182 BITS AND BITTING. 



when one is quite certain that this is desirable. In 

 Fig. 14 we have made the width of the port exactly 

 1^ inch, that of the whole mouth-piece being only 4, 

 which would be rather under the mark. The thickness 

 of the mouth-pieces Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 is three-quarters of 

 an inch, and these range from what is considered to 

 be the very lightest form, No. 1, up to No. 4, which 

 represents a medium bit. We, however, should always 

 prefer No. 2 or No. 3 to No. 1, for the arched form of 

 the latter throws nearly the whole pressure on the 

 tongue, and the very small amount that falls on the bars 

 of the mouth does so laterally, and not from front to 

 rear. This form of mouth-piece, too, is always unsteady, 

 and we have seen many horses whose tongues have been 

 nearly cut through by its use with a tight curb. The 

 mouth-pieces Nos. 5, 6, 7 are only half an inch thick, 

 which renders their action on the bars of the mouth 

 more telling; they represent sharp bits. It will not 

 escape observation that a greater thickness of the mouth- 

 piece adds, in fact, to the height of the port ; it is like 

 placing an arch on higher buttresses, but it renders the 

 action on the bars less painful, and enables us to meet 

 the exigencies of special cases as, for instance, where 

 a horse has a thick fleshy tongue and very sensitive 

 bars, and would not bear anything like sharp bitting. 



There is another adjustment that may be occasionally 

 employed with advantage, and which naturally finds 

 its place here. The plane of the port is usually made 

 to coincide with that of the whole bit ; in other words, 

 if we look at the instrument from either side, the port 

 will be covered by the upper bars ; but it is easy to 

 perceive that, by inclining it a little forward, we may 

 increase the tongue-freedom without making the port 



