150 Bits and Bitting. 



instance ; for, apart from all other considerations, there 

 is this great objection to all the contrivances referred to 

 here, that when you take them out of the horse's mouth 

 you find yourself at best just where you were before, 

 and still more likely not nearly so well oft', because the 

 animal's temper will have suffered. 



In the great majority of cases, when a man finds that 

 his horse lies heavy in his hand with a plain, smooth 

 snaffle — in fact, when he cannot hold him — he looks out 

 immediately for something sharper — a twisted mouth- 

 piece, or some contrivance of the kind — and seldom 

 takes the trouble to examine how it is that the animal 

 contrives to set the cold iron at defiance. If he did so, 

 he would generally find that this is accomplished by get- 

 ting it out of its proper place on the bars, and shifting it 

 up to the thick part of the tongue, which the horse can 

 do only when there is nothing to prevent his opening 

 his mouth as wide as he pleases ; for, if he can do this,, 

 he can always set the rider at defiance. In former 

 times a noseband used to be employed, even with snaf- 

 fles, for the purpose of preventing this ; but the nose- 

 band has been very generally abandoned, except on 

 military bridles or harness, at least in this country. 



The chief reason given for abolishing the noseband 

 was, that it was supposed to interfere with the horse's 

 breathing, especially during the long-continued gallops 

 of the hunting-field, etc. ; and it was on the same ac- 

 count considered to be, a fo7'tiori,, wholly unfit for racing 

 purposes. This was, perhaps, not a good reason for 

 rejecting it altogether during the first handling of young 

 horses, as it would have been easy to lay it aside after- 

 ward when they came to their held work ; but the truth 

 is, that the noseband was placed so high up above the 

 angles of the horse's mouth that it could not prevent 

 the animal opening its mouth and doing what it pleased 

 with the bit, unless it was buckled so tight as really to 



