CHAPTEE XIII. 



BITS, SNAFFLES, CHECKS ; CUBE FOE, PULLING HORSES, FOR CALLOUS 

 AND SORE MOUTHS; TURKISH BATH, &C. 



PRECEPTOR. I find that after eating heartily it takes a 

 little time before the ideas flow as readily as when di- 

 gestion is further advanced. The subject we are going to 

 talk about is of importance, requiring full use of our 

 reasoning faculties, unobstructed by the over-indulgence 

 in the good things we get here. Smoking, though, 

 certainly assists in collecting the scattered reins of 

 thought ; and through its soothing influence the mental 

 faculties throw off the lethargy induced by hearty eating, 

 and ideas soon coming faster than one can find words to 

 express them. 



A person not conversant with horse life in all its 

 phases would be surprised when shown a full collection 

 of bits, many of them useless, some worse than useless, 

 testifying that their inventors would have been in their 

 appropriate sphere if the old Spanish Inquisition still 

 needed their aid in devising instruments of torture. The 

 snaffle, in its various sizes and forms, is the most useful ; 

 and were we restricted to one pattern, that would be the 

 one chosen. But as we can pick and choose through 

 these and through all the varieties of the bar, chain, and 

 leather, it will be very hard if we cannot suit our horses' 

 mouths. The curb is generally thought inadmissible for 

 trotting purposes, though I have seen one or two instan- 

 ces where its use was beneficial. It will be almost im- 



