118 BITS AND BITTING. 



as it were, certain legs to the ground, or detain them 

 longer in contact with it, setting the others free, and 

 determining with accuracy the mode and the moment of 

 their employment. Many horse-breakers do all this by 

 a sort of instinct. In fact, if they could not do it they 

 would scarcely ever succeed in handling a horse ; but 

 there are very few uneducated riders who comprehend 

 precisely the rationale of these processes, and are capable 

 of effecting them in all cases with certainty, which is, 

 however, indispensable to success in the handling of 

 young horses, or retrieving the mistakes that have been 

 committed by others with older ones. 



We may say, then, that the art of bitting and bridling 

 is a very useful and essential one, because it enables us 

 to avoid the infliction of pain, whilst it secures to us a 

 perfect control over the horse's movements. It consists 

 in enabling us to exercise the mechanical action of the 

 reins in the proper degree and the right direction, for 

 every horse and for every movement. 



The influence of good and judicious bitting and bridling 

 on the breaking-in and training of horses is incalculable, 

 whilst ignorance on these points, and abuse of these 

 instruments, are a very frequent cause of restiveness, 

 and of the ruin of young animals, especially of highly- 

 bred ones with their delicate organizations. A bolting 

 race-horse may be set down pretty nearly with certainty 

 as one that has been mismanaged and abused in 

 this respect. It is scarcely credible the amount of 

 terror with which some horses regard the bit, and the 

 blind fury with which they take it between their teeth, 

 throw up their heads, and bolt in consequence. 

 1 Considering the great number of " unthinking " riders- 

 and drivers that exist in all parts of the world, it seems 



