174 BITS AND BITTING. 



with his work, and thinks he has mastered the difficulty. 

 But in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the mouth- 

 piece lies higher than it should ; and if, in addition to this, 

 the upper cheek of the bit be, as it so frequently is, a 

 quarter of an inch too long, then the curb mounts up out 

 of the chin-groove and causes so much pain that the 

 horse, to escape it, bores into the rider's hand. He will 

 then, perhaps, try a longer curb or a shorter one ; the 

 bit will either fall through or be stiff, and he concludes 

 that he must have a sharper one, and has recourse to 

 some instrument of torture ; and so it goes on from bad 

 to worse, till he gets rid of the poor ill-used animal.'" 

 The best fitting bit, even when placed in the proper 

 place, will not work well unless the curb be properly 

 constructed and exactly of the length required. Taken, 

 all-in-all, a double chain worked quite flat, without 

 prominent edges, arid which ivhen twisted up to its 

 full extent, does not overtwist, is the best kind of curb. 

 Leather would be in some respects better than a chain ; 

 it is, however, not only perishable, but also subject to 

 stretch or contract when exposed to moisture ; and after 

 having been once or twice thoroughly soaked, becoming 

 hard and inflexible, it is more likely to injure the horse's 

 chin than a well-made chain. 



* This is no imaginary case : the author once saw a nice little 

 thorough -bred horse at Ostend, and a few months later at Dublin, 

 as second charger of a light cavalry officer of the garrison. It was 

 set down as an incurable bolter, and passing through the hands of 

 the riding-master, adjutant, and several officers, was finally sold, 

 as dangerous to ride, for 15, at a fifth-rate auction mart. The 

 purchaser, a ladies' doctor, brought it to the author, who, after 

 curing its dreadfully-lacerated mouth and jaws, bitted it properly 

 with a very light bit, which enabled the doctor to ride it within 

 a week at a review of the regiment in question, and for several 

 years afterwards, without ever bolting or being troublesome ; never 

 was there a better-tempered creature. 



