144 BITS AND BITTING. 



without impeding the straightforward rush of the hunter ; 

 therefore the adjustment of the weight and the bitting 

 must be such as to enable the horse to pass from 

 the one style to the other, when required, with ease 

 to itself and the rider. The rule of the manege is, 

 that the frontal line of the head (forehead and nose) 

 should be perpendicular to the horizon, the neck 

 being brought up so that the mouth, and consequently 

 the pull on the reins, should be on a line with the 

 horse's back, so as to allow of the latter acting directly 

 on the centre of motion. There are, however, but 

 few horses so perfectly formed in every respect as 

 to be able to assume this carriage and maintain it in 

 all their paces. We have already pointed out the 

 obstacles likely to arise from the conformation of the 

 neck, head and throat, and we may say that not 

 one troop-horse in a thousand is capable of being 

 brought to this standard of carriage, if it were necessary, 

 which is by no means the case. We must therefore 

 take a lower one, or rather one more universally 

 applicable, and perfectly sufficient for the object in view. 

 No better rule can perhaps be laid down than that of 

 Lieutenant-Colonel von Oeynhausen, who says :* " I 

 consider, as a general rule, that position of the head 

 to be best with which the horse's paces are clean and 

 free" (to be clean they must be equable and their 

 rhythm perfect ; to be free they must be made without 

 apparent effort or marks of distress) ; " which allows him 

 to turn willingly and without an effort or disturbance of 

 his pace ; to diminish or increase this without hesitation ; 

 to rein back, preserving a proper degree of feeling, and 

 immediately to advance again freely if called upon." 

 * ' Zaumungs Lehre,' p. 10. 



