72 ATTITUDES OF THE HORSE. 



his weight into the collar, will try to keep the centre of 

 gravity back by holding his head high, while trusting 

 almost entirely to his hind legs to push the body forward. 

 When a horse rears, halts suddenly, or reins back in heavy 

 draught (p. 99), he will raise his head and neck so as 

 to bring the centre of gravity back. Any one who has 

 ridden much " over a country," will know the great use a 

 horse makes of his head and neck for regulating the 

 position of his centre of gravity when jumping, and 

 especially when he makes a ''mistake." When a horse 

 turns or ''circles," he ought to have his head and neck 

 bent in the direction he is going, in order to see where 

 he is proceeding, and to increase his stability by shifting 

 the centre of gravity towards the side to which the turn 

 is being made. 



(4) To enable the Mouth-piece of the Snaffle to act effici- 

 ently on the ''bars'' of the Moutk — I may explain that 

 the " bars " of the mouth are those parts of the gums of the 

 lower jaw which are bare of teeth, and which are situated 

 between the back teeth and the tushes of the horse or 

 gelding, or the spots which they would occupy, were these 

 canine teeth developed in the mare. As the ''bars" are 

 much more sensitive to pressure than the corners of the 

 mouth ; we should, when using the snaffle, endeavour to 

 make the horse carry his head so that he will not shift the 

 mouth-piece off the former and on to the latter. The mouth- 

 piece will, naturally, act best when the head is carried per- 

 pendicularly to the ground ; but it can also act efficiently if 

 the line of the face is not at a less angle to the ground than 

 about 40°. The apparent anomaly of the mouth-piece of the 

 snaffle not slipping off' the "bars " and on to the corners of 

 the mouth in this case, may be explained by the fact that the 

 well-broken horse, when being ridden or driven, keeps the 

 joints of his lower jaw in a more or less relaxed condition, so 

 that the " bars," as a rule, will make a greater angle with the 

 ground than the line of the face will do. When a horse 

 which is ridden in a snaffle, is made to carry his head in a 



