142 Bits and Bltti-Hg. 



fore the adjustment of the weight and the bittinof must 

 be such as to enable the horse to pass from the one 

 style to the other, when required, with ease to itself 

 and the rider. The rule of the manege is, that the 

 frontal line of the head (forehead and nose) should be 

 perpendicular to the horizon, the neck being brought 

 up so that the mouth, and consequently the pull on the 

 reins, should be on a line with the horse's back, so as 

 to allow of the latter acting directly on the centre of 

 motion. There are, however, but few horses so per- 

 fectly formed in every respect as to be able to assume 

 this carriage and maintain it in all their faces. We 

 have already pointed out the obstacles likely to arise 

 from the conformation of the neck, head and throat, 

 and we may say that not one troop-horse in a thousand 

 is capable of being brought to this standard of carriage, 

 if it were necessary, which is by no means the case. 

 We must therefore take a lower one, or rather one 

 more universally applicable, and perfectly sufiicient for 

 the object in view. No better rule can perhaps be laid 

 down than that of Lieutenant-Colonel von Oeynhausen, 

 who says :* " I consider, as a general rule, that po- 

 sition of the head to be best with which the horse's 

 paces are clean andyr^e" (to be clean they must be 

 equable and their rhythm perfect; to be free they must 

 be made without apparent effort or marks of distress) ; 

 '"' which allows him to turn willingly and without an effort 

 or disturbance of his pace ; to diminish or increase this 

 without hesitation ; to rein back, preserving a proper 

 degree of feeling, and immediately to advance again 

 freely if called upon." 



Now, although a star-gazer with a ewe-neck, or a 



borer that can only go with his nose close to the ground, 



are totally unfit for military purposes, w^e must take 



average horses, and allow one to poke out his nose a 



* " Zaumungs Lehre," p. 10. 



