190 ; BITS AND BITTING. 



look of it ; but, until this is the case, the noseband is 

 most valuable as a means of preventing the animal 

 from opening its mouth too wide and bolting the bit, 

 or catching hold of it between its teeth in fact, evad- 

 ing its action in one way or the other. It is very 

 evident that we have by degrees got rid of the nose- 

 band because we did not understand its proper use ; 

 and, when coupled with the monstrous bits we are in 

 the habit of using, it may have been found sometimes 

 a positive inconvenience ; but any one that pays even 

 a slight attention to this matter will find the noseband 

 invaluable in the early stages of bitting. It must, 

 however, be put in the proper place that is to say, 

 just across the nose at the point where the bone ceases 

 and the cartilage commences ; and it should always be 

 buckled so lightly as to admit of a proper amount of 

 free motion. 



We may now wind up this chapter with the rules 

 for placing the bit in the horse's mouth. When the 

 headstall has been adapted generally to the animal's 

 head by means of the upper buckle or buckles, the 

 next step will be to adjust the bit by means of the 

 lower ones, so that the mouthpiece shall come to rest 

 on the bars of the mouth exactly opposite the chin- 

 groove, unless, indeed, some irregular disposition of 

 the tusks should render this impossible, in which case 

 it must be moved only just so much higher as is abso- 

 lutely necessary to clear the obstacle. The curb may 

 be then hooked in, first, of course, at the off side, leav- 

 ing one reserve link, then at the near side, leaving two 

 such, and taking care that it lies quite flat in the chin- 

 groove, without any even the slightest tendency to 

 mount upwards when the reins are drawn. The curb 



