154 THE STIRRUP 



have been trimmed and rounded. The seat 

 still slopes sharply from front to rear, throwing 

 the rider's weight against the cantle. The 

 horse-hair cincha (girth) is replaced by one of 

 lamp wick, which causes less irritation. The 

 latego or strap to take the purchase in cinching 

 up the saddle has been replaced b}^ the English 

 strap and buckle to save time. There is a 

 loss, however, in efficiency, because the old 

 double-rig saddle with two cinchas (the second 

 for mountain use and for bucking horses) had 

 two pair of rings, and one was able to sling 

 a single cmcha forward or aft in case the skin 

 showed chafing. A centre-fire rig is never so 

 adaptable for various kinds of use. 



Stirrup. The word means mounting rope, 

 and the ideas of adjusting the rider's balance, 

 and of locking him against the cantle are only 

 after- thoughts. In great cold a steel stirrup 

 would cause dangerous freezing of the feet, 

 and in great heat the metal is apt to burn them. 

 Hence, in Mexican practice, the use of a hard- 

 wood stirrup with a leather floor, and to guard 

 against acacia thorns this is enclosed in a 

 leather box called the tapadero. American 

 practice has dispensed with the leather, and 

 lately reduced the bent-wood stirrup to a 

 mere ring, so large in some cases that the foot 



