60 SEATS AND SADDLES. 



tral, and for military purposes enough has been said to 

 show that this is its proper position. Nothing can be 

 more certain than this, that it is the saddler, and not 

 the instructor of equitation, that can most effectually 

 and certainly produce the uniformity of seat which is 

 so desirable; but unfortunately few people ever think 

 of this. The sum of the whole matter is this the 

 larger the surfaces of the rider and saddle brought 

 into permanent contact, the firmer will be the seat, avid 

 the less will it depend on the stirrups or the reins. 



The saddle-flaps serve in some cases to increase, in 

 others they absolutely diminish, the surface of con- 

 tact between the rider and horse : their chief use is 

 to protect the man's legs from injury by the girth- 

 buckles, straps, &c. For military saddles nothing can 

 be more preposterous than a stiff flap interposed be- 

 tween the rider's leg and horse's side, because the sur- 

 cingle and shabrack cover all these things effectually, 

 and perfectly attain this object of the flap of the 

 English civilian saddle. This stiff flap is therefore an 

 unnecessary additional weight, and it keeps, moreover, 

 the leg out of its proper position. To sum up the 

 whole of the foregoing, we may describe the general 

 rule for seats to be this, the saddle in the centre of 

 the horse's back; the girths, stirrups, and rider about 

 the centre of the saddle ; in short, 



"The maxim for the horsy tribe is 

 Horatian, 'Medio tutissimus ibis.'" 



There are certain appendages to the saddle that re- 

 quire a short notice. And first of all, which is better, 

 the blanket or the feltplate under the light cavalry 

 saddle ? The advantages of the former are, that by 



