354 SYRIAN BITS 



covered, half-military seat, semicircular on side-view, with 

 a pommel very full and wide between the knees, and more 

 uncomfortable, if possible, than the Syrian. 



The Syrian bit is the curious gag used in many places 

 in the Orient. It has two branches ; the curb - chain is a 

 ring permanently jointed to the top of the tongue - arch. 

 In putting the bit in the horse's mouth, you slip this ring 

 over his chin. One size does for all horses ; but as the 

 Arab is not a three-legged rider, leaving his reins loose at 

 all times, the kind of bit is of not great importance; it 

 will not gall. But it is a bit a heavy jerk of which may 

 break the bone at the back of the horse's jaw. The bridle 

 is always a fancy one, often trimmed with shell-work, and 

 the breast -strap and saddle - trappings are wonderful in 

 their tawdry picturesqueness. Many a Bedouin, however, 

 even if he owns a noble mare, is too poor to boast a bridle. 

 He rides with a rope-halter only. The intelligent creature 

 does not even need that, the voice is enough. Colts are 

 broken to saddle and taught their gaits with halter alone. 

 If, as rarely happens, a colt is fractious, the rope is passed 

 through his mouth. A Southerner, whose children ride 

 the colts at pasture with a mere stick, understands this 

 well. It is half docility, half daily familiarity of the horse 

 with his master. This habit of docile breaking is thou- 

 sands of years old in the Orient. Light native cavalry of 

 all ancient countries used to ride without bridles, guiding 

 solely by voice and legs. Such was Hannibal's famous 

 Numidian horse, and we know how wonderfully they 

 could gallop around the enemy. Their favorite tactics 

 was to make a sudden attack, fly at the first bold resist- 

 ance, and attack and fly again, until they had wearied 

 their opponents and laid them open to real assault. This 

 argues immense tractability in their steppes ponies. It is 

 a similar tactics to that in which the Cossack is an adept. 



