144 BITS AND BITTING. 



not only may but must be better " set up" and more 

 finely mouthed than the hunter. Here, too, the grand 

 thing is a seat independent of reins and stirrups, with- 

 out which the best bitting will be of little value. 



What should the carriage of the cavalry horse be ] 

 for this is what determines the bitting. It must 

 favour the short sharp turnings and voltes of the 

 school, without impeding the straightforward rush of 

 the hunter; therefore the adjustment of the weight 

 and the bitting must be such as to enable the horse 

 to pass from the one style to the other, when required, 

 with ease to itself and the rider. The rule of the 

 manege is, that the frontal line of the head (fore- 

 head and nose) should be perpendicular to the hori- 

 zon, the neck being brought up so that the mouth, 

 and consequently the pull on the reins, should be on 

 a line with the horse's back, so as to allow of the latter 

 acting directly on the centre of motion. There are, 

 however, but few horses so perfectly formed in every 

 respect as to be able to assume this carriage and main- 

 tain it in all their paces. "We have already pointed 

 out the obstacles likely to arise from the conformation 

 of the neck, head, and throat, and we may say that 

 not one troop-horse in a thousand is capable of being 

 brought to this standard of carriage, if it were neces- 

 sary, which is by no means the case. We must there- 

 fore take a lower one, or rather one more universally 

 applicable, and perfectly sufficient for the object in view. 

 No better rule can perhaps be laid down than that of 

 Lieutenant-Colonel von Oeynhausen, who says :"^ *' I 

 consider, as a general rule, that position of the head 

 to be best with which the horse's paces are clean and 

 * * Zaiimungs Lehre,' p. 10. 



