CHAPTER lY. 



THE LEVER THE BIT AXD CURB BITTING THE BRIDLE. 



With a plain smooth snaffle there is no question of 

 lever action ; the amount of power apjDlied to the reins 

 is conveyed unaltered in quantity to the animal's mouth: 

 to use a scientific expression, there is none of that me- 

 chanical advantage obtained v\^hich a mechanical power 

 alone is capable of conferring. But if we combine 

 Seeger's running-rein, which acts on the principle of a 

 movable pulley, a certain amount of power applied to 

 that rein will produce double the effect on the mouth 

 that it would if applied to the snaffle-rein alone. 



A still greater amount, however, of mechanical ad- 

 vantage may be obtained by means of a lever — abd a bit 

 furnished with a curb of a proper length acts as such. 

 There are, we know, several kinds of levers, and it will 

 depend altogether on the manner in which the bit and 

 curb are arranged, whether we obtain a lever action 

 that is favourable to us or quite the contrary ; it is 

 therefore necessary to say a word or two on the prin- 

 ciples of lever action. 



In the first order of levers the power is applied at 

 one end, the weight being placed at the other^ and the 

 fulcrum or prop between the two, dividing thus the 

 lever into two arms, a longer and a shorter one. The 



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