society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride (a horse or other animal) [verb (transitive)] > use the bit or mouth roughly (2)
To handle (in literal sense); in quot. 1617, ? to operate upon. Obsolete. rare.
transferred. With reference to the movement used in sawing. To work (the bit) from side to side in a horse's mouth. Also with the mouth as object.