CHAPTER XI I 



BITS AND BITTING 



We may take it for granted that in pre-historic 

 times "the connecting Hnk " was hacked about 

 with a raw hide bridle in place of the now 

 popular " Ninth Lancer Polo-Bit." But there 

 were evidently disadvantages in riding with a 

 rudimentary halter, because our forefathers sub- 

 sequently adopted wooden and horn snaffles, and, 

 later on, added sides or " cheeks " to them. 



There was no further improvement for many 

 centuries until the iron period, when the snaffle 

 attained a higher pitch of perfection. So far 

 as we can gather from historians, the ancient 

 Romans were the first to introduce the principle 

 of the "lever," or curb; it is humiliating to find 

 that we have made hardly any advance in effec- 

 tive snaffles during the last thousand years. 

 Dates are dangerous things to quote in connec- 

 tion with this interesting subject, for the evidence 

 of the recognised authorities is conflicting. In 

 order, therefore, to be on the safe side, let us 

 state that horses were bitted in Egypt certainly 

 1500 to 2000 years before Christ, and probably 

 much earlier. 



A very curious wooden mouthpiece, shaped 

 liked a badly-drawn horse, and believed to have 

 been made about 1000 B.C., was found in Ger- 



