192 BITS AND BITTING. 



horse will avoid the bit in the first case or remain in- 

 sensible to it in the second in fact, you discover that 

 the mouthpiece is unsuited; therefore, in adjusting the 

 length of the curb, you must take care to avoid draw- 

 ing your conclusions too hastily. When you come to 

 a hitch of this kind, lift up the horse's upper lip gently 

 with your left thumb so as to get a view of the in- 

 terior of his mouth, whilst you draw the reins with 

 the right hand so as to see how the mouthpiece lies, 

 whether too much or too little of its pressure falls on 

 the tongue in fact, whether the mouthpiece is not in 

 in fault ; but this requires some experience, and perhaps 

 the help of an. instrument, of which we shall have to 

 speak in the next chapter. 



And now a word as to the bridoon. This is, in the 

 first place, an aid in the early stages of training to 

 facilitate the transition from the snaffle to the curbed 

 bit ; and in proportion as the young horse becomes 

 familiar with the latter it is gradually laid aside, and 

 then becomes a " second string to the bow " in case of 

 any accident happening to the bit or its reins. Nothing 

 is, however, commoner than to see amongst ourselves 

 these its well-understood uses completely reversed, and 

 people riding about our streets and parks holding on 

 like grim death by the bridoon-reins, whilst those be- 

 longing to the bit dangle about the horse's neck, to be 

 caught up all of a sudden if the horse makes a bolt. 

 Now this simply proves that the bit is either so mon- 

 strous in itself, or so absurdly placed in the horse's 

 mouth, that the rider is afraid to use it ; in many cases, 

 too, his own seat is so unsteady, and he depends so 

 much on the reins for support, that the best-fitting bit 

 in. the world would be useless or dangerous in his 



