BRIDLE

the headstall, bit, and reins, by wbidi a horse is governed. It is an instrument of high antiquity. Pliny ascribes the invention of the briJi* to Pelethronius, king of the Lapithae. The first horsemen guided their horses with a rope or stick, to and the sound of their voice. A cord drawn thruogh the nose is sometimes used for other an iT in^lM jbe In ancient The alian coins often represent a horse with a long rein trailing on the ground. The Ttcmw^ma^ were trained to fight without bridles, as an exesoa» in the manege. On Trajan's Column soldiers sre thus represented at full speed. The parts of a modem bridle are the snafBe or bit; the headstall, cc leathers from the top of the head to the tings of tbe bit; the fillet, over the forehead, and under tbe ftxv top; the throat-band, wliich buttons under the throat; the reins; the. nose-band, buckled under the cheeks; the trench, the caves an, the martingal, and the chaff -halter. 382