80 THE BIT. [CHAP. 



and let the porte open laterally to two and a half 

 inches inside. 

 Defence by But when the tongue is perfectly disengaged from the 



the lip. 



bars by the porte, the horse will still defend them by 

 drawing his lip in on one side, interposing it between one 

 bar and one cannon of the bit, and pulling on one side of 

 his mouth only. It is the common error to attribute this 

 to nature having formed one bar stronger than the other ; 

 but these and other tricks are not to be looked on as the 

 results of natural defects, but as habitual defences against 

 the pain caused by a hard, harsh bearing on the horse's 

 bars ; with a smooth and gentle bearing he will not take 

 to them, or will discontinue them. For callous bars 

 Xenophon prescribes gentle friction with oil ! and the 

 practice of the Augustan age of the manege, recommended 

 by Berenger was to amputate that part of the tongue 

 which a horse protruded or lolled out ! 



Defence by One of the most common defences against the bit is 

 the teeth. 



taking the kg (the lower part of the branch) of the bit 



with the corner tooth. This is easily counteracted by a 



