Dick Christian liked a bit for young horses as thick as his thumb—we don’t know how thick that was—and four and a half inches between the cheeks; and there was no better judge than Dick.
The Germans use a wooden bit to make a horse’s mouth, and good judges think they are right, as it may not be so unpleasant as metal to begin with; but wood or iron, the bridle should be properly put on, a point often neglected, and a fertile source of restiveness. There is as much need to fit a bridle to the length of a horse’s head, as to buckle the girths of the saddle.
For conquering a vicious, biting horse, there is nothing equal to the large wooden gag-bit, which Mr. Rarey first exhibited in public on the zebra. A muzzle only prevents a horse from biting; a gag, properly used, cures; for when he finds he cannot bite, and that you caress him and rub his ears kindly with perfect confidence, he by degrees abandons this most dangerous vice. Stafford was driven in a wooden gag the first time. Colts inclined to crib-bite, should be dressed with one on.
Our woodcut is taken from the improved model produced by Mr. Stokey; no doubt Mr. Rarey took the idea of his gag-bit from the wooden gag, which has been in use among country farriers from time immemorial, to keep a horse’s mouth while they are performing the cruel and useless operation of firing for lampas.
[51-*] Is there such a work? I cannot find it in any English catalogue.—Editor.
