SADDLES AND SPUES. 141 



carrying a heavy man on the road or in the field, to 

 have the weight evenly distributed over the horse's 

 back is of more consequence than three or four pounds. 

 The common general fitting saddle will fit nine horses 

 out of ten. Colonial horses usually have low shoulders ; 

 therefore colonial saddles should be narrow, thickly 

 stuffed, and provided with cruppers, although they 

 have gone out of fashion in this countiy, because it is 

 presumed that gentlemen will only ride horses that have 

 a place for carrying a saddle properly. 



On a journey, see to the stuffing of your saddle, and 

 have it put in a draft, or to the fire, to dry, when satu- 

 rated with sweat : the neglect of either precaution may 

 give your horse a sore back, one of the most troublesome 

 of horse maladies. 



Before hunting, look to the spring bars of the stirrup- 

 leathers, and see that they will work : if they are tight, 

 pull them down and leave them open. Of all accidents, 

 that of being caught, after your horses fall, in the stirrup, 

 is the most dangerous, and not uncommon. I have seen 

 at least six instances of it. When raw to the hunting- 

 field, and of course liable to falls, it is well to use the 

 spring-bar stirrups which open, not at the side, but at 

 the eye holding the stirrup-leather; the same that I 

 recommend for the use of ladies. 



Spurs are only to be used by those who have the 

 habit of riding, and will not use them at the wrong 

 time. In most instances, the sharp points of the rowels 

 should be filed or rubbed off, for they are seldom re- 

 " quired for more than to rouse a horse at a fence, or turn 

 him suddenly away from a vehicle in the street. Sharp 

 spurs may be left to jockeys. Long-legged men can 

 squeeze their horses so hard, that they can dispense with 

 spurs ; but short-legged men need them at the close of a 



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