The Lever, the Bit and Curb, etc, 167 



mense long lower bars of these were bent backward so 

 as to form an angle with the upper bars for the purpose 

 of securing the action of the rein at a right angle, or 

 nearly so — which, however, did not and could not an- 

 swer the purpose intended. If the inventors of these 

 frightful bits had had any real knowledge of the laws 

 of mechanics and the application of lever power, they 

 v^ould have found that the same amount of useful action 

 would have been much more certainly obtained by a 

 much shorter lower bar, without incurring the very 

 serious disadvantage of lifting the bit, as it were, in the 

 mouth, which always must have the effect of causing 

 the curb to mount up out of the chin-groove, and there- 

 fore produce conflicting impressions, tending to neu- 

 tralize one another and puzzle the horse. Moreover, 

 the longer the 'ower bar the greater will be the space 

 through whici the ridsr's hand has to move in order to 

 produce a %v ^n amount of action. It will be therefore 

 slower, altbc;igh more powerful, and consequently more 

 unequal, rendering; it very difficult for the majority of 

 riders to hit off' exactly the precise amount of pull re- 

 quired. 



Havi*rg thus arrived at the conclusion that the abso- 

 lute lergth of the lower bar should be diminished as 

 much as possible, and also laid it down as a rule that a 

 length of if inches is in all cases sufficient for that of 

 the upper one, it i'» not difficult to ascertain what the 

 relative proportior/ of the two should be, which would, 

 of course, give ».«. ^he absolute length of the former. 

 And here we er.rr^ Ater the only useful general rule that 

 bit-makers in 5j-' ri ral seem to be acquainted with — 

 namely, that thr Triver bar should be twice as long as 

 the upper one, f /hich, increasing the lever action in the 

 proportion of three to one, should be under all circum- 

 stances ample. But the bit-makers, although adher- 

 ing to this proportion, but too frequently make the 



