PANELS. 129 



closer to the horse's sides than they would do with a 

 full-sized panel. Its disadvantage is that with ( it, the 

 sweat flap is the only protection which the animal's ribs 

 have against possibly painful pressure by means of the 

 buckles of the girths ; but this drawback can be easily 

 obviated by increasing the thickness of the sweat flap. 

 To remove these girths out of the undesirable position 

 which they usually occupy underneath the flaps, Lord 

 Lonsdale has introduced the method of employing a 

 short broad girth and particularly long girth straps (Figs. 

 131 and 132), so that the buckles will come below the swell 

 of the animal's chest, and consequently will not interfere 

 with the rider's legs, which they are always more or less 

 liable to do, when high up. The only objection to Lord 

 Lonsdale's plan is that the appearance of the buckles below 

 the flaps of the saddle, is apt to be unsightly to unaccustomed 

 eyes. The fact that the buckles in this method of girthing 

 are free from the pressure of the legs, appears to entirely 

 obviate any chance there might be of their hurting the 

 horse by pressing against his sides, especially when, as with 

 Lord Lonsdale's arrangement, there is a thick broad leather 

 strap between the buckles and the horse's skin. 



The " open gullet" or " open channel" (Fig. 1 30), should 

 be used with all saddles, because it helps to keep the centre 

 line of the back cool. 



The chief materials employed for stuffing panels are : curled 

 horse hair, " flock " of various qualities, and felt. Curled 

 horse hair fulfils every requirement of softness, elasticity and 

 freedom from caking, but it cannot be so easily " regulated " 

 (worked with a seat awl to get it level) in a serge-lined 

 panel as flock, on account of the greater difficulty there is 

 of separating its fibres from each other. It is the best 

 stuffing for leather covered panels, which will be presently 

 considered, and which do not admit of being regulated by 



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