THE SADDLE. 47 



quently the less risk of sore back, provided always that 

 the pressure be equably distributed over the whole sur- 

 face. To make a saddle a yard long, and put the weight 

 altogether at one of its extremities, is not the way to 

 attain this very desirable object, as shall be more fully 

 explained presently.* 



There must, however, be some limit to the size of a 

 saddle, for its own absolute weight is a matter of seri- 

 ous consideration : it goes into the scale with the jock. 

 Let the size be proportioned to the weight to be carried, 

 and if you have a tender-backed horse, make it a little 

 bigger than would be otherwise necessary. Of course 

 a jock can ride his race on a thing that is more a 

 contrivance for hanging up a pair of stirrups than a 

 saddle, whilst a sixteen -stone rider must divide his 

 weight over as large a surface as convenient. 



There are two ways in which the weight of the sad- 

 dle may be decreased without its useful under surface 

 being narrowed. The first is to avoid extending the 

 frame (tree), or indeed any other part of the saddle, be- 

 yond the surfaces where it really has to support pres- 

 sure ; and this being exercised chiefly in a perpendicular 

 direction, it is not only useless but absurd to make 

 these extend too far down over the ribs laterally. 

 The second is to use, for the tree, materials combining 

 great strength and moderate elasticity, with the least 

 possible weight. A civilian saddle, made altogether 

 of wood, is a very clumsy affair, and it is therefore the 



* As familiar illustrations of the principle may be mentioned the 

 difference of depth of track of broad and narrow tired wheels, or of 

 a roller as compared with both : or, a board of one foot square will 

 sink deeper into soft ground under a man's weightjthan one of 

 double that size ; and this latter will sink as deep as the former if 

 weighted only at one end. 



