116 BITS AND BITTING. 



by the way, the normal direction for a well-set-up 

 horse for cavalry purposes, as we shall presently see 

 to concentrate the lever action on one of the hind legs 

 in preference to the other, by simply throwing our 

 weight slightly to the same side, which enables us to 

 fix, as it were, certain legs to the ground, or detain 

 them longer in contact with it, setting the others free, 

 and determining with accuracy the mode and the 

 moment of their employment. Many horse-breakers 

 do all this by a sort of instinct. In fact, if they could 

 not do it they would scarcely ever succeed in handling 

 a horse ; but there are very few uneducated riders who 

 comprehend precisely the rationale of these processes, 

 and are capable of effecting them in all cases with cer- 

 tainty, which is, however, indispensable to success in 

 the handling of young horses, or retrieving the mistakes 

 that have been committed by others with older ones. 



We may say, then, that the art of bitting and 

 bridling is a very useful and essential one, because 

 it enables us to avoid the infliction of pain, whilst it 

 secures to us a perfect control over the horse's move- 

 ments. It consists in enabling us to exercise the 

 mechanical action of the reins in the proper degree 

 and the right direction, for every horse and for every 

 movement. 



The influence of good and judicious bitting and 

 bridling on the breaking-in and training of horses is 

 incalculable, whilst ignorance on these points, and 

 abuse of these instruments, are a very frequent cause of 

 restiveness, and of the ruin of young animals, especially 

 of highly-bred ones with their delicate organisations. 

 A bolting race-horse may be set down pretty nearly 

 with certainty as one that has been mismanaged and 



