THE MULE BIT. 89 



redeems himself by contradicting, without seeming to 

 mean it, what he says of the English horse in comparing 

 him with the small Eastern animal ; but both he and Sir 

 George Cox are of the same equestrian school. While 

 one considers the English horse superior to all others in 

 every quality, the other says '^ it is wrong-headedness to 

 shoe horses at all in any country," and refers to the per- 

 formances of Xenophon*'s on the plains of Babylon, and 

 a Massachusetts lunatic, in support of his assertion. So 

 that men of broad and practical knowledge and experi- 

 ence in equestrian matters would consider their opinions 

 worthless on those two subjects. 



CHAPTER IX. 

 THE MULE BIT. 



The mule bit for cruelty is a specialty in Mexico, and 

 for its severity the Mexicans or Spanish race is entitled 

 to the palm. It is a ring bit and the arch in the bar, 

 with the tags suspended therefrom, is the same as the 

 Mexican ring bit (fig. 26) illustrated in Chapter A^II. Its 

 extra severity consists in having a joint or hinge where 

 the bars join the guards, which are fiat. It is used with 

 a siusfle rein and one headstall. About ten inches of 

 chain is fastened to each end of the rein where it joins 

 the bit. The reins are generally made of raw-hide, and 

 are very strong and durable. Some are made of horse 

 hair. 



The mule, more than any of the other saddle animals, 

 should be well mouthed and carefully trained to the voice, 

 and taught to submit more to moral influence than to the 

 power of this bit, for to contend with his natural resist- 

 ance and untutored strength and natural stubborness is 

 a source of perpetual warfare between him and his rider 



