1 86 Bits a?zd Bittins^. 



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take. When horses have been once perfectly trained to 

 the bit, and taken to it kindly, this strap may be dis- 

 pensed with safely, if people do not like the look of it ; 

 but, until this is the case the nose-band is most valuable 

 as a means of preventing the animal from opening its 

 mouth too w^ide and bolting the bit, or catching hold of 

 it between its teeth — in fact, evading its action in one 

 way or the other. It is very evident that we have by 

 degrees got rid of the nose-band because we did not un- 

 derstand its proper use ; and, when coupled with the 

 monstrous bits we are in the habit of using, it may have 

 been found sometimes a positive inconvenience ; but any 

 one that pays even a slight attention to this matter will 

 find the nose-band invaluable in the early stages of bit- 

 ting. It must, however, be put in the proper place — 

 that is to say, just across the nose at the point where the 

 bone ceases and the cartilage commences ; and it should 

 always be buckled so lightly as to admit of a proper 

 amount of free motion. 



We may now w^ind up this chapter with the rules for 

 placing the bit in the horse's mouth. When the head- 

 stall has been adapted generally to the animal's head by 

 means of the upper buckle or buckles, the next step will 

 be to adjust the bit by means of the lower ones, so that 

 the mouthpiece shall come to rest on the bars of the 

 mouth exactly opposite the chin-groove, unless, indeed, 

 some irregular disposition of the tusks should render 

 this impossible, in which case it must be moved only just 

 so much Jilgher as is absolutely necessary to clear the 

 obstacle. The curb may be then hooked in, first, of 

 course, at the off side, leaving one reserve link, then at 

 the near side, leaving tivo such, and taking care that it 

 lies quite flat in the chin-groove, without any, even the 

 slightest, tendency to mount upward when the reins are 

 drawn. The curb should never be quite tight ; there 

 should always be room for the first and second fingers 



