Breaking. 



ill 



used more to make the horse extend himself by playing 

 with it, and slightly resisting its tendency to confine his 

 mouth. 



The mouthing-bit may now 

 be put on, and its construction 

 and form are of the utmost 

 importance to the future deli- 

 cacy of mouth which is so es- 

 sential to the action of the 

 race horse. In no kind of 

 horse is the snaffle bridle so 

 desirable as in the race horse, 

 in which a curb is always a 

 means of making him gallop 

 in too round a style ; and yet 

 when be pulls very strongly, 

 this is a less evil than to let 

 him get away with his rider, 

 and either bolt out of the 

 course or destroy his chance 

 by over-running himself early 

 in the race. 



Hence it is doubly neces- 

 sary to guard against making 

 the angles of the mouth sore, 

 for if once they get into that 

 state they are almost sure to 

 become more or less callous 

 and insensible. But if, during 

 breakage, a snaffle of any kind, 

 large or small, is used, this re- 

 sult is almost sure to occur, 

 either in the horse's early 

 fighting with his bit, or when 

 " put upon it ;; in the stable. 

 Instead of a snaffle, a bit without a joint is the simple 

 remedy for all this. It should be made in the form of a 

 circle, or a segment of a circle, and with keys as usual 

 hanging from its centre. This circular or segmental form 

 is better than the straight bit, upon which the colt is apt 



