318 BITTING THE COLT. 



mouth without reins, under the halter, for the first 

 day or two. Now with regard to bitting, as it is 

 termed, nothing can be more absurd, independent 

 of its cruelty, than running a horse's head tight 

 up, in an unnatural position, which, from the 

 conformation of his head and shoulders, it is quite 

 impossible for him to maintain without great and 

 unnecessary suffering. Any man with common 

 observation, although unacquainted with the ana- 

 tomy of the horse, may see by the junction of the 

 head with the neck, or, in plainer terms, how the 

 head is set on, the position in which it must be 

 carried with any degree of comfort to the animal ; 

 for the difference between a curved and straight or 

 ewe neck must be obvious enough ; and yet, by 

 some very ignorant people, professing to be horse- 

 men, horses, young and old, are forced, by being 

 thus unnaturally reined up, to defeat the very 

 purpose for which the bit is intended ; in short, 

 their mouths become as insensible and hardened 

 as a piece of old shoe-leather. A colt should 

 never be obliged to rest or hang his head's weight 

 upon the bit, neither should he be forced to stand 

 with it in his mouth in the stable more than two 

 or three hours at a time. By standing on the bit 

 is meant that the bridle-reins are attached to a 

 dumb jockey or a surcingle on the colt's back, 



