20 SYSTEM FOK TRAINING CAVALRY HORSES. 



THE BIT. 



The best bit for all purposes is a light one, the 

 checks of an average length, and the mouth-piece 

 merely sufficiently arched (c) to admit of the horse's 

 tongue passing freely underneath it, points a, a, made 

 straight, to rest equally on the horse's jaw, and not 

 too thin. 



And in choosing a bit for a horse, the point to look 

 to is, the distance between b, b, which should vary 

 according to the breadth of the horse's mouth. 



A bit of this sort is quite sufficient to bring most 

 horses under control, for it is a mistaken fancy that 

 the op2>osition a horse offers to the rider's hand, is 

 caused by the peculiar shape of his mouth, or that 

 one horse's mouth is by nature much more sensitive 

 than another. 



The jaw-bone of every horse is covered in the same 

 way; whether a horse be light or heavy in hand, 

 cannot, therefore, depend upon the quantity of flesli 

 between the bit and the jaw-bone, though many sup- 

 pose this to be the case ; but the fact is, it is not the 

 horse's mouth that is hard, but the rider's hand that 

 is in fault. 



