B I T 



B I T 



the (Iraight one. A tliin and flender bit or fnafflc, it will be 

 ealily perceived, will rell with more feverity and (harpiitis 

 upon the bars than a thick and obtiife one ; the former, 

 therefore, or the fliarp bit, is employed more particulaily 

 for reftraining fiich horfes as are hard mouthed, and too 

 eagjer, while the latter is ufcd for fiich as have a proper 

 feeling of the bars, and efpecially for breaking in young 

 colts. 



The furface may be varied as to roughnefs or fmoothnefs, 

 producing alio dilTerent effcAs. To give the greatell cafe 

 poffible, a large and highly polillied bit is necclTary. This 

 is fometimes provided with moveable rollers on the axis of 

 the bit, which, turning With every movement of the reins, 

 dirainilb the fridlion of the bits, and render them Icfs irritat- 

 ing. Thefe rollers, however, in reality can have but little 

 efFeft in the fnaffle, though of pleafant effeft in the mouth 

 piece of the curb ; for this rcafon, that the fnafflc being 

 jointed in the middle, is drawn by the reins to a flwrp angle 

 in the mouth, fo that thefe rollers are prefcnted to the bau 

 in an oblique diredion, under which polition it will be ob- 

 vious they can have very little or no motion, but, on the 

 contrary, they will tend to render the bits more fevere by 

 their irregulirity ; fo that a well polilhed fnaffle is in fait 

 preferable to one of thefe with rollers of the ordinary con- 

 Itruftion. 



On the other hand, to give the greateft deG;ree of fcverity 

 to the mouth piece of the fnaffle, it is twilted while hot into 

 a fpiral form, and is made to prefent by this means a fliarp, 

 rough, and unequal furface to the jaw, being capable, ac- 

 cording to the degree of fharpnefs to which the edges are 

 wrought, of punifliing the bars and lips with greater or lefs 

 feverity. The different degrees of punifliment which this 

 kind of bit is capable of inflifting, will perhaps be found 

 fufficient for all the purpofcs of correftion, where recourfe 

 may properly be had to aciual force and punilhment. For 

 it fhould be always ktpt in view, tliat gentle means will pro- 

 duce a good mouth ; while harfhnefs and too great feverity 

 will tend to deftroy it altogether. 



Thus far the ancients of the moft remote ages of the 

 world, almoft as far back as any hiftory extends, were well 

 acquainted with the ufe of bits. Xenophon, more than 400 

 years before Chrift, had dcfcribed fimilar bits as being in 

 common ufe in his time among the Grecian flates. He 

 fpcaks of a fmooth and a (harp kind of bit, the latter, if 

 more feverity was requilite, to be armed with points or teeth. 

 In its ufe, however, he enjoins the greateft ttndernefs, and 

 cbferves, " that when you would wilh to llacken the pace 

 of an eager horfe, which hurries on too fall, and to pacify 

 his fury, fo as to make him go more temperately, or even 

 oblige him to ftop, you (hould not attempt to do it at once, 

 and with violence, but artfully, and by degrees, gently 

 pulling him in, then yielding the bridle, and playing with 

 Lis mouth, in fuch a manner as if you intended rather to win 

 his confent than force his obedience." Chap. 9, jo. 



Beyond the changes above defcribed, the fnafSe itfelf does 

 not appear to admit of any alterations worthy of notice. 

 It may, however, be juft obferved, that fome horfemen add 

 a chain to it, extending from cheek to cheek, which refting 

 loofely on the tongue produces irritation and flavering, and, 

 as they imagine, frelhens the mouth. Such a bit is known 

 by the name of the Rockingham fnaffle. 



The reins, however, it mull be remarked, admit of fome 

 alterations in their difpofition, which will influence the efFcfts 

 of the bit on the mouth ; as whether they are carried higher 

 or lower. At this prefent time there is a praftice more efpe- 

 cially in horfes of light draft, as in thofe for carriages, 

 curricles, and chairs, &c. to didort and alter the beaiing 



reins from their natural direclion, and to du'pofe them morr 

 perpendicularly and in a line with the head ; fo that inftead 

 of pafling ftraight from the mouth to the horfc's back, tliey 

 arc diredted up the fides of the face, as high nearly as the 

 parotid gl?.nd, or bale of the ear, where they are paffed 

 through a ring hanging from the head ftall, and from thence 

 to the hook of the faddle. The appearance is ornamental 

 and elegant, and the reins fo difpofed are confidered as more 

 forcibly elevating the head than if they proceeded to the 

 back in the ufual direftion. 



As the difpolition of the reins, fo the figure of the bits 

 themfelves, and the ornamental appendages attached to 

 them, admit of almoft endlefs variety. The manufafturers 

 of thefe articles, availing themfelves of this licence, render 

 their bufincfs more lucrative by as frequent changes as pof- 

 fible. Thefe are fucccffivcly introduced as faftiionable no- 

 velties, till again for novelty they return to the fuapleft 

 praftice ; and this takes place without any alteration in the 

 principal circumftances of their conftruction, properties, or 

 ufe. 



The next kind of bits in ufe for horfes is the curbed bit ; 

 which, as it is an inftrument of much greater complication 

 of parts than the fnaffl.c, fo it appears to have been of com- 

 paratively recent date. 



In fome of the fculptured equcftrian figures of the ancients 

 fomething like the branches of the curb may be found ; but 

 in no inftance does there appear any thing refembling the 

 chain, which is abfolutely neceffary to its effect. Their 

 writings alfo appear to be filcnt on this fubjeft. It was 

 probably the invention of Italy or France, which for fome 

 centuries pall have taken the lead of the other nations of 

 Europe in teaching the arts of the manege. It was firft in- 

 troduced into the EnglKli army by a proclamation made in 

 the third year of king Charles I. lince which time it has 

 got into univerfal ufe for the army, the field, and the road, 

 fo that no horfcman deems himfclf perfeftly equipped with- 

 out it. Moft of thofe writers who have treated of it in the 

 laft, and in the century preceding that, and who wrote pro- 

 bably foon after the commencement of its ufe, have been 

 very profufe in their various propofals for the ftrudlure of 

 it, efpecially in rendering it more complicated, fevere, and 

 cruel ; though it is probable their clumfy figures and repre- 

 fentations were never imitated in aftual praftice. They 

 appear to have been much fatisfied with their new invention, 

 imagining it a fure means of reducing horfes to immediate 

 obedience, in fpite of every obllacle ; and true it is, it can 

 punifli with extreme feverity : but is fuch a mcafure moil 

 likely to create vice, or to overcome it \ Indeed, accord- 

 ing to the opinion of one of the ablell writers that has ever 

 confidered this fubjeft, and whofe opinion we fliall take an 

 opportunity of quoting m.ore fully hereafter, little or 

 nothing has been really gained by its adoption ; on the 

 contrary, the fnaffle polTefles more fimplicity, power, and 

 perfeftion. 



.Stripped of all unnecefTary trappings, this inftrument con- 

 fifts of the following elTential parts : a mouth-piece with 

 two fide branches, or inflexible rods of iron, firmly fixed to 

 the former, and a chain paffing from fide to fide, behind the 

 chin, including the jaw ; two eyes or rings at the upper 

 extremity of thefe branches, ferve to faften it to the hcad- 

 ftall, and to ftay it in the mouth ; two other nngs at the 

 lower extremity of the above branches receive the reins, 

 paffing to the hand, or fometimes in draft horfes to the hook 

 of the faddle, as a bearing rein. Thefe are all the parts 

 really necelfary to conftitute the curb. 



The bits thus formed being placed in the mouth, and the 



chain paiTed round the lower jaw, the branches, it will be 



38 2 readily 



