BAR BITS, STRAIGHT AND CURVED. 113 



according to the way the horse's neck is set on his shoul- 

 ders. If he be a poke, the strain is great on the upward 

 tendency of the bar, while, if he carries his head in the 

 air, there is no strain at all upwards, but rather down- 

 wards by the reins. The lower the head, therefore, the 

 greater tlie strain — the higher, the less. The yirtue of 

 the slide depends wholly on the horse's style and the 

 character of his action ; and to use it indiscriminately, 

 whether suitable or not, because everybody does it, is an 

 evidence of a want of experience and judgment, and a 

 liberty with common sense. We would say, however, 

 that if a crowbar were used as a bit there would be some 

 *^ patent" contrivance invented to ease the horse's mouth 

 from any possible tortures it inflicted, and we would be 

 decidedly in favor of the contrivance. It is on the prin- 

 ciple of attack and defence in gunnery — so far the 

 defence has it ; we wish it were so with the poor, sub- 

 missive horse. 



For general use this bar bit has no other desirable 

 feature besides the action of the slide for the horse it 

 suits, and pulling the vehicle by it instead of by the 

 traces, which by some horse fanciers is considered an 

 accomplishment. The tendency there is in this age to 

 get up something new to gain financially by novelty what 

 cannot be gained by superiority, is very great, and in the 

 equestrian sphere it is patronized by both the ignorant 

 and uninitiated, who, having no experience of their own, 

 use. certain bits because everybody else does. To satisfy 

 the patrons of new inventions it is a pity that horses 

 could not have more heads, so that the owner of only one 

 horse could encourage the inventive genius and patronize 

 the manufacturers as they come out with their novel con- 

 trivances. As a new kind of horse cannot be invented 

 beyond the first cross between the mare and the jack, we 

 have contrivances and ignorance enough to make differ- 

 ent kinds of dispositions, tempers and mouths. No 



