chewing ball
noun1
Equestrianism, Hobbies, Horses, Lifestyle, Pets, Sports A medicinal ball attached to a horse's bit so that the chewing will improve its appetite.
- CHEWING-BALLS, a kind of balls made of aſafœtida, liver of antimony, bay-wood, juniper-wood, and pellitory of Spain; which being dried in the ſun, and wrapped in a linen-cloth, are tied to the bit of the bridle for the horſe to chew: they create an appetite; and it is ſaid, that balls of Venice treacle may be uſed in the ſame manner with good ſucceſs.1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., volume II, page 183: