'66 



Bits mid Bitting. 



necessary ; besides which, there is another reason why 

 we cannot go beyond a certain length with the lower 

 bar. This is on account of the angle at which the rein 

 acts on the latter. 



We have already pointed out how much depends on 

 the angle at which the power is applied to a lever, and 

 that a riofht angfle is the most favorable one for this 

 purpose, which may be shown in a manner perfectly 

 independent of theory. If the bit, fig. 12, were pulled 

 in the direction c, it would evi- 

 dently have no other effect than 

 to pull it downward and out 

 of the horse's mouth, if the 

 headpiece of the bridle did not 

 prevent this taking place ; and 

 if the pull were made in the 

 direction b^ it would only lift 

 the bit up till the angles of the 

 mouth stopped it. In neither 

 case would there be the slight- 

 est lever action ; and the nearer 

 any other direction, g or //, ap- 

 proached these perfectly inop- 

 erative ones, b or c, the less 

 would be its value ; and it is 

 i2.-Angle formed by therefore e^'ident that the direc- 

 rein with bit tion a, which is equally remote 



from both, must be the most 

 efficient — which is, however, precisely the right angle. 

 Now a very long lower bar, or a very low carriage 

 of the horse's head, a la Baucher, or a very high pack 

 in the front of the saddle,* will always have the effect 

 of bringing the rein to act on the bit at an unfavorable 

 angle ; and when we come to look at the bits that served 

 as models for old equestrian statues, we find that the im- 

 * See Plates VI. and VII., top figures. 



»e 



Fi! 



