k6 



HORSEMANSHIP. 



except on the flat, a pound or two is neither here nor 

 there, but a heavy man in a small saddle will cut the 

 horse's back to pieces. Pressure from a too small or ill- 

 fitting saddle will not only produce sore back, but obstinate 



abscess, and ultimate fistula 

 of the withers. In too short 

 a tree a tall man must sit 

 so far back on the cantle 

 as to bring it down on the 

 ridge of the back, the sur- 

 face of the skin is abraded, 

 a warble or sitfast is formed, 

 and an operation necessi- 

 tated. Sixteen inches from 

 cantle to pommel is, I 

 consider, a small size for 

 general purposes, for small 

 or medium-sized men, but 

 no heavy or tall horseman should ride in anything less than 

 eighteen inches. 



No doubt a quantity of stuffing in front of the knees acts 

 as a sort of cobbler's-wax in retaining certain indifferent 

 horsemen and old gentlemen in the saddle. A very little 

 stuffing, to an extent hardly perceptible, may be permitted, 

 but the plain flap is now in almost universal use. In making 

 a sudden stumble or blunder, or in landing over a big and 

 especially a drop leap, the rider, without losing his seat, may 

 be projected forward two or three inches, and in the absence 

 of stuffing at the knees he glides or slips forward without 

 any strain or inconvenience the required distance ; but, on 

 the other hand, if the knees be arrested by the padding the 

 muscles of the thigh are often so severely strained as to in- 

 capacitate the rider or to force him to ride for weeks in a 



POLO-SADDLE.) 



