JO THE ACCOUTREMENTS 



in rank in the commonwealth, and distinguished by certain honours and privi- 

 leges. The equites, or knights, in the Roman republic, were formed on the 

 same model. 



It ;s in some of the Grecian sculptures that we first see the bit in the horse's 

 mouth, but it is not always that we do see it ; on the contrary, there is fre- 

 quently neither bridle, saddle, nor stirrup. It however was frequently neces- 

 sary to make use of cords or thongs, in order to confine the horse to the place 

 at which it suited the rider for a while to leave him. These cords were fastened 

 round the animal's neck, and may be seen in several of the ancient figures. 

 According to some writers, the occasional struggles of the animal to escape from 

 these trammels, and the strength which he exerted in order to accomplish hi* 

 purpose, first suggested the idea of harnessing him to certain machines for the 

 purpose of drawing them ; and it is evident that soon after this it must have 

 occurred to the horseman, that if this rope were put over the head, and over 

 the muzzle, or perhaps into the mouth of the animal, he would be more easily 

 fastened or led from place to place, and more securely guided and managed, 

 whether the man was off or on his back. Hence arose the bridle. It probably 

 was at first nothing more than the halter or cord by which the horse was usual I v 

 confined. An improvement on this was a detached cord or rope, with prolonga- 

 tions coming up on both sides of the mouth, and giving the rider much greater 

 power over the animal ; and after that, for the sake of cleanliness, and to pre- 

 vent the wear and tear of the rope, and also giving yet more command over the 

 animal, an iron bit was fitted to the mouth, and rested on the tongue, and the 

 bridle was attached to each end of it. It was the common snaffle bridle of the 

 present day^ the iron being jointed and flexible, or often composed of a chain. 

 There were, however, no cross pieces to these bits at the mouth, but simple 

 knobs or bulbs, to the inside of which the bits were attached. 



Bits and bridles of this kind occur frequently in the Athenian sculptures of 

 the time of Pericles, about 430 years before the Christian era ; but the head- 

 gear of the bridle had not been long introduced, the bit being supported, in 

 some figures, by the buckling or tying of the bridle about the nose, a little 

 above the muzzle. These, however, soon disappear, and we have the present 

 snaffle with very little alteration, except a straight leather or cord from the 

 head to the noseband, and that not always found. The chain under the chin 

 is occasionally observed, probably for the sake of keeping the bit steady in the 

 mouth. 



In no period of Grecian history, so far as the author is aware, was the severe 

 and often cruel curbed-bit known. This was an invention of after-times. The 

 only instrument of punishment which was then attached to the bit was found 

 in the knobs at the corners of the mouth : they had sharp or rough points on 

 their inner surface, which by a turn or twist of the bridle might easily be 

 brought to bear painfully on the cheeks and angles of the mouth. A bit so 

 constructed was termed a lupatum, from the supposed resemblance of these 

 sharp projections to the teeth of a wolf. It would seem that this was, among 

 the Romans, almost coeval with the introduction of the bit, for the poet attri- 

 butes it to Neptune, the fabulous parent of the horse*. 



No mention is made of saddles, such as are used in modern times ; but by 

 way of ornament, and partly of convenience too, the horses were often covered 

 with beautiful cloths, or with the skins of wild beasts, secured by a girth or 

 eurcingle. Thus the horse of Parthenopius was covered with the skin of a 



* " Neptunus equo, si certa priorum, " Neptune, if we mny credit give to fame, 

 Fama patet, primus tcneris lacsisse lupatis First taught with bits the generous horse to 

 Ora, et iittoreo domuissc in pulvere fer- tame." 



tur." 



