SADDLES AND SADDLING. 



It is not the intention to discuss all the different 

 kinds of saddles in use, as the English or park 

 saddle, the army, the school, the racing, or the 

 cowboy saddle. They all have their advantages, 

 according to their different purposes. The object 

 is to compare the two different kinds of park riding 

 saddles, which we see in daily use . They do not 

 differ much in outward appearances. It is the 

 skeleton, or the tree, that decides their merits, viz : 

 the ivooden, or the leathei^ tree, making all the 

 difference in the world, not only to the rider, but, 

 also, to the horse. 



" The ivooden tree saddle," as may be inferred from 

 its name, is entirely unelastic, and, as long as that 

 uuyielding piece of horse furniture happens to fit the 

 horse's back, it may work tolerably well. But the 

 horse may change in condition, losing flesh for 

 instance. This wooden unyielding tree cannot 

 adapt itself to the altered circumstances, and the 

 so-much dreaded catastrophe is at hand. There is 

 a hole in the steed's back, and both horse and 

 rider get an involuntary vacation. The saddle then 

 goes to the saddlemaker for repairs, but no amount 



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