166 



BITS AND BITTING. 



if the whole mouth-piece forms one curve, the line of 

 bearing that is to say, the line connecting the two 

 points of the mouth-piece which rest on the bars of the 

 horse's mouth does not coincide with the axis of the 

 bit passing through the centre of the two rivets, which 

 must be taken into account in estimating the relative 

 lengths of the upper and lower cheeks of the bit. 

 (See Fig. 11.) 



The measure for the length of the upper cheek of the 

 bit, taken from the " line of bearing " to the point 



Bearing 



Fig. 11. 



at which the curb-hook acts, is the height of the bars 

 of the horse's mouth, which, as has been shown in a 

 previous chapter, is pretty nearly a constant quantity 

 namely, l T 8 n English inch, decreasing with very 

 small horses and ponies to lj^ ; therefore, rejecting too 

 great nicety, we may say that If inch is the proper 

 length for the upper cheek very seldom less, and 

 hardly ever more. 



It would be very easy to demonstrate mathematically 

 why these two dimensions should always correspond, 

 but we prefer the simpler and more obvious way of 

 showing what the consequences of a departure from 

 the rule must necessarily be. 



