Safety first

I was very

concerned to see

the way the lead

chain was used

on the horse in

your October cover

(EQUUS 457). It

was run through

the halter ring and

clipped back onto

the lead so that

the chain forms

a loop. This loop,

though small, can

catch on any pro-

truding object the

horse might lean his head over, rub

his chin on, or just get too close to.

Worse, if he put his head down, he

could get a hoof through the loop, with

potentially tragic results. Although

the halter is leather, it looks to be the

heavy-duty, double-stitched variety,

unlikely to break. Lynn Acton Berkshire, New York

Secretariat is my favorite racehorse.

I once had the privilege of seeing him

in his paddock. He rolled as I was

watching, and as he was getting up, a

dog walked through his paddock. So

the greatest racehorse sat on his butt

and watched the dog walk by before he

finished getting up. Diane Johnson Doerun, Georgia