IN THE UNION ARMY

type less than 15 hands tall, probably belonging to someone on Gen. Meade’s staff. The horse wears a halter under the bridle; the lead strap goes off to the left side and Pinkerton is holding it along with the snaffle reins. The curb reins have been knotted and laid upon the mane. Note how inexpertly Pinkerton holds the reins; the right snaffle rein is hung up on a hank of mane and is twisted with the curb rein. In an arrangement normal to some forms of harness but very rare on a riding horse, the snaffle reins have been run not through a martingale coming up from below but through rings upon straps hanging downward from the halter. The bridle has not been adjusted properly; the bit (a rarely seen Pelham) lies very low in the horse’s mouth. One wonders if the idea to photograph Pinkerton on horseback might have been hastily arranged or even done as a joke.