66 



BITS AND BRIDLE GEAR. 



a pull at the reins, or slackening them. The presence of a 

 curb-chain naturally checks its action. Although it has been 

 found to afford effective control with some hard pullers, it has 

 gone almost entirely out of fashion. 



The chief useful office of a nose-band is to draw the lower 



Fig. 81. Bucephalus Nose-band. 



jaw up to the upper jaw, so as to deprive the horse of the 

 power of yielding only with the lower jaw, and thus to compel 

 him to bring down his head and bend his neck more than he 

 would do without a nose-band. Also, with a curb, it prevents 

 him from shifting the bit about in his mouth ; and when he is 

 being turned, it increases the power of the rider in pulling 

 his head round, because it fixes his upper and lower jaws 

 together, and consequently deprives him of the side play of 



