THE BIT.
Place of the bit in the mouth.--Principle of the bit.--Action of the
common bit.--Action of the Chifney bit.--The loose eye.--The
noseband.--The horse's defence against the bit by the tongue.--Effect
of the porte against this defence.--Defence by the lip.--Defence by
the teeth.--Bar of the military and driving bit.--Martingale.--Danger
does not result from power.
[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 coarse 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, passively as
a cushion 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 space 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
"à 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 manége, 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 coarse 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 coarseness 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.
As the collected paces of the parade are not in vogue in England, a
gentleman rarely has occasion for his curb at all, except to train a
horse for a lady, or in the case where a commanding power is required
over a horse who, by bad or cruel handling, has become a puller, or
habitually restive, or whose animal impetuosity or ferocity leads him
to attack his neighbours. In such a case a Chifney bit, with the
mouth-piece described, with half the length of leg, and a third part of
the weight, will be found more effective than a clipper bit; and at the
same time that weight is got rid of, danger is avoided, which, with
branches running far below the horse's mouth, is very great in going
through living fences or coverts.
With such a bit, so placed, I have seen the taper tips of the most
beautiful fingers in the world constrain the highest-mettled and hottest
thorough-bred horses, and "rule them when they're wildest." It is an
implement which will give to the weakest hand the power of the
strongest, which most of the strongest hands cannot be trusted to wield,
and which, if ladies' hands are light, equal, and smooth, will give them
the power of riding horses such as few men might venture to mount.
[Sidenote: Danger does not result from power.]
Provided the indications from the hand are true and gentle, no danger
to the rider nor resistance from the horse will result from power, but
on the contrary, safety to the rider and obedience from the horse. This
is the only mode of accounting for the fact that there are thousands of
hands which perform to admiration in driving, with the most severe bits,
but which are quite unfit to be trusted in riding with anything but a
snaffle bridle; for, in driving, the terret-pad prevents false
indications on the bit, therefore to ensure true ones being given, two
hands are used, or when one only, two fingers are placed between the
reins instead of the fourth finger only, consequently the horse obeys
the slightest touch, and consequently his mouth and the driver's hand
become mutually more light; but put the driver and driven together, as
rider and ridden, with the same bit, the reins in one hand, and the
fourth finger only between them, and what will follow? The rider gives a
wrong indication; the horse turns the wrong way, or stops; the rider
insists, and applies force; the horse rears; one or both fall
backwards; the blame is laid on the severity of the bit, instead of the
wrong application of it, and the brute force of the rider.
And observe, that it is power which I advocate, and not force; "'Tis
well to have the giant's strength, but tyrannous to use it like a
giant."