COMING TO THE WHIP. 15 



LESSON I. 



COMING TO THE WHIP. 



Have the horse brought saddled and bridled. Walk 

 quietly up in front of him, with your riding-whip under 

 your arm, and look him kindly in the face. See that 

 the bridle fits properly, as a careless groom may have 

 neglected to adjust it to the length of the head. 



The throat-latch should be loose enough to permit the 

 chin to come easily to the breast ; the bits should lie in 

 their proper place on the bars, and the curb-chain should 

 lie flat in the chin groove, just tight enough to allow 

 your fore-finger to pass under it. , The bars are that part 

 of the gum between the grinders, or back teeth, and the 

 nippers, or front teeth, which in the mare is destitute of 

 teeth, and in the horse has a tusk called the bridle-tooth. 



It is upon these bars, of course, that the bits should 

 lie, and the curb -bit, according to military rule, at an 

 inch above the tusk. By general usage they are placed 

 too high, the proper place of the curb-bit being not up 

 in the corner of the lips, but opposite or nearly opposite 

 the chin groove, which is just above the swell of the 

 lower lip. If the curb -chain is too loose the bit will 



