176 BITS AND BITTING. 



in every resj^ect ; he fixes it at the prescribed " inch 

 above the lower tusk" if he be a soldier, or dra^YS it 

 up into the angle of the lips if he be a civilian : he may 

 just happen to hit off the right place, and if so, even 

 an ill- shaped bit will work tolerably j he is content 

 with his work, and thinks he has mastered the diffi- 

 culty. But in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the 

 mouthpiece lies higher than it should ; and if, in addi- 

 tion to this, the upper cheek of the bit be, as it so fre- 

 quently is, a quarter of an inch too long, then the curb 

 mounts up out of the chin-groove and causes so much 

 pain that the horse, to escape it, bores into the rider's 

 hand. He will then, perhaps, try a longer curb or a 

 shorter one ; the bit will either fall through or be stiff, 

 and he concludes that he must have a sharper one, and 

 has recourse to some instiTiment of torture j and so it 

 goes on from bad to worse, till he gets rid of the poor 

 ill-used animal.* 



The best fitting bit, even when placed in the proper 

 place, will not work well unless the curb be properly 

 constructed and exactly of the length required. Tak- 

 ing all in all, a double chain worked quite flat, without 

 prominent edges, and which when twisted up to its 



* This is no imaginary case : the autlior once saw a nice little 

 thorough -bred horse at Ostend, and a f ewmonths later atDublin, 

 as second charger of a light cavahy officer of the garrison. It was 

 set down as an incurable bolter, and passing through the hands of 

 the riding-master, adjutant, and several officers, was finally sold, 

 as dangerous to ride, for £15 at a fifth-rate auction-mart. The 

 purchaser, a ladies' doctor, brought it to the author, who after 

 curing its dreadfully lacerated mouth and jaws, bitted it properly 

 with a very light bit, which enabled the doctor to ride it within 

 a week at a review of the regiment in question,and for several 

 years afterwards, without ever bolting or being troublesome : 

 never was there a better-tempered creature. 



