182 BITS AND BITTING. 



affords in its own way a certain amount of tongue-free- 

 dom, like the port of an unjointed bit ; but here all 

 resemblance between the action of the two ceases ; for 

 whilst the pressure, and consequently the action, of the 

 latter is exerted in a direction parallel to the horse's 

 backbone, that of the former, taking a diagonal direc- 

 tion towards the centre, degenerates into a pincer-like 

 gripe, which is wholly unreliable with the snaffle-joint, 

 and more or less so with the hinge one. From the 

 riding-school point of view, jointed bits are altogether 

 objectionable ; from the military one, they are scarcely 

 admissible, although the Prussian light cavalry adheres 

 to their use. For road-riding and hunting purposes 

 the well-known Pelham is in great favour; and as 

 there must be some ground for this, it is worth while 

 inquiring into. 



The great argument in favour of the Pelham is, that 

 the upper pair of reins give you the action of a snaffle 

 which is, however, not quite correct, but let it pass 

 whilst the lower pair afford that of a curb-bit, as the 

 expression is. To this latter we must oppose a decided 

 negative for two reasons : first, because the action that 

 results is that of a pincer, as shown above ; and, second- 

 ly, because if the dimensions of the upper and lower 

 bars of our unjointed bits are very irregular and gen- 

 erally much exaggerated, they are, in the case of the 

 Pelham, simply monstrous, so that the curb is invari- 

 ably dragged right up out of the chin-groove, and on to 

 the most sensitive part of the under jaw, the effects of 

 which we have so frequently pointed out. No doubt 

 the Pelham will produce "painful action " enough, and 

 so far those whose ideas go no further as regards the 

 unjointed bit are justified in making a comparison; 



