142 . BITS AND BITTING. 



turbance of his pace; to diminish or increase -this with- 

 out hesitation ; to rein back, preserving a proper degree 

 of feeling, and immediately to advance again freely if 

 called upon." 



Now, although a star-gazer with a ewe-neck, or a 

 borer that can only go with his nose close to the 

 ground, are totally unfit for military purposes, we 

 must take average horses, and allow one to poke out 

 his nose a little more than another ; nor can we always 

 help its coiling up its head and neck like a snail, so 

 long as they go clean and free which is precisely what 

 Baucher's eticapuchonne carriage of the head and neck 

 does not favour; but the higher we get both head and 

 neck without sacrificing cleanness and freedom of pace 

 the better, if for no other reason than that there always 

 must be something in front of the military saddle which 

 keeps the bridle-hand at a certain distance above the 

 horse's withers, close down to which the civilian rider can 

 easily place it. Carriage is, however, not the result of 

 bitting alone, it depends, as we have already shown in 

 Part I., on a judicious system of saddling, packing, 

 and riding, the bitting forming " le couronnement de 

 T edifice" without which the remainder is of compara- 

 tively little use to the soldier, because he must ride 

 altogether with one hand, and he requires his whole 

 body, from the hips upwards, with the exception of 

 this one hand, for the use of his weapons. 



Good bitting, saddling, packing, and riding, are 

 what render cavalry available and durable ; they secure 

 efficiency, and therefore economy; of course they can- 

 not insure judicious handling of the arm, nor affect 

 the morale of the soldier beyond giving him a sense of 

 security and power, which is, however, very valuable. 



