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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: If it be stiff, at whatever point the horse seizes it he must take it
up bodily against his jaws; just as it does not matter at what point a
man takes hold of a bar of iron,[5] he lifts it as a whole. The other
flexibly constructed type acts like a chain (only the single point at
which you hold it remains stiff, the rest hangs loose); and while
perpetually hunting for the portion which escapes him, he lets the
mouthpiece go from his bars.[6] For this reason the rings are hung in
the middle from the two axles,[7] so that while feeling for them with
his tongue and teeth he may neglect to take the bit up against his
jaws.
[5] Or, "poker," as we might say; lit. "spit."
On Horsemanship |
