ON BITTINc; THE COLT. 65 



*' Tlie snaffle may be added when he goes freely in 

 the head-stall." 



A colt should never be buckled to the pillar reins by 

 his bit, but by the head-stall ; for if tightly buckled to 

 the bit, he will bear heavily — even go to sleep : raw 

 lip, which, when cured, becomes callous, is the result. 

 Yet nothing is more common than to see colts standing 

 for hours on the bit, with reins tightly buckled to the 

 demi-jockey, under the ignorant notion of giving him a 

 mouth, or setting up his head in the right place. The 

 latter, if not done by nature, can only be done, if ever, 

 by delicate, skilful hands, 



A. colts bit should be large and smooth snaffle, with 

 players to keep his mouth moist. 



Dick Christian liked a bit for young horses as thick 

 as his thumb — we don't know how thick that was — and 

 four and a half inches between the cheeks ; and there 

 was no better judge than Dick. 



The Germans use a wooden bit to make a horse's 

 mouth, and good judges think they are right, as it may 

 not be so unpleasant as metal to begin with ; but wood 

 or iron, the bridle should be properly put on, a point 

 often neglected, and a fertile source of restiveness. 

 There is as much need to fit a bridle to the length of. 

 a horse's head, as to buckle the girths of the saddle. 



For conquering a vicious, biting horse, there is no- 

 thing equal to the large wooden gag-bit, which Mr 

 Earey first exhibited in public on the zebra. A muzzie 

 only prevents a horse from biting ; a gag, properly 

 used, cures; for when he finds he cannot bite, and 

 that you caress him and rub his ears kindly with per- 

 fect confidence, he by degrees abandons this most dan- 

 gerous vice. Stafford was driven in a wooden gag the 



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