BITS AND BITTING. 137 



incli in diameter. A horse with high, sharp bars, 

 and a fine tongue (the characteristic of well-bred 

 horses), requires a very light mouthpiece, yiz : three- 

 quarters of an inch in diameter. Thus the thicker 

 the mouthpiece, the lighter the bit. 



Sometimes we meet with the erroneous idea that 

 it is the actual weight of the bit in pounds and 

 ounces which constitutes a light or a sharp bit, and 

 that the lighter ones are : " Ladies' bits." A light 

 bit, under these suppositions, in a lady's hand, might 

 prove the cause of serious misunderstandings be- 

 tween the fair rider and her horse. It is the horse 

 and not the rider, that carries the bit, and a few 

 ounces more or less, do not make the slightest 

 difference. Nothing but the conformation of the 

 horse's mouth should guide us in selecting a bit. 



Some bits have movable mouthpieces, which to a 

 certain extent, make horses light in hand, as they 

 play with the. mouthpiece, but the mouthpieces 

 cannot prevent the horse from putting his tongue 

 over the bit, and through the constant friction, the 

 mouthpiece soon becomes loose at the sides where 

 it is inserted in the side branches, and the horse's 

 lips grow sore from being pinched and chafed. 



Some horses acquire the bad habit ^ placing the 

 tongue over the hit and lolly ing it out in front, or to 

 one side. It generally originates from bad and se- 



