THE SADDLE. 53 



the girths is in the middle of the saddle. It is, no 

 doubt, quite possible, by placing the girths forward, 

 to accumulate the whole amount of friction on one or 

 two points ; but this is precisely what bruises horses' 

 withers without having power to prevent the saddle 

 slipping. 



Direct proof of the correctness of what is advanced 

 here may be obtained in the following manner : Take 

 a longish saddle on which the girth-straps (or points) 

 are fixed forward ; girth the horse tolerably tightly ; now 

 put a rider in the saddle the heavier he is the more 

 apparent will the result be and get him to sit well back. 

 You will find, by putting your fingers flat between the 

 girth and the horse's chest before the man mounts, that, 

 on his taking his seat as above, the girth will be drawn 

 forcibly upwards; a proof that the saddle must have 

 relinquished in a corresponding degree its previous 

 " gripe " of the horse's back, or rather shoulder. Now let 

 your man dismount, loosen the girths a little, and put 

 a surcingle right over the middle of the saddle ; draw 

 this equally tight as the girth had been previously, and 

 put your rider once more into the saddle, making him, 

 however, sit exactly in the middle over the surcingle : 

 your finger, if placed as before, will now tell you, if it 

 should not be apparent to the eye, that the surcingle 

 has become looser, the saddle has assumed a more inti- 

 mate contact with the horse's back throughout, and is 

 sure not to slip or wound. 



The Hungarian Puszta rider, or cattle-herd, and most 

 Orientals, never use anything but a surcingle, the great 

 advantage of which is that, having loosed it to let their 

 horses graze, they can tighten it with one pull, and are 

 in the saddle and well under way whilst one of us is 



