The morning call., 1893-09-17

The Ideal Checkrein.
mouth, the rens from it going up across
the animals face, between his eyes and
down in the well-known "overdraw" to
the hook between the turrets OF the sad
die. The purpose for which il is designed
is to prevent a hard bitted, Juggling horse
from pulling on the bit and unduly fatigu-
ing the drivers arms. Some horses have
a very unpleasant habit of pulling in this
manner, so that an animal that has not
another bad trick in the world is quite un-
safe for lady to drive, as she has not the
strength to hold him in. Now, out here in
California, where the overcheck is the
rule and the sldecheck the exception, the
Overcheck bit s almost always dispensed
with aud the overcheck reins are buckled
into the rings OF the driving Bit If this is
an ordinary straight bit the effect is to
drag the corners Of the horses mouth up
ward, while the pressure of the driving
rens draws the bit back agains the angles
of the lower lip, making a very ugly feat
ure OF the usually small, neat mouth of the
horse.
Moreover. pressure on the delicate
nerves that supply the lower lip produces
partial paralysis of the same, and the un-
der lip, Instead OF being firmly closed over
the teeth, becomes loose and fla bby, shak-
IN manner suggestive of extreme age. 1t
is a common thing TO see in this State
young horses with this Tapping, nerveless
under lip, and TO our absurd use of the
Jackson check without the Jackson bit,
and To the use in saddle-horses of that in
strument of cruelty, the Spanish bit, it
may be attributed. If Instead of a straight
bar the Ovsrdraw is 6uckled into jolnted
bit the effect is TO pull the bit into the
shape OF letter V. with the point thrust
ing itself against the horses tongue at
every step. while the pull of the driving
renS varies the monOtony Of that move
ment by saving 1t back and forth along
The tongue and against the teeth. An
animal tortured in this fashion learns to
get the bit in its teeth and pull in Self-de-
fense.
A great many horses need cheekrein
of some Sort but very few need the over
draw. L once owned very hard-b
Uhat is to say, tOugh-mnuthed) animal,
which, by the aid of sidecheck and bar
bit, L was able TO drive very comfortably.
L sold her to gentleman who did not ap-
prove OF checkrens and took off the CON-
Portable one she had always worn. Before
long he told NE the mare was very hard to
drive; he thought he must get new bit
for her-something rather more severe
than the one she had been wearing.
l watched the result with considerable
Interest He discarded the bar bit and
procured sDaff1e, which, for while did
very well. but the effect wearing off the
snaff1e gave place TO curb. and later the
curb gave place to ring bit and a stand
ing martineale. Still the animal, high
spirited, lively brute, pulled on the bit and
tossed her head as she travelled. 1 sug-
gested checkrein. but the idea was de-
nounced as cruel. ''She is so comfortable
without il" was the plea. l dare say she
was. The last time l saw the n are she
had a stallion. bit in her mouth, a horse
hnr
standing martingale under her chin.
but no checkrein. Yet. l would not
be afraid 10 undertake to discard all these
understandable paraphernalia, put back
the bar bit, and with loose sideeheck
drive her with nc trouble at all. l tried
this experiment recently with horse that
had grown TO be such persistent puller
that no one cared TO drive him, even his
owner having become disgusted with his
muscle-eXhaustlng tricks. After driving
him mile or two, alighted from the car
riage and rigged up jury-check with the
aid OF the halter strap. He broke Ii before
we reached home, but the next day sub
stltuted stuut sidecheck, which he fought
over Tor while, but before long accepted,
whereupon the ladies OF the family dis
covered. to their delight, that he was
really pleasant driver
vi course, in the hands of a fool or of
driver gone mad on the subject of style
sidech' ek can become an instrument OF
torture just as surely as can the Overdraw,
out tnere are features in the latter con-
triVance that the sidecheck does not
possess. The oyerdraw by forcing the
mead into an unnatural position Injuries the
wlndplpe of the horse and causes the
strong muscle at the back OF the neck,
natures bearing reln," to atrophy. BY
keeping the horses head up so that IL can
not see the ground beneath Its feet the
animal gets an uncertain tread and De-
comes more apt to stumble, TO say nothing
OF the extra strain of nerves resultant from
his Inability 70 see where he Is going.
There is greater strain on the shoulders
and knees of horse whose head is thus
unnaturally held up, the reach of the
forearm Is shortened and sprung knees
are often directly traceaole to this HARM
less-lookiug bit of leather.
The great damage done, however, liter
ally the "crOwning evil' OF the Overcheek,
is the production of poll-evil by It's use.
This is an abscess at the back of the neck,
near the ears, always the result OF an
injury, and very frequently produced by
the pressure of the Overcheck on the poll
or crown of the animals head. 1t is
very serious and painful trouble, aud one
not readily cured. The strap living close
along the edge of the nerk prevents the
animal from arching ii into the n natnral
crest which is so marked point Of beauty
in a high-sprited animal. and instead
causes the windpipe to bulge ont wbiIp
the head is bent back and the nose thrust
forward in very ungainly fashion.
1t is claimed by horsemen in this part of
the world that the overdraw is necessary.