24 SEATS AND SADDLES. 



loins, corresponding to the point p l of fig. 1. What 

 does the horse do, if compelled to stand still under a 

 burden that is more than his hind legs can easily sup- 

 port with perpendicular hocks ? Let the reader turn 

 to Plate VII., where the English hussar there presented 

 shows the horse extending his hind legs precisely in 

 the way indicated in fig. 1, x l x l . "What between the 

 rider sitting at the hinder part of the saddle and the 

 weight of the enormous pack, the perpendicular pass- 

 ing through the centre of gravity of the whole falls con- 

 siderably in rear of the fourteenth vertebra. This figure 

 is photographed from life, and is very instructive. The 

 horse, certainly not a fair specimen of the regiment or 

 of the cavalry in general, was selected, probably, for no 

 other reason than because he could be easily brought 

 to stand still during the operation ; and the clearness 

 of the lines of the original everywhere except about 

 the head, which he probably tossed once or twice, 

 shows that he did so, which was rendered possible, un- 

 der the burden he had to bear, and the mode in which 

 it was placed on his back, only by this very position 

 of his hind legs ; he could not stand straight under it, 

 and the less so because his hind quarters are weaker in 

 proportion than the forehand. The position of the 

 head and neck has much to do with it, but this we 

 shall have to consider further on. 



The cases in which a horse, when standing still, and 

 weighted chiefly on his forehand, assumes with his fore 

 legs the positions indicated in fig. 1 by x 3 x 3 or ic 2 aj 2 , 

 occur so frequently that it is quite superfluous to 

 devote a figure to their illustration. Put a man on a 

 horse without a saddle, and with nothing but a halter 

 on the animal's head, and he will inevitably slip for- 



