170 



BITS AND BITTIXG, 



action, the two arms of the lever being equal ; the 

 horse will therefore bore in the rider's hand. On the 

 other hand, the bit with the short upper cheek d c, 

 equal half d e, will assume the position c, d,f — 

 that is, it \sSSS.fall through. The curb will no doubt 

 remain in the chin-groove, and act forwards in the 

 direction e c, but forming a very acute angle with the 

 branches of the bit itself, will have scarcely any value 

 as a 2)rop. The lever action, however, will be very 



r T 



Fig. 12. 

 great, the lower branch / d being to the upper one 

 d c XQ. the proportion of 4 to 1. In fact, it will 

 be too great, and therefore reduces the prop to a 

 nullity. 



The intermediate upper cheek d h, equal d e, will 

 assume the position b' dp', it will neither be stiff 

 nor fall through : the curb will remain in the chin- 

 groove, acting obliquely forwards in the line e b' , and 

 will afford a sufficient prop or support ; and the lower 

 branch of the lever, /c^, being in the proportion of 2 



