BITS AND BITTING. 41 



The foregoing details will seem to those who are not 

 familiar with the niceties of riding, to be needlessly 

 minute and particular. Many a man will say that any 

 bit is good enough for him ; just give him a good strong 

 pair of reins to hang on by (!) The proper reply to this 

 is, that this is not written so much for him, though he 

 needs its information more than any one else, if he only 

 knew it, but for those who really care to become good 

 horsemen. No one can ride with pleasure on a horse that 

 has a bee incessantly trying to sting him under the chin. 

 His fear of the bee introduces a disturbing element that 

 counteracts all our efforts to make him attend steadily to 

 his duty ; and an ill-fitting, badly placed bit causes hardly 

 less disturbance. 



There are many points to be attended to in the proper 

 equipment of a saddle-horse, nearly all of them points of 

 minor detail, yet they are important, too ; for unless the 

 rider's weight is properly placed, and unless he has the 

 proper means for controlling and guiding his horse, there 

 can be no comfort, or gracefulness, or pleasure for the 

 man. There must also be a loss of endurance and smooth- 

 ness of working for the. animal ; and as it costs no more, 

 save in attention, to have things right than to have them 

 wi-ong, there need be no excuse for failure in essential 

 points. 



