THE NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 145 



Now, although a star-gazer with an ewe-neck, or a 

 borer that can only go with his nose close to the ground, 

 are totally unfit for military purposes, we must take 

 average horses, and allow one to poke out his nose 

 a little more than another ; nor can we always help its 

 coiling up its head and neck like a snail, so long as they 

 go clean and free which is precisely what Baucher's 

 encapuchonne carriage of the head and neck does not 

 favour ; but the higher we get both head and neck 

 without sacrificing cleanness and freedom of pace the 

 better, if for no other reason than that there always 

 must be something in front of the military saddle which 

 keeps the bridle-hand at a certain distance above the 

 horse's withers, close down to which the civilian rider 

 can easily place it. Carriage is, however, not the result 

 of bitting alone ; it depends, as we have already shown 

 in Part I., on a judicious system of saddling, packing, 

 and riding, the bitting forming " le. couronnement de 

 I'edifice" without which the remainder is of comparatively 

 little use to the soldier, because he must ride altogether 

 with one hand, and he requires his whole body, from the 

 hips upwards, with the exception of this one hand, 

 for the use of his weapons. 



Good bitting, saddling, packing, and riding, are what 

 render cavalry available and durable ; they secure 

 efficiency, and therefore economy ; of course they cannot 

 insure judicious handling of the arm, nor affect the 

 morale of the soldier beyond giving him a sense of 

 security and power, which is, however, very valuable. 



The reader will perceive, from the digression into 

 which we have been led here, that the question of bitting 

 cannot be considered separately from those of distribution 

 of weight, carriage, and action ; and it was in order to 



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