158 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 



its value. Bar-sand, soap and a piece of woollen cloth are 

 all that is necessary to clean steel bits and keep them in 

 order. Tasty persons burnish the bits every time they 

 are used. Before putting them aside, it will be necessary, 

 to prevent rust, to have them wiped over with a woollen 

 rag, previously oiled with salad or sweet oil. 



Carriage or family horses, however gentle and kind in 

 temper, disposition, easy of mouth, and management when 

 in harness, should never be trusted without bits, because 

 we see too often the folly of such dependence. We can 

 call to memory the loss of life and destruction of property, 

 arising from such a neglect. 



The single and double harness horse, however gentle he 

 may be, can only be considered safe and manageable in the 

 moment of danger when provided with a curb or bar bit. 

 Circumstances will occasionally arise in which power and 

 promptitude can only save from accident — like the good 

 staunch ship, in strict obedience to its rudder in the storm. 

 However unpleasant the mouth of the horse may feel with 

 a snaffle-bit, there can be no exceptional argument as to its 

 universal safety, under certain conditions ; for no well-fed, 

 spirited horse, when excited, can be controlled by one 

 person, with a plain bit in its mouth. It is this know- 

 ledge, we believe, which gave for the saddle-horse a double 

 bridle, with both snaffle and curb bit, either of which can 

 be used in the moment of danger. The safety-rein in use 

 in some parts of Europe, and used for safety on harness- 

 horses, has the same purpose. It is buckled to a curb or 



