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 icell 

 back. You will find, by putting your fii:gers flat be. 

 tween the girth and the horse's chest before the man 

 mounts, that, on his taking his seat as above, the girth 

 will be drawn iovcihly ujnvards ; 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 7nicldleoHhe 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 sur- 

 cingle : your finger, if placed as before, w^ill now tell 

 you, if it should not be apparent to the eye, that the 

 surcingle has become looser, the saddle has assumed a 

 more intimate 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 



