master and veterinary-surgeon 
 
35 
 
 this morning upon the subject, and he assured me that much 
 mischief was done, and that the effect of the bearing-rein upon 
 the construction of some portion of the throat of the horse was 
 to make them roarers, so that we are not only foolish to use 
 such an appliance, but we are wicked as well. The Secretary 
 informs me that there is a book written upon the subject. 
 I think it would be worth while if we were to send it to 
 persons of influence, in order that they may have the subject 
 brought to their notice." 
 
 Mr. FLOWER : " I am happy that the noble Lord who has 
 preceded me has touched upon the subject upon which I was 
 anxious to speak, when I was asked to second this resolution. 
 I think that attention must be called to the different depart- 
 ments, if I may so express myself, of the cruelty ques- 
 tion to animals ; and the particular department to which my 
 attention has been called is that which the noble Lord on my 
 left has so graphically and ably exposed, and to which the 
 higher classes of society have not had their attention suffi- 
 ciently called, namely, the bearing-rein. Having had, both in 
 America and in England, more than fifty years' experience of 
 the horse, I am prepared to affirm (and I feel assured that you 
 will not omit to attend to the subject) that there is not a more 
 unnecessary or gratuitous cruelty than the bearing-rein as it is 
 now put on the horse by the higher class of society. Among 
 the lower class of society, with whom I have often had to deal, 
 I have got the answer, ' Look at that horse and compare him 
 with mine.' I will tell you the difference. The bearing-rein 
 which Sir Francis Head abolished by good writing was compa- 
 ratively a humane bearing-rein to many bearing-reins which 
 we see in London at the present time. I must describe to you 
 what this bearing-rein practically is. In the first place I must 
 tell you that the old-fashioned bearing-rein merely took a 
 single rein from each side of the bit, and was fastened to the 
 collar or the saddle. The new-fashioned bearing-rein, or 
 Bedouin or gag bearing-rein, is fastened first to the head of the 
 
bridle against the horse's ears, and then a small round piece of 
 leather comes down and passes through a ring in the horse's 
 bit. It is then passed over the collar to the saddle, and he is 
 reined in by the groom. What is the effect of that 1 Instead 
 of the groom, when he reins up the horse, exerting the power 
 of a pound weight, this acts as a pulley, and he exerts the 
 power of two pounds. Probably people do not sufficiently 
 consider this when they have these bearing-reins. I will ask 
 you philanthropic gentlemen and tender-hearted ladies only to 
 walk down St. James's Street on a Drawing Room day, and see 
 the agony which is caused to exist there. Ladies in their 
 carriages, going to the Drawing Room, and gentlemen going to 
 the Drawing Koom, do not attend to these matters; the 
 coachman on the box, to save a little trouble in the manage- 
 ment of his horses, folding his arms ; the footman not getting 
 off, as he should do, to relieve the head when the horse is 
 standing still all are accessories to what I denounce as a 
 great and unnecessary cruelty which is practised at the present 
 day. . I fully bear out what has been said before me, as I feel 
 so strongly on the subject, having known great injury to arise 
 to horses who have been so treated. Speaking to a dealer some 
 years ago upon the subject, I asked him how it was he was 
 gradually tightening up horses' heads from day to day before 
 he sold them. He said that many people would not buy them 
 unless he did so that London people always wanted their 
 horses to carry their heads high and to step high ; and he said, 
 ' another thing is, it soon wears them out, and they come for 
 another pair of horses.' If a horse is naturally a high- 
 stepping one, that is one thing, but to get a horse out of his 
 natural gait I hold to be wanton cruelty. Some years ago all 
 the coach-horses had bearing-reins, until Sir Francis Head 
 wrote them down. I very well remember observing to a 
 coachman on- one occasion that he had not the bearing-rein. 
 He said that he had been reading the writings of Sir Francis 
 Head, and (said he), ' How do you imagine that a horse can be 
 
37 
 
 the better for having his head and his tail tied together/ for 
 from the crupper to the mouth there is a tightness which is 
 very bad for the horse. There is one thing which I wish you 
 would observe, and get your friends to observe also, because if 
 you were to do that we should get rid of the tightness of these 
 beading-reins. Many of you have no doubt noticed cab-horses 
 and omnibus-horses at work without any bearing-reins at all. 
 There are many horses which have been worked with a bear- 
 ing-rein, but would not have strength to do their work if the 
 bearing-rein were applied to them now. They work without 
 the bearing-rein, and they do not tumble down. You will see 
 in St. James's Street, when there is a Drawing Room, horses 
 stand for two or three hours together. What is the expression 
 of their countenance? They throw their heads first on one 
 side and then on the other. They are trussed up like a fowl 
 going to be roasted. They are put in that position whicli 
 produces immense pain, which is wanton cruelty. 
 
 " I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, to get your friends to 
 consider this point, for I have heard from the very members of 
 this Society, ' Oh, no, it is nothing at all it is merely a 
 matter of habit;' but I assure you that until this cruel 
 bearing-rein is done away with, there is little to be done with 
 the ordinary habits of the lower classes of society. I have 
 used bearing-reins myself with some particular horses, but t 
 have never used the gag bearing-rein. It is this particular 
 instrument which, after Sir Francis Head had done away with 
 the old bearing-rein, some saddler invented to sell. I ask you 
 to distinguish between the two things. A slack bearing-rein 
 which is put on many of the working horses, though I do not 
 think them good things, is a comparatively innocuous con- 
 trivance, while the bearing-rein strapped up with the tightness 
 with which you see it, is one of the most cruel things which 
 could exist ; and I do not think you could do better, when the 
 London season begins, than to have some paper drawn up and 
 sent to every person who keeps a carriage and horses in 
 
38 
 
 London. It has been said, ' The Society must not interfere 
 with private rights.' Why, you are not interfering with 
 private rights, but you are interfering with private wrongs. 
 In this same way the Society is interfering all day long with 
 private rights, as these abuses are called. But attention being 
 drawn to this subject, the constant watching it and speaking 
 about it, that will get this abuse done away with. I can 
 assure you, ladies and gentlemen, that living in a country 
 neighbourhood as I do, I come to London sometimes with a 
 great deal of pleasure ; but when I see these cruelties, and see 
 the horses pulled up with that gag-rein, the pain is such that I 
 have felt utterly disgusted with it, and have felt inclined to 
 leave London at once. The noble Lord who preceded me so 
 ably described this evil that perhaps it was unnecessary for me 
 to have made the observations I have, but I wish to bear my 
 testimony to that of this Society against the cruelty and 
 pernicious effect of the bearing-rein." 
 
 "Land and 1/Vater," January 8, 1876. 
 DECLINE OF THE BEAEING-REIK 
 
 THAT veteran champion of humanity on the part of the 
 horse, Mr. E. F. Flower, has given valuable evidence that his 
 continued philippics against the use of the bearing-rein have 
 to a certain extent been successful. In a letter to the daily 
 papers, dated the 3rd inst., he states that a year ago there was 
 scarcely a pair of carriage-horses to be seen in London without 
 gag bearing-reins. In October last, an observer noticed 15 per 
 cent, without them. During the previous week, Mr. Flower 
 commissioned a reliable person to watch for an hour in Oxford 
 Street and the Park, and he counted 260 carriages, pairs 
 and singles, and of these eighty-three wore no bearing-reins, 
 or thirty-one per cent., which fully justifies Mr. Flower in 
 saying that the cause he advocates is progressing. We agree 
 
39 
 
 vith him that the owners are the principal people to blame, 
 for if a coachman says he " can't " drive certain horses without 
 bearing-reins, the remedy is simple get a coachman who can. 
 The word "can't" should never be in the vocabulary of any 
 really willing and trustworthy servant. 
 
 When Frederick the Great, who was a martinet in his 
 way, but nevertheless a sensible man, once wanted to introduce 
 a new kind of helmet, his men objected to the change proposed 
 in their accoutrements. However, Frederick was determined 
 to have his way, and at the next review he decked out one 
 of his crack regiments with the new helmet. They were 
 supposed to charge gallantly over a plain, and take an invisible 
 battery, but the way in which their helmets tumbled off 
 rather marred the general effect, and made them look as 
 though they had been exposed to several charges of grapeshot, 
 instead of coming out unscathed. It naturally annoyed 
 Frederick very much, but his men all said that the helmets 
 would not stick on. Frederick said they must, and in the 
 next review every man that lost his helmet should get a 
 flogging. At the second review a much fewer number of 
 helmets were lost, but their owners received the flogging. At 
 the third review the doffed helmets could be counted on the 
 fingers, instead of hundreds, as in the first instance, and still 
 the delinquents were flogged. At last, after about three 
 months of this rule, the helmets stuck on in the most mar- 
 vellous manner, and continued to do so all throughout his 
 reign. 
 
 We do not mean to say that coachmen should be flogged in 
 the way they frequently flog their horses, but we do say that if 
 masters would take the trouble to see that their coachmen 
 obeyed their orders with regard to the bearing-rein, horses 
 would be much less fretted, and last a good deal longer, while 
 the cause of humanity would be greatly promoted. For we 
 fully believe that nine out of ten horses, when properly 
 handled we use the word " handled," not " broken," because 
 
40 
 
 the horse is an animal of all others most nervous, while at the 
 same time docile, and requires to be coaxed and tenderly 
 taught, not put into irons and " broken " would do far more 
 work with their heads and necks free, and with infinitely 
 greater ease to themselves, than when gagged by the ordinary 
 bearing-rein. Mr. Flower has our full sympathy, and we 
 believe that in this instance he is not tilting at a windmill in 
 vain. 
 
 The Editor of the " Wexford Independent" writes, on 
 January I5th, 
 
 " SOME time back we reviewed Mr. Flower's pamphlet, and 
 since then we declined using the bearing-rein on our own 
 horses j and we find that it had the effect of improving both 
 their pace and temper, besides abolishing the torture to which 
 the poor animals were subjected." 
 
 E. W. L 
 
HOESES AND HAENESS. 
 
 The four hearse-horses especially reared and pranced, and 
 showed their highest action, as if they knew a man was 
 dead, and triumphed in it. "They break us, drive us, 
 ride us, ill-treat, abuse, and maim us for their pleasure. 
 But they die. Hurrah ! they die ! " CHARLES DICKENS, from 
 " Martin Chuzzlewit." 
 
 WHEN the first edition of my little pamphlet, 
 " Bits and Bearing-Eeins," was published, only 
 last year, I hoped to call the attention of some 
 of the owners and drivers of carriage -horses to 
 the unnecessary pain inflicted by severe bits and 
 gag bearing-reins, as they were then used ; but 
 I did not expect that my appeal would be so 
 warmly responded to, or so soon produce a visibly 
 good effect. That result could not have been 
 obtained by my single efforts : they have been 
 liberally and largely aided by many friends, 
 known and unknown, and especially by the 
 Press, not only in England, but in Scotland and 
 Ireland. The spark of benevolence which I en- 
 deavoured to light they fanned into a flame. 
 
42 
 
 Newspapers, journals, magazines, sporting and 
 religious papers, came forward to denounce the 
 cruelty of the present fashionable system of 
 treating horses, and to encourage me to proceed 
 in my endeavours to obtain a more humane 
 and sensible method. 
 
 It is about two years since I entered upon 
 this crusade, and no one can guess the amount 
 of labour and anxiety it involves. It seems a 
 small subject, and yet it extends everywhere. In 
 the scale of created beings, next to the human 
 race certainly comes the horse. For intelligence, 
 usefulness, sensitiveness, he is second only to man, 
 and withal he is so perfectly helpless, so easily 
 subdued, less capable of self-defence than almost 
 any other animal, his usual fate is to have his 
 years of health and strength unnaturally shortened 
 by injudicious and cruel treatment, and when age 
 comes on, and strength fails, to be put to harder 
 work, with coarser and less food, and more com- 
 fortless stall, going down and down, till death 
 releases him. Many of these valuable animals, 
 for which hundreds of pounds are now given, 
 will in a short time be sold for as many shillings, 
 even by people who have had years of work out 
 of them, and could well afford mercifully to insure 
 them from future hardship, by having them put 
 
43 
 
 to a quick and painless death. No other animal 
 has so hard a life, or serves his taskmaster so 
 willingly and so generously ; he acts a con- 
 spicuous part in the affairs of human life; we 
 want him at every turn ; for drudgery, for 
 pleasure, for show, we call in his aid ; there- 
 fore let us not needlessly add to his burdens by 
 wanton cruelty or wilful ignorance. 
 
 As I have denounced severe bits and gag 
 bearing-reins, many people ask my advice as to 
 what should be substituted, and what kind of 
 harness I would recommend. I have thought 
 earnestly upon the subject, and consulted many 
 eminently practical men ; in the following pages 
 I shall give some of the conclusions to which I 
 have arrived, and which, with the aid of the en- 
 gravings, I think will be clear. Of course it is 
 not possible to lay down rules which will suit 
 all cases, especially where there are such various 
 and powerful elements to be worked upon, 
 masters, mistresses, coachmen, grooms, horses, 
 all of different tempers and habits ; but what I 
 say, if carried out in a kind and helpful spirit, 
 will apply to most cases, and I feel sure would 
 materially lessen the number of accidents, and 
 the trouble of driving what are called unruly 
 horses. 
 
44 
 
 I have a vast amount of material which has 
 come to me in letters from all parts of the king- 
 dom and from abroad ; also articles, paragraphs, 
 letters, &c., which have appeared in newspapers, 
 &c. ; from these I must cull a few to show that 
 my opinions are upheld by many practical and 
 experienced men of all classes, noblemen, gentle- 
 men, coachmen, several first-class saddlers, and by 
 all humanitarians who have thought upon the 
 subject. 
 
 It is ignorance, prejudice, fashion, and in 
 too many cases wilful cruelty that has to be 
 contended with. I am happy to have made 
 many converts, and hope to be able to go on 
 talking, writing, with the assistance of my wife, 
 probably boring my friends and the public, 
 till the sight, now every day to be seen, of 
 horses foaming, fretting, prancing, maddened 
 with pain from their curbs, gags, and whips, is 
 banished from this so-called civilised country. 
 Go into the Park or fashionable streets, just 
 look at the gagged-up horses, either standing or 
 in motion, and you will see that my picture of 
 " Torture " is no exaggeration ; and the fair 
 occupants of the carriages sit smilingly uncon- 
 scious of the pain they are causing ; the coach- 
 man careless of it, perhaps rejoicing that he has 
 
45 
 
 the power to tyrannise over the unhappy victims 
 of his ignorance, bad temper, or conceit. 
 
 Then, what a relief it is to the eye and the 
 feelings to see the happy exceptions: a beautiful 
 pair stepping freely and elegantly, with the 
 natural graceful curve of the back and neck, 
 pleasure, not pain, expressed in the countenances 
 (for horses can express both), answering instinc- 
 tively to every touch of the reins, guided by light 
 and gentle hands that is, indeed, a beautiful 
 sight; why is it not oftener seen? The answer, 
 I suppose, is that coachmen do not know how to 
 drive: as "Nimrod" observes, "to be a coach- 
 man you must take your degree." Then why 
 not have a school for coachmen as well as for 
 cookery ? it is quite as much needed : surely 
 the Eoyal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
 to Animals could not spend a part of their large 
 incomings better than in establishing one, and 
 leading public opinion, instead of "waiting for it 
 to be more advanced upon the subject," as one 
 of their delegates s-aid at a late public meeting. 
 
 When I was travelling in Scotland last 
 autumn I saw no bearing-reins but those that 
 were imported by a few Londoners, whose coach- 
 men are trying to engraft the absurd practice 
 even in that hilly country. Bad example is 
 
46 
 
 contagious, and quickly followed ; but it takes 
 line upon line, and precept upon precept, to in- 
 culcate even a little common sense, especially 
 when it involves a slight amount of self-sacrifice 
 or trouble, either in learning or teaching. 
 
 I have not said much about bearing-reins for 
 cart-horses, though their use is even more to be 
 condemned than those for lighter draft, without 
 even the poor excuse of wishing to improve the 
 horse's appearance. Depriving the animal of the 
 use of the muscles of his neck and shoulders, 
 which the bearing-rein always does in a greater 
 or less degree, is quite as absurd as it would be 
 to tie up one of his legs, and then expect him 
 to do his work equally well.* 
 
 In No. 1 is shown the too prevalent mode of 
 harnessing horses. A tight bearing-rein to pull 
 his head up, a fixed martingale to pull it down, 
 close blinkers to prevent his seeing his way, a 
 crupper, which is obliged to be tight, to hold 
 
 * In Glasgow the cart-horses work without bearing- reins ; but 
 in Liverpool and Manchester the poor creatures tug at their 
 heavy loads under the disadvantage of being deprived of the 
 use of some of their most valuable muscles; their owners and 
 drivers, following blind custom, think not, see not, feel not; why 
 cannot some enlightened, humane individuals, especially those 
 who belong to the Society whose express vocation it is to 
 abolish cruelty, see to these abuses, and try to rectify them ? 
 
ft 
 
 CD 
 DO 
 
47 
 
 the bearing-rein in place, so that his head and 
 tail are tied tightly together. To obtain a little 
 ease by shortening his back, when standing still, 
 he extends his fore legs beyond their natural 
 position, as seen in the plate, while the hinder 
 ones are proportionably thrown back, for the ill 
 effects of which see the letter of Mr. Darby 
 (Page 58). The tight bearing-rein, by holding 
 the head in an unnatural and fixed position, 
 strains the windpipe and respiratory organs, in- 
 ducing roaring and other maladies, as shown in 
 the letter from Mr. Gill (Page 58). The front 
 part of the bridle is frequently too short, thereby 
 hurting the lower part of the ears, also the winker 
 strap, which when tight, besides drawing the 
 winkers too close, pulls forward the top of the 
 bridle, so as to press upon and hurt the back of 
 the ears, and when the horse shows signs of un- 
 easiness, by throwing up his head, &c., he is 
 punished by more and tighter straps, the coach- 
 man seldom troubling himself to find out and 
 remedy the cause of the irritation. 
 
 All harness is more or less an encumbrance, 
 and here (Plate 2) I have left all that is necessary 
 in ninety -nine cases out of a hundred, doing away 
 with bearing-reins, martingale, hook on the pad, 
 swivel on the throat-strap, and drop -strap. Of 
 
48 
 
 course it must all fit well, and be properly 
 adjusted. 
 
 Blinkers may afford protection to the eyes, if 
 the driver is careless or cruel with his whip, as 
 is often the case, but they should be always 
 sufficiently wide apart to allow the horse to see 
 his road and the objects before him (see Plate 3); 
 but too frequently the poor animal is completely 
 blindfolded, and then expected to act as if he had 
 the use of his eyes. I have seen grooms, while 
 leading horses with close blinkers, shamefully 
 beat them when they have accidentally had their 
 toes trodden on. No horse would tread on a 
 man's toes if he could see how to avoid 
 them ; and certainly they would not be so apt 
 to shy if they could look at the objects which 
 alarm them. As to collars, I find that saddlers 
 generally make them fit well. I have examined 
 more than 100 carriage -horses without seeing a 
 sore shoulder. 
 
 Many people have done away with the bearing- 
 rein, and retain the bit with the cross-bar. I 
 would advise that to be cut away, as the horse, 
 having obtained more freedom of his head, may 
 possibly, when standing, get the cross-bar caught 
 on the end of the pole or shaft, unless they are 
 made sufficiently long or short to prevent it. 
 
Plate 3. 
 SHEWING BLINKERS WIDE APART. 
 
49 
 
 Also, if a horse holding his head naturally 
 low has the bearing-rein taken away, and the 
 bit with a chain - curb and a long lever re- 
 tained (as in Plate 1), he must of necessity 
 bore. Therefore the coachman must see that he 
 has a proper bit, probably the No. 1 bit in 
 Plate 4 would suit, which would allow the 
 horse to carry his head naturally, neither boring 
 nor stargazing. 
 
 But, alas ! coachmen have frequently so little 
 knowledge of the art of driving, and so little 
 feeling for their horses, they foolishly fancy that 
 every fresh restraint they can put upon them will 
 make them safer and easier to drive ; fashion also 
 being in favour of the " wooden rocking-horse " 
 style. Masters or mistresses care or know nothing 
 about it. In nine cases out of ten they do not 
 own the horses, only job them, so there is not 
 the sympathy between them that property might 
 
 give. 
 
 Last year at different times I hired three 
 horses ; the job-masters in each case saying they 
 would not be responsible for the horses stumbling 
 or falling if they were driven without bearing 
 reins. However, I said I would take the re- 
 sponsibility ; so I drove them several weeks 
 without bearing-reins, and with easy bits a and 
 
50 
 
 they went well and pleasantly without once 
 stumbling. 
 
 No. 1 Bit. " Capon Driving-bit." 
 
 A ring snaffle, the mouth-piece having a slight 
 curvature to avoid pressure on the toogue, and 
 either plain, or a mild twist ; it is strongly 
 recommended by Mr. Aufrere, of Windermere, who 
 writes thus, " I have read your excellent pamphlet 
 on ' Grag Bits and Bearing-reins ' with great plea- 
 sure. I have for years given up the use of both, 
 considering them to be instruments of torture. I 
 drive in the snaffle which I forward for your 
 trial and acceptance, and I find it answer perfectly 
 in every respect. I drive high-bred and spirited 
 horses. They bend and go well in this bit, giving 
 a steady and safe feel to the driver, and stand as 
 quietly as if in their own boxes, and when waiting 
 at any place do not rub at the pole -head, as if 
 wishing to get rid of their head-gear. You may 
 consider it heavy, but we find more purchase, and 
 the horses go better than with the light and jointed 
 snaffle. I use it both for single and double 
 harness, and also for riding. After trial, I shall 
 be glad of your opinion. We call it the ' Capon 
 Driving-snaffle/ ' 
 
 This is the bit which I use, and find it quite 
 answers the above description. By looking at the 
 
PlcLte 4* 
 
 Capon driving Snaffle 
 
 P ixed Liverpool Bit 
 
 Cecil Bit 
 
 Sliding Liverpool Bit/ 
 
 Maclm-r & MacdonaliLifli':' London. 
 
51 
 
 plates, it can be seen that in this snaffle the bridle 
 comes down into the ring, therefore it is necessary 
 that it should be longer than with the other bits. 
 Some people have tried this bit, and by not attend- 
 ing to this, have found the bit did not answer, 
 when it would have done so had the bridle been 
 lengthened so as to let the mouth -piece rest just 
 above the tusks. 
 
 No. 2 is a fixed Liverpool bit, which many 
 people prefer to the snaffle. 
 
 No. 3, " The Cecil Bit," is a fixed Liverpool bit, 
 with a slight curve in the mouth -piece. This is the 
 bit which in most cases I should recommend, both 
 for double and single harness, driven in the cheek, 
 without using the curb, unless absolutely necessary. 
 
 No. 4 is a sliding bit, generally called a Liver- 
 pool bit. I object to a sliding bit, because, as the 
 coupling reins in double harness act crosswise, 
 they are apt to pull the front half of the circle on 
 to the horse's nostrils and cause great irritation. 
 Besides that, when the sliding bit is worn, it fre- 
 quently pinches the horse's lips. A fixed bit avoids 
 these objections. 
 
 The following letter appeared in the Times last 
 year ; but I fear the excellent advice given is not 
 much attended to. Therefore I say, abolish bear- 
 ing-reins altogether. 
 
BEARINa-BEINS. 
 
 To the Editor of the Times. 
 
 " SIR, I was walking back last night from 
 M. Salvini's magnificent acting in Hamlet, and 
 passed rows of carnages drawn up in the ranks, 
 the horses in which were in most cases throwing 
 up their heads from the discomfort of their bearing- 
 reins. 
 
 " Some persons advocate their entire suppres- 
 sion, but if put on loosely, and for short journeys, 
 they are not objectionable. 
 
 " On the score of humanity, I would venture to 
 appeal to their owners to give express directions to 
 their coachmen to loosen the bearing-reins on every 
 opportunity, but more especially at night, and in 
 hot weather, when there are few to see whether the 
 horses are forced to look smart. 
 
 " If left to themselves, the horses will rest well 
 enough while waiting in the ranks, which they 
 cannot do while strained at the then useless 
 bearing-reins. 
 
 " Yours obediently, 
 
 " WESTMINSTER. 
 
 " Grosvenor House, London, 
 " June 24." 
 
53 
 
 Lord Leigh wrote to me last year : " I am glad 
 you have taken up this subject, as there is no 
 doubt the London horses are much to be pitied, 
 and using the bearing-rein is, as you say, a stupid 
 and cruel practice." 
 
 He now says, " I congratulate you on your 
 success, and trust the day is not far distant when a 
 horse with a bearing-rein on him is as rare an 
 object to be seen as a soldier in armour, and should 
 that happy day arrive, you may have the satisfac- 
 tion of feeling that you have done as great a service 
 to the poor horses as Wilberforce did in his day to 
 the poor slaves." 
 
 The following is from Admiral Eous : " Many 
 thanks for your pamphlet on ' Bearing-reins/ I 
 agree in every one of your sentiments ; there may 
 be singular cases of violent hard-mouthed horses, 
 which a bearing-rein may be conducive to restrain, 
 especially in a crowded city. I should add the 
 abolition of blinkers : a horse hearing an unusual 
 noise becomes alarmed when he cannot discover 
 the cause, but with his eyes open he is as sensible 
 as a human creature. The sketches of horses' 
 heads in your book are beautifully correct, and 
 worthy of preservation." 
 
 The late Sir Francis Head wrote to me, shortly 
 before his death, " The ignorant, continued use of 
 
54 
 
 this gag-bit in the mouth of a carriage-horse, 
 whether in action or standing still, is an unneces- 
 sary, inexcusable, and barbarous piece of cruelty, 
 and you will render a great service to the com- 
 munity, as well as to the horses, if you can succeed 
 in suppressing it." 
 
 Colonel Somerset, who drives his fine team 
 without bearing-reins, says that he drives his teams 
 generally in ring snaffles, and has done so for some 
 years. When horses are great pullers, he finds 
 nothing so good as a leather bit, which he gets 
 made at Mr. Latchford's, bitmaker, St. Martin's 
 Lane. He says, " There can be no doubt that 
 ninety-nine horses out of a hundred do not require 
 bearing-reins." 
 
 He also writes -to me; " Many thanks for send- 
 ing me the pamphlet. I have had great experience 
 in driving, and have had a great many really 
 hard pullers, horses that have pulled harder the 
 thirty-sixth mile than the first. I have a great 
 many severe bits of every kind, and have found 
 that the only bit for such horses is a leather bit. 
 I drive all my teams generally in ring snaffles, 
 and have done so for some years." 
 
 Having mentioned Mr. Latchford, I will quote 
 a few lines from his excellent work on bridle bits, 
 The Loriner. He says, " On no account punish 
 
55 
 
 tlie horse, on no account hurt his mouth. When 
 my friends have come to me concerning their un- 
 manageable horses, I invariably find the poor 
 animal has been over-bitted, or wrongly bitted, 
 and recommend the easiest kind of bit, which in 
 nine cases out of ten succeeds. I believe the horse 
 has naturally no vice, that every description of vice 
 found in the horse is created by the treatment he 
 receives from those in whose care he is placed." 
 
 Mr. Torre, of Westbourne Terrace, writes to me, 
 " You kindly gave me one of your pamphlets the 
 other day, when I was on the look-out for a bit for 
 one of my horses which pulled to such an extent 
 that it was a labour to drive, in fact, I almost made 
 up my mind to part with him. I have followed 
 your directions, taking off the bearing-reins, and 
 using a Liverpool bit, and now a child might drive 
 him." 
 
 Another gentleman says, " I have read the little 
 book on ' Bits and Bearing-reins ' with much 
 interest, and I hope profit. I have bought back 
 my horse ' Banker ; ' he had always been ridden 
 with a very tight curb, to make him show off, and 
 it was nearly impossible to hold him when his 
 mettle was up. My daughter now rides him with 
 a snaffle, and he is perfectly manageable." 
 
 The following remark contained in a letter 
 
 D* 
 
58 
 
 The following letter is from Colonel Tyrwhitt 
 to E. Cracknell : "I have been absent from 
 London, or would have written sooner to acknow- 
 ledge the receipt of Mr. Flower's book, which you 
 were good enough to forward to me, and which I 
 have read with much interest. I entirely agree 
 with Mr. Flower in what he says about the abuse 
 of bearing-reins." 
 
 In reference to diseases brought on or aggra- 
 vated by bearing-reins, I will quote two high 
 authorities, one the well-known dealer in Eugby, 
 Mr. Darby. He says, " I think Mr. Flower's 
 pamphlet an excellent one, and explains all ; but I 
 go a little further myself, and say that horses 
 standing for a long time gagged up, it alters their 
 natural position so much that they stretch out 
 their fore legs, while waiting at doors, throwing all 
 their weight on their heels, causing inflammation, 
 and eventually navicular lameness, naturally also 
 putting such a strain upon the back sinews, that 
 they often give way from that cause only." 
 
 Mr. Samuel Gill, veterinary surgeon in Hast- 
 ings, says : " Members of the veterinary profession 
 are by no means ignorant of the various diseases 
 produced by the use of the bearing-rein roaring, 
 apoplexy, coma, megrims, inflammation, and 
 softening of the brain, all follow the barbarous 
 
59 
 
 use of this rein. To imagine the animal is pre- 
 vented from falling by this reining up the head is 
 an error. The pressure on the veins and arteries 
 impeding the flow of blood, it is impossible for the 
 animal stumbling to recover himself. I feel sure 
 those who continue to use this torturing instru- 
 ment have no idea of the pain they are inflicting, 
 otherwise they would abolish this unnecessary 
 portion of their harness, consigning it to the tomb 
 of past absurdities." 
 
 The following circumstance was communicated 
 to me by Mr. Woodley, of Upper Berkeley Street. 
 He worked for the late B. Shaw, Esq., M.P., whose 
 coachman ordered a very severe bit to be made for 
 a horse that was very violent. On the bit being 
 made, the servant exclaimed, " If I had known as 
 much when I ordered it as I do now, it should not 
 have been made, for one day, while exercising in 
 the Park, the horse exceedingly fresh and restive, 
 the bearing-rein being up to the last hole, the 
 strap suddenly broke. I thought it was all over 
 with me, but to my surprise the horse became at 
 once manageable, and went beautifully, and the 
 severe bit was never used." 
 
 I have sent copies of my pamphlet to all parts, 
 hoping to check the growing evil. A nephew of 
 mine living at Kingston, Jamaica, says, " I have 
 
60 
 
 lent your pamphlet to one of onr largest livery 
 stablemen. He at once accepted it, and took off 
 all unnecessary restraints from his horses. The 
 poor animals are often barbarously used here." 
 
 Mr. Whittem, proprietor of large collieries in 
 Warwickshire, writes, " In reply to your inquiries, 
 I found neither argument nor remonstrance of 
 any use with our carters, who, when my back was 
 turned, returned to their habits. I found the only 
 remedy was to remove the bearing-rein entirely; 
 this I have done, and the horses now perform 
 their hard work with much greater ease." In 
 another letter he says, " I have long discarded 
 bearing-reins, when a driver has driving-reins ; 
 but as our sixty horses are not driven with reins, 
 we have a loose leading-strap fastened on one 
 side of the bit, with the other end looped on 
 one of the hames, for the purpose of leading the 
 horses." 
 
 In the Life of John Wesley, the great 
 divine, he relates how he read Homer's " Iliad," 
 " Odyssey," &c., on horseback. He writes, " I was 
 thinking how is it that no horse ever stumbles 
 while I am reading ? No account can possibly be 
 given but this: because then I throw the reins 
 on his neck. I set myself to observe, and I aver 
 that in riding a hundred thousand miles I scarce 
 
61 
 
 ever remember any horse (except two, that would 
 fall head over heels any way) to fall, or make a con- 
 siderable stumble, which I rode with a slack rein. 
 To fancy, therefore, that a tight rein prevents 
 stumbling is a capital blunder. I have repeated 
 the trial more frequently than most men in the 
 kingdom can do. A slack rein will prevent 
 stumbling if anything will." 
 
 The following remarks from a work entitled 
 " Horse Shoeing ; as it is, and as it should be," 
 put the case clearly : " With the wrongly per- 
 verse idea that a horse needs holding up to his 
 work, his head is tied to his collar by a long 
 strap, termed a bearing-rein, which is so adjusted 
 that, if he makes but one false step he must 
 fall helplessly to the ground. Ignorant, selfish 
 humanity will not perceive that from the horse's 
 head to the tip of his tail is a series of joints, every 
 one of which, when the horse is in motion, 
 requires to have free play, and that it is as 
 necessary for him to have his head, neck, and 
 tail free when moving at any pace, as it is for 
 ourselves to have the use of our arms when 
 walking or running." , ' 
 
 I have just met the following remark from a 
 no less authority than the late Lord Palmer- 
 ston : " A. runaway horse is best kept in by a 
 
62 
 
 light hand and an easy snaffle." Life, by Hon. 
 K Ashley. 
 
 I will conclude by quoting what Sir Arthur 
 Helps (the author of " Friends in Council ") has 
 to say about bearing-reins: "Whenever you 
 observe," he writes, " a horse or horses in a 
 carriage, which horse or horses are suffering 
 from a tight bearing-rein, you may surely con- 
 clude that the owner is utterly unobservant of 
 what he ought to observe, or very ignorant of 
 what he ought to know, or pompous, or cruel. 
 He must be very unobservant, or he would see 
 that his horses are suffering from this tight 
 bearing-rein. He must be very ignorant if he 
 does not know that a horse loses much of its 
 power of draught, and cannot recover itself so 
 well when it stumbles, if it have a tight bearing- 
 rein. He must be very cruel if, observing and 
 knowing these things, he does not provide a 
 remedy. He must be very pompous if he pre- 
 fers that his horses should be made to rear their 
 heads on high, and to rattle their trappings 
 about (which is a sign of their exceeding dis- 
 comfort), to their being dealt with humanely 
 and reasonably. Well, then, I observe the equi- 
 pages where the irrational tight bearing-rein is 
 used. I then look at the arms on the carriages ; 
 
63 
 
 and I know who are the greatest fools in London 
 in the upper classes. The bewigged brute and 
 idiot of a coachman, of course, thinks it a very 
 fine thing to sit behind these poor animals with 
 their stuck-up heads ; but his master ought to 
 know better." 
 
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