168 



BITS AND BITTING. 



in the direction c, it would evidently have no other 

 effect than to pull it downwards, and out of the horse's 

 mouth, if the headpiece of the bridle did not prevent 



this taking place ; and if 

 the pull were made in the 

 direction b, it would only 

 lift the bit up till the an- 

 gles of the mouth stopped 

 it. In neither case would 

 there be the slightest lever 

 action ; and the nearer any 

 other direction, g or h, ap- 

 proached these perfectly in- 

 operative ones, b or c, the 

 less would be its value ; 

 and it is therefore evident 

 that the direction a, which 

 is equallyremote from both, 

 must be the most efficient 

 which is, however, pre- 

 cisely the right angle. 



Now a very long lower 

 bar, or a very low carriage 



of the horse's head, a la Baucher, or a very high pack in 

 the front of the saddle,* will always have the effect of 

 bringing the rein to act on the bit at an unfavourable 

 angle; and when we come to look at the bits that 

 served as models for old equestrian statues, we find 

 that the immense long lower bars of these were bent 

 backwards so as to form an angle with the upper bars 

 for the purpose of securing the action of the rein at a 

 right angle, or nearly so which, however, did not and 

 * See Plates VI. and VII., top figures. 



Fig. 12. Angle formed by 

 rein with bit. 



