HANDBOOK OF THE TUKF. 31 



B. h. These letters, in a summary of a race, following 

 or preceding the name of the animal, denote "bay horse." 



Big'-g'aitecl. A term used to describe a long-striding 

 horse, one which has a sweeping gait, going wide apart behind, 

 and moving strong but easy with every step. 



Bike. Used, for short, to distinguish the pneumatic 

 sulky from the high wheel sulky ; contraction for bicycle. 



Billets. The ends of the reins or of the check-pieces of 

 the bridle, which buckle on to the bit. 



Bishopiiig. The method employed by gyps and unprin-' 

 cipled dealers to change the appearance of the incisors of the 

 lower jaw, to make the horse seem younger than it really is — a 

 method which can only deceive buyers who are ignorant of the 

 horse's mouth. The art consists in giving to the tables or sur- 

 face of the teeth an artificial cup of a dark color. The teeth 

 are first filed even, and a new cup is made by the aid of a grav- 

 ing instrument, which is blackened by the point of a white-hot 

 iron or the use of nitrate of silver. The trick is seldom 

 effected in a natural manner, for the mark is of a brownish hue 

 rather than black, and, moreover, a ring toi a lighter color 

 encircles it, occasioned by the heat of the instrument employed. 

 The tushes are generally filed down to point them and make 

 them appear fresh and small, like those of a horse five years of 

 age, as this is the age " bishopers " all try to imitate — but the 

 work may be detected by the unnatural shape and roughened 

 surface. 



A cant term made use of by farriers' jockies, by which they mean the 

 unfair practices wliich are made nse of to conceal the age of an old 

 horse or the ill properties of a bad one. — A Dictionary of Farriery, 

 J. Hunter, London, 1796. 



This name is derived from the name of an English body-snatching mis- 

 creant. Bishop, who used to sell the teetli of his murdered or 

 exhumed corpses to dentists for the refitting ujo old mouths. — Tricks 

 and Traps of Horse Dealers, Henry AVilliam Herbert. 



Bit. The metal part of a bridle which is inserted in 

 the mouth of a horse, with the appendages, rings, side-pieces, 

 etc., to which the reins are fastened. The bit rests against the 

 bars of the lower jaw, those parts of the jaw where there are 

 no teeth — that is, between the corner incisors and the tusks. 

 They are used for controlling the horse according to his own 

 peculiar disposition and the service required of him. As a 

 general rule, horses requiring bits of extraordinary severity or 

 power are either naturally vicious, or were spoiled when being 

 educated to the bit. Bits may be described under two classes : 

 Standard, or those for general use; and special, or those for 

 particular horses and purposes. The former embrace those for 

 road, driving, coach and park uses ; and the latter those used 



