I3a BITS AND BITTING. 



very thick skin, underneath which lie the foots of the 

 beard, fat, arid membrane, and this structure is con- 

 tinued up into a certain depression under the chin, 

 known as the chin-groove, and called by the Germans 

 the curb-groove (kinnkettengrube). Now the portion 

 of bone immediately beneath the thick and not very 

 sensitive skin of the chin-groove is flat and rounded off 

 in all directions, being, in fact, that point where, the 

 two branches of the jaw begin to unite together ; and 

 if a flat curb-chain, for instance, which has a proper 

 width, act in this groove, a considerable amount of 

 pressure may be applied without causing any very 

 unpleasant sensation to the horse. 



But if we pass our finger up out of this groove to- 

 wards the angle of the jaw, we immediately find that 

 both the character of the bone and that of the skin 

 covering it have become very much changed; the for- 

 mer has got sharp hard edges, and the latter, being no 

 longer furnished with beard, will be found to be thin, 

 and very sensitive ; so that a very slight pressure of 

 this thin skin on the sharp edges of bone causes very 

 considerable pain. We shall presently see that no 

 horse can be properly bitted unless these peculiarities 

 be borne in mind and due allowance made for them. 



As to the cartilage of the nose, it is of importance to 

 recollect what we are pulling at when we put a caves- 

 son on a young horse; the point at which the bone 

 ceases and the cartilage commences is especially sensi- 

 .tive and liable to injury. A cavesson is a most ad- 

 mirable instrument for those who know how to use it ; 

 but most frequently it is like putting a sharp razor in 

 the hands of a madman to let an ignorant or half- 

 taught rider catch hold of the lounge. Many a young 



