126 BITS AND BITTING. 



In fact, we always see runaway horses assume either 

 the one or the other of these two relative positions of 

 the head and neck, the lever action of the head on the 

 neck, and of the latter on the centre of motion, being 

 in both cases reduced to a nullity, which deprives the 



Fig. 7. 



rider of all command over his horse ; for it cannot be 

 too often repeated that we can only master the horse 

 and obtain a perfect command over his movements by 

 getting the point on which his hind legs, the organs by 

 which he propels himself, act completely under our 

 control, which shows the absurdity of universal bits 

 and all such contrivances. 



With the great majority of horses, the physical con- 

 formation of the jaws opposes no obstacle to the head 

 assuming the most desirable position ; but there are 

 some, and sometimes very good ones in other respects, 

 where this does occur. Let us take, in the first place, 

 the depth of the jaw-bone, measured perpendicularly to 

 the forehead on a line passing through the eye : this 



