SADDLES AND SADDLING. 145 



horse's spine, which alone will reach the haunches 

 of the horse. With the old saddle she sits too high 

 above her horse, which produces a feeling of in- 

 security, and the pull on the reins does not reach the 

 horse's hind quarters, but goes upward into the air, 

 one reason for the helplessness of a woman when her 

 horse gets fractious. 



Nothing can be said about the shape of the upper 

 surface of gentlemen's saddles, as that depends 

 wholly upon the size of the rider ; the same is the 

 case with the covering — buckskin or hogskin — 

 kneepuffs, or none, these things being mere matters 

 of taste, though buckskin, on account of its rough 

 surface, affords the rider a firmer hold on the saddle, 

 and for riding green or fractious horses, it may be 

 of advantage. 



Saddle cloths are now very seldom in use, though 

 wrongly. The reason may be that those in present 

 use never gave, nor could they give any satisfaction. 

 The object of the saddle cloth is, to protect the stuff- 

 ing of the saddle from becoming hard and lumpy 

 from the perspiration of the horse, and, to save the 

 iron parts inside the saddle from rusting and break- 

 ing. They are usually made of felt or leather. The 

 felt cloth, as long as it is new, fills its purpose pretty 

 well, as it forms a soft layer between the horse's 

 back and the saddle, but, as soon as it gets soaked 



