138 BITS AND BITTING. 



two to three per cent of the horses he has had to do 

 with. Now this is a very important dimension, because 

 the upper part of the cheek of the bit should neve?- ex- 

 ceed the height of the bar of the horse's mouth — why, 

 shall be made clear in another chapter ; notwithstand- 

 ing w^hich, it is only necessary to go into any saddler's 

 or bit-maker's shop to satisfy one's self that a very 

 large proportion of bits, even of those intended for 

 saddle-horses, are constructed in total defiance of this 

 rule, and calculated for animals that have much higher 

 bars, wherever they are to be found. 



But if there is very great uniformity in the absolute 

 height of the bars, there is, on the other hand, a very 

 great diversity in their shape and texture, some being 

 flat-topped and broad — others, again, presenting a ridge- 

 like surface j some also spong}^, soft, and comparatively 

 devoid of feeling, whilst others appear firmer, finer, and 

 more sensitive ; all this exercising an immense influ- 

 ence on the bitting. 



The vridth of the channel for the tongue, or lingual 

 canal, as the anatomists would say, is pretty nearly 

 always three-fourths of the height of the bars ; and this 

 being very constantly 1.8 inch, the other will be found 

 to be about IJ inch of our English measurement, 

 which gives us the dimension of the maximum width 

 of the port of a bit, where there is one ; because sup- 

 posing the mouthpiece to have exactly the proper width, 

 if the port be made wider than the lingual canal, its 

 corners will come on to the bars of the horse's mouth 

 and produce intolerable pain, w^hich, once for all, is 

 wholly inconsistent with good bitting : and this is pre- 

 cisely the reason -why it is of so great importance that 

 the width of the bit should coincide so accurately with 



