The Neck^ the Hcad^ etc. \2*J 



The reader perceives, by these frequent and unavoid- 

 able digressions, how intimately the question of bits 

 and bitting is interwoven with the whole system of 

 breaking-in and riding horses, especially for military 

 purposes ; and he will see farther on the great import- 

 ance of this point, particularly when we come to dis- 

 cuss the immediate action of the bit on the interior of 

 the horse's mouth. 



We have next to consider the animal's head in con- 

 nection with this question. Hitherto we have, for the 

 sake of greater convenience, always mentioned the neck 

 as the lever by which the rider controls the motion of 

 the whole animal; but a simple inspection shows that 

 the head is the lever by means of which we gain a 

 command over the neck, and its size, weight, the man- 

 ner in which it is set on to the latter, and other partic- 

 ulars, have each of them its own share of importance. 

 It is scarcely necessary to say that a very large, heavy 

 head renders it a matter of extreme difficulty to get the 

 horse into anything like equilibrium, and big-headed 

 horses will be therefore generally, although not always, 

 heavy in the hand ; but it by no means follows from 

 this that small heads confer of themselves the opposite 

 quality; in truth, more depends on the way in which 

 the head is set on to the neck, the make and pi >portions 

 of the latter, and the facility thereby afforded i« r assum- 

 ing a great variety of positions, than on the absolute 

 size of the head itself. 



Generally speaking, all our British breeds huve well- 

 formed and well-proportioned heads. Irish horses, 

 however, have frequently large ones, and what is of 

 still greater importance, peculiarities of conformation, 

 which, in consequence of ignorance and injudicious 

 management, sometimes tend directly to produce rest- 

 iveness or other equally unpleasant results. 



It will be well at this point to call attention to a very 



