VII] 



RIDING AND SADDLES 



89 



horses to pull. If a horse has a tender mouth, 

 a thick mouth-piece must be used and an easy 

 hand must be at the other end of the reins. 



Jerking a horse's mouth in order to increase 

 his speed is a sure sign of extremely bad driving. 



350. Curb Bits. The curb bit requires to be 

 fitted accurately to the mouth if the best use is 

 to be derived from it. A curb bit consists of 

 mouth-piece, lateral upper and lower cheek- 

 pieces, and curb chain, which is hooked on to 

 both sides. The upper cheek-piece has a ring 

 in its top to which is buckled the headstall, 

 which keeps the bit in the horse's mouth. The 

 chain hooks are also attached to these rings. 

 The lower cheek-piece, i.e. below the mouth- 

 piece, has usually two holes in it in driving bits, 

 and sometimes two in riding bits, for the attach- 

 ment of the reins. The mouth-piece is either 

 straight or has a port in it which fits over the 

 tongue. (See P. 71.) The surface of the mouth- 

 piece is usually smooth, but may be slightly 

 grooved for horses which have hard mouths. 

 P. 71, Fig. 2, shows how the tongue of a horse 

 usually projects above the side-bars. The side- 

 bars are the ridges (incidental spaces) between 

 the incisor tooth of a mare, or the tusk of a 

 horse, and the first molar. They are covered 

 with mucous membrane, and, unless they are 

 made callous by hard handling, are very sensi- 

 tive. The degree of sensitiveness of these bars, 

 sometimes called gums, is often designated as 

 " fineness of mouth." 



Fineness of mouth is defined as meaning a 

 mouth that is properly trained and responds to 

 the actions of the bridle hand ; therefore, the 

 rider cannot be too cautious in the manner in 

 which he uses his bit reins, or too careful that 

 the movements of his hands are the correct 

 indications of his own will, always bearing in 

 mind that fineness of mouth is not produced 

 through laceration of the bars, as the delicate 

 skin that covers them is never so sensitive or 

 tender after abrasion as before. 



351. From the diagram it will be clear that 

 the existence of a port and the depth of the port 

 depend on two things : the shape of the mouth 

 and tongue, and the disposition of the horse. 

 Clearly, with a port the bars will take the feel 

 of the reins, without a port (unless the tongue 

 is very small and the bars high) the tongue will 

 take the feel. The tongue is less sensitive than 

 the bars, and therefore a port makes a bit more 

 severe. Some horses go better with the bit on 

 the tongue, some with it on the bars. This can 

 only be ascertained by a careful examination 

 followed by a trial. 



The width of the bit must also be correct ; 

 if too narrow it will pinch the mouth, and if too 

 wide it will slip from side to side. The width 

 of a jaw can be measured by passing a wooden 

 rule through the mouth and measuring from a 

 quarter of an inch outside the lips on each side 



M 



when the mouth is closed. This distance is the 

 correct length inside the cheek-pieces. If a bit 

 is too wide, circular leather cheek-pieces can be 

 cut to slip on the mouth-piece inside the cheek- 

 pieces of the bit. A horse with a thin skin on 

 his bars or on his tongue will have to be bitted 

 with a thicker mouth-piece to prevent injury and 

 pain. 



Besides taking into account the shape of the 

 mouth and the thickness of the skin on the bars, 

 the conformation of the head and neck, fore 

 quarters and back should also be considered. 



352. Port. The port is usually made parallel 

 to the cheek-pieces. When it is in this position 

 the lower cheek-piece would have to be moved 

 at right angles to the bars in order to allow the 

 tongue to fit into the port. At the most the 

 lower cheek-piece is drawn to an angle of 45, 

 and therefore half of the depth of the port will 

 be lost. So that really the correct plane for the 

 port is at least 45 to the plane of the cheek- 

 pieces, as shown in P. 71, Fig. 4 ; the port then 

 forms a small groove for the tongue at all times, 

 but a complete one when the curb is brought 

 into action. 



353. Curb Chain. As explained in Sec. 286, 

 a curb chain must lie flat in the chin groove ; 

 it must be broad, so as not to cut into the jaw 

 and cause pain. The curb chain is not meant 

 to cause pain, as is so often supposed. It has 

 quite a different function, as explained below. 

 The object of the curb bit is to subject the head 

 and neck, and therefore the whole body, to the 

 action of the hand. It acts by causing a properly 

 mouthed horse to allow his lower jaw to move 

 toward the rider, thus causing him to arch his 

 neck and to take no hold of the bit. 



The longer the lower cheek-pieces and the 

 shorter the upper, the greater will be the power 

 of the bit. The reins for driving are usually not 

 buckled to the lowest hole on the long cheek- 

 piece (P. 33<z). The more power such a bit 

 possesses the greater care must be exercised in 

 handling the reins ; but, as the mouth-piece 

 should never be thin nor the curb chain narrow, 

 the harm done will be comparatively slight 

 should the horse be accidentally jerked in the 

 mouth. If it is seen that a curb chain causes 

 pain, a leather strap should be worn between 

 it and the chin. The length of the upper cheek- 

 piece is limited, because it must be of such a 

 length that the curb chain is just tight when the 

 bit rein is pulled so as to cause the cheek-pieces 

 to be at an angle of 30 to 45 from their original 

 position. In this position the curb must be lying 

 flat all along the chin groove, not having slipped 

 up or down. A curb may slip up if the mouth- 

 piece is too high or if the upper cheek-piece is 

 too long. A curb chain will not allow the cheek- 

 pieces to form the required angle if it is too 

 short, but if too long it will allow the cheek- 

 pieces to be drawn too far over, i.e. too near a 



