258 BEARING-REIN CH. XII 



exactly like that of a harness bearing-rein. The 

 curb-reins are on the lower finders of the left hand, 

 and are used to restrain the horse, and to bring his 

 head in, the bit being put as low in the mouth as 

 possible without touching the tusks. By a judicious 

 use of the two bits the horse's head can be ' placed' 

 in the position which gives the greatest control over 

 the animal, and ensures what is usually called ' light- 

 ness of mouth,' which is, in most cases, a matter of 

 the muscles of the neck and jaw, and not of the bars 

 of the mouth. 



A bearing-rein and a driving curb-bit, both prop- 

 erly adjusted, will, to some extent, imitate the 

 action of the two bits of the saddle-horse, except 

 that there is no elasticity in the bearing-rein such 

 as there is in the rider's hand. The position of the 

 horse's head should be carefully studied, and the 

 bearing-rein buckled at such a length as will prevent 

 the horse from dropping his head too low, and at the 

 same time will not hold the head in a constrained 

 position. This will require judgement, as a bearing- 

 rein which seems tia-ht when the horse is standing 

 still, will frequently be entirely too slack when he 

 is moving. It may be said, however, that it should 

 be always somewhat slack when the horse is in 

 motion. With this rein properly adjusted, with the 

 driving-bit as low as possible in the mouth, and with 

 the curb-chain of such a length that the branch of 

 the bit, when pulled upon by the rein, will come 

 back to a position about half-way between the 



