SADDLES. 283 
directed to the diminution of the weight of the tree without loss of 
strength, and certainly with an excellent result, as is shown in a first-class 
nine-pound saddle, roomy enough to carry a man of sixteen stone with 
moderate comfort. Whether his horse can do his work proportionately 
better for this saving of five pounds admits of some question ; but there 
can be no doubt that wherever a very light saddle is used in the hunting- 
field the greatest care is necessary that it fits to a nicety, and it can seldom 
be adapted to more than one horse in a stud without altering the stuffing 
of the pannel. ‘The attempt should never be made to reduce the size of 
the tree, for although the rider may be willing to put up with the want 
of roominess, yet the horse will suffer in his back from the weight not 
being sufficiently distributed. Forty years ago a tree was introduced 
with the pommel cut back two or three inches, so as to avoid all risk of 
pressure on the withers, and thus increase the facility of fitting it to 
almost any back ; but the extra strength and weight incurred soon drove 
it out of use, besides which it was found that it did not fit both a narrow 
and a thick shoulder equally well. or these reasons it is now admitted 
that in the tree itself there is little variety for choice, and that the 
saddles of the best London makers only differ in their peculiar cut from 
one another, while in this point alone (excluding of course workmanship 
and material) are they superior to the worst specimens made in our country 
towns. I have alluded to the change from plain flaps to padded ones, 
and it will be necessary here to discuss the merits of each. In “The 
Shires” the fashion now is to adopt the revived plain flap, and the reason 
which is given is that the padding arrests the knee when the horse comes 
down after his leap, thereby throwing the strain upon the muscles of the 
inside of the thigh instead of on the seat of honour. That such strains 
have been of late years very general is a well known fact, but their 
increase of frequency cannot be said to be coincident with the introduc- 
tion of the padded flap, which is at least fifty years old. Why therefore 
the one should be connected with the other is hard to say, and I certainly 
am very incredulous on the subject. Padded flaps were in general use for 
forty years before this objectionable quality was discovered, and even now 
they are preferred by a large majority of hard riders in provincial countries. 
A thin man with a large knee depends for his seat chiefly on the grip 
which this gives him of the saddle, and there are many riders so made 
that they can scarcely touch the saddle with the muscles of the thigh, or 
of the calf of the leg. In them a padded surface is indispensable for the 
bone of the knee to act upon, as the smooth plain flap is too hard and 
slippery for it to lay hold of. Henze, although the muscular rider may 
well have his choice, and indeed will often do better with a plain flap, 
this will not suit others differently formed, and the fashion should not 
therefore be indiscriminately followed. The plain flap costs about fifteen 
shillings or a pound iess than its rival; but to hunting men this difference 
in price is not often the reason for its selection, although the wear and 
tear of saddles is by no means an uninportant article in their expenditure. 
In choosing a saddle where the maker has not a well known reputation, 
the peculiar marks on the surface by which pigskin is distinguished from 
horse or cow hide should be carefully examined, as an imitation is now 
fraudulently carried out by means of copper-plates taken by the electro- 
type process from real pigskin. A horse or cow hide is stretched upon a 
slab and wetted, when the heated plate is pressed by steam power upon 
it, and every mark existing in the real skin is transferred to the imitation 
lide, The fraud may, however, be detected by the want of depth in the 
