EQUITATION 



275 



with, rings through which pass the ends of a flexible chin strap 

 into which the reins are buckled. The idea is an old one, sim- 

 ilar bridles having long been in common use in Southern Europe. 

 For some horses with spoiled mouths this bridle might give good 

 service, but with it the nicer responsiveness of a good mouth to 

 light hands is impossible. 



The proper fit amd adjustment of a bit are as essential to the 

 preservation of a good mouth as is the type of tlie bit itself. It 

 should just hang easily in the mouth, wide enough not to pinch 

 the cheeks and low enough neitlier to stretch the angles of the 

 mouth nor to draw the cheeks in against tlie teeth. Curb bits 

 should be lower in the mouth, as a rule, than the snalile, some 



Fig. 143. — The 

 elbow bit. 



Fig. 144.— The 

 Buxton bit. 



Fig. 145.— The Pelham bit. 



being constructed so that the bar has play up and down on the 

 shank in order that the position of the bit may be, to a certain 

 extent, automatically adjusted. The curb chain should be loose 

 enough to admit from two to three fingers when the bit hangs 

 naturally with no pressure upon it. Then the bit should be so 

 adjusted as to bring the chain into its proper groove. If too 

 hig-li, its pressure comes on the sharp margins of the low^er jaw 

 with injurious effect. 



Accessories. — ChecJc or Bearmg Rein. — The overdraw check, 

 attached either to a small check bit, a chin strap, or some modi- 

 fication of either or both, takes the bearing directly over the 

 pole and therefore has the effect of extending the nose and at 

 least favoring, if not suggesting, an extension of stride. It also 



