SADDLERY. i6£ 



the skin of the back is so easily irritated, that it will in- 

 variably become chafed under a long day's work, and 

 injury be inflicted either at the withers or underneath the 

 seat of the saddle. The peculiar feature of this excellent 

 preventative and curative saddle-cloth, is in the adaptation 

 of the firmer kind of Turkey sponge, the soft nature of 

 which suggested itself to the inventors as an agent for 

 counteracting: the friction of the saddle. This invention 

 keeps the most tender-skinned horse in a position to work 

 in comfort. It is made in two varieties ; either of bridle 

 leather, lined at the withers with fine natural Turkey sponge, 

 thus interposing a soft pad between the saddle and the 

 withers ; or of white felt, lined at the back as well as the 

 withers with the same sponge, and intended for such 

 horses as are apt to become troubled under the seat, as 

 well as at the withers. 



We now^ come to bridles, and there is a fashion in these 

 as in everything else. Some ladies patronize bits with orna- 

 mental cheeks, stitched nose-bands, fly-flappers over the 

 horse's nose, throat latches with loose appendages dangling 

 below the horse's jaw, round reins and other oidr'e incon- 

 gruities. Now the only bit of ornamentation I can sanction 

 about a well-appointed horse is a coloured brow-band, or front. 

 On a rich dark brown I must confess to a liking for a bit of 

 rich orange silk ribbon on the forehead band, it gives life to 

 the countenance. Many ladies sport their favourite racing 

 colours, and all, if not too loud, light up the horse's head, 

 especially if it be a lean, clean-cut, blood one of the Arab type. 

 All the rest, as in the general " get-up," should be as plain 

 and quiet as possible. The reins must be pliable and fine in 

 grain as a kid glove, and, like the bridle, stitched on to the 

 bit. A groom who cannot clean and burnish a bit without 

 soiling the reins has mistaken his calling. A multiplicity of 



