Part 4 (1/2)

[Sidenote: Place of bit in the mouth.]

To give the bit its most powerful action it should be placed so low as only just to clear the tusks in a horse's mouth, and to be one inch above the corner teeth in a mare's mouth. The curb-chain should be so tight as not to admit more than one finger freely between it and the chin; these rules are simple, and should be attended to by all riders; a horseman should no more mount with his bit improperly placed, than a seaman should set sail with his helm out of order.

[Sidenote: Principle of the bit.]

A twitch round the lower jaw, under the tongue, on the _bars_ or parts of the mouth _bare_ of teeth, is perhaps the most certain, powerful, and severe instrument to hold a horse with, and it may be tightened till it becomes a dreadful implement of torture. Next to this is what is called the dealer's halter, which is merely a narrow thong of leather in like manner tied round the lower jaw, under the tongue, but incapable of being tightened or slackened like the twitch. The bit is a most ingenious attempt to grasp the lower jaw by the same bare parts, with the capability of contracting or of perfectly relaxing the grasp, by the application or withdrawal of the powers of the lever. This is the intended action of the bit,--the philosopher's stone,--after which all bit-projectors and bit-makers have laboured; the obstacles to be overcome are various and perhaps insuperable, and indeed could the powers of the lever be employed on such exquisitely sensitive parts as the bare jaws, when within this iron vice, perhaps no hand could be found sufficiently delicate to use them. By pressing your finger-nail against your own gums, you may form some idea of the agony such an implement would have the power of giving to a horse; anything approaching to harsh, hard, handling with it would drive him desperate, and force him to throw himself over backward; the idea of lifting his weight by such parts grasped with iron is absurd, still more preposterously barbarous that of arresting the headlong impetus of a falling horse by them. Fortunately the power of the rider is here very limited, and the horse defends himself against it by throwing his head upward and backward, and thus the rider only breaks his horse's knees instead of his jaws.

[Sidenote: Action of common bit.]

[Sidenote: Action of a Chifney bit.]

But a common bit placed in the common way never touches the horse's bars at all, it is usually placed higher than as directed above, and, as it pivots on the _eye_ (that part to which the headstall is attached) when in use, it rises in the horse's mouth--higher directly as the length of the _cheek_ (the upper part of the branch or side of the bit) and inside the mouth it has a mixed action, on the fleshy part of the gums above the bars, on the lips, and (owing to the narrowness of the porte) on the tongue. Outside the mouth, the bit acts on the coa.r.s.e part of the two jawbones, above the fine part of the chin, where the two jawbones meet, where the curb-chain was originally placed, and where it should act; and I consider this sort of upward _grating_ action as calculated to excite, rather than to restrain a horse. A Chifney bit, as it pivots on the mouthpiece, avoids this; its action is quite independent of the headstall, and is precisely on the parts where it is originally placed.

[Sidenote: The loose eye.]

The square-cut eye of the regimental bit greatly impedes its action, besides cutting the leather of the headstall; to remedy this, about a quarter of a century ago, I placed on the bit of the 2nd Life Guards what has since received the name of ”the loose eye,” and I am proud to see it still where I placed it. It was not intended for common bits; the round eye and the snap hook give them perfect freedom of action. ”The loose eye” has, however, become common on common bits.

[Sidenote: The noseband.]

A noseband prevents the cheek of the bit and of the headstall from going forward, and so impedes the true action of the bit. To close the horse's mouth, in order that a high porte may act against the roof of the mouth, is a monstrous notion. I had the honour to abolish nosebands in the 2nd Life Guards.

[Sidenote: Defence against the bit by the tongue.]

[Sidenote: Effect of the porte.]

The horse employs his tongue as a defence against the bit, pa.s.sively as a cus.h.i.+on to protect the more tender parts on which the bit is intended to work, and actively he uses the muscles of the tongue, in resistance to it: this may be proved by using a straight mouthpiece, or one arched upward or downward, but without a porte. From under these a horse will never withdraw his tongue, and he will go with a dead bearing on the hand, though equal, that is, not more on one side of the mouth than on the other. Even a very narrow porte, not a quarter the width of the tongue, will suffice, when pressure is used, to defeat this defence, and completely to engage the tongue within the porte. But being then much compressed, it will sustain a great part of the leverage, and the horse will endeavour still more to make his tongue the fulcrum of the bit, and to relieve his bars from that office, by protruding his tongue, and thus forcing the thick part of it within the porte. If the porte is made wide so as to allow s.p.a.ce for the tongue, the corners formed by the porte and the cannons (those parts between the porte and the branches) are apt to work injuriously against the bars, and also to slip quite off them, which makes the action of such bits uncertain, though they are very effective and severe if the mouthpiece is no wider than the horse's mouth. But the mouthpiece which gives complete room for the tongue, and yet brings the cannons into perfect contact with the bars, is that of which M. de Solleysell claims the invention, and which he describes as ”a pas d'asne, with the porte gained from the thickness of the heels.”

Let the mouthpiece be in width four inches inside, this I believe, will be sufficient for most horses, since the part of a horse's mouth where the bit should work is narrowest, and the cheeks should consequently be set outward. Let the entrance to the porte, between the heels be three-fourths of an inch, and let the porte open laterally to two and a half inches inside.

[Sidenote: Defence by the lip.]

But when the tongue is perfectly disengaged from the bars by the porte, the horse will still defend them by drawing his lip in on one side, interposing it between one bar and one cannon of the bit, and pulling on one side of his mouth only. It is the common error to attribute this to nature having formed one bar stronger than the other; but these and other tricks are not to be looked on as the results of natural defects, but as habitual defences against the pain caused by a hard, harsh bearing on the horse's bars; with a smooth and gentle bearing he will not take to them, or will discontinue them. For callous bars Xenophon prescribes gentle friction with oil! and the practice of the Augustan age of the manege, recommended by Berenger was to amputate that part of the tongue which a horse protruded or lolled out!

[Sidenote: Defence by the teeth.]

One of the most common defences against the bit is taking the _leg_ (the lower part of the branch) of the bit with the corner tooth. This is easily counteracted by a lip-strap. It should fasten _round_ the leg of the bit, so as to slide up and down, and should be tight enough to be horizontal.

[Sidenote: Bar of the military and driving bit.]

The reason for the bar at the lower part of a driving bit or a military bit, is to prevent the horse catching his bit over his neighbour's reins. The French cavalry ordonnance, in discussing the merits of this bar, does not seem to be aware of its origin and meaning.

[Sidenote: Martingale.]

If the theories here laid down are true, it will result that the common bits are best for the common run of coa.r.s.e hands, as being less severe, from their action being divided and on less sensible parts; and also, that they should be curbed more loosely, and placed higher in the horse's mouth, in proportion to the degree of coa.r.s.eness to be expected in the rider's hand. So although a martingale spoils hands, it may be used as a defence, that is, supposing the necessity of mounting a high, harsh hand on a susceptible horse. In this case an easy snaffle with a running martingale will at least counteract the height of the hand, and the friction will to a certain degree steady and counteract the unequal bearing on the horse's mouth. A low smooth hand is the only true martingale: this will never be acquired as long as an implement is used which tends to permit harsh, high handling with impunity to the rider.

The snaffle, even of a double bridle, should be sewed to the bridle; it is safer for leading, and it is only the curb bit which you wish to have the power of changing. The reins should be thin and supple, they will last the longer for it; for reins break from being stiff and cracking, and suppleness of reins is essential to delicacy of hand.