CAEE AND MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 827 



molar tooth, and to a less extent under the chin owing to 

 the curb chain. 



The injury at the angle of the mouth is caused by the 

 snafiGie being fitted too high, or to it being drawn across 

 the mouth. Some horses have very sensitive corners to 

 the mouth, and rubber placed on the mouthpiece, or a 

 non-jointed mouthpiece, may be tried for these; but the 

 principle is to lower the snaffle in the mouth, teach the 

 rider not to pull his horse about and to keep his hands low. 



Bit injuries are generally most severe, the action of a bit 

 being to compress the rami. Partial fracture of the ramus is 

 not uncommon ; or as the result of pressure there may be 

 necrosis of a portion of the jaw, the dead piece of bone 

 varying in size from the thickness of a match to the size 

 of a thumb, which after a long and tedious illness comes 

 away or is removed surgically. 



Such a mouth is for ever destroyed as a ' good mouth,' 

 and very liable to be re-injured. If the horse is hard in 

 the mouth, or a ' bolter,' a tight noseband may be used, or 

 a nose-net, or a gag-snaffle, but a tight curb can only result 

 in further damage. As a rule these injuries do not occur 

 in the first instance as the result of the horse's fault, but 

 from bad horsemanship. 



Deaught. 



This is an extremely complex subject which lies mainly 

 in the realm of the mathematician. The only aspect of 

 the question of draught which will be dealt with here, is 

 in connection with the simple practical points of the best 

 means of utilizing animal labour. 



We have previously noted that the horse from his 

 construction is essentially devised for hauling a weight 

 and not for carrying one. He utilizes his weight in 

 draught by throwing his body in front of his feet which 

 form the fulcrum, and the tendency of the body to descend 

 is the means by which it acts against the obstruction. 

 Traction is mainly a question of body-weight, and at p. 774 



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