SADDLES AND SADDLING. 



It is uot the iuteution to discuss all the cliflfereiit 

 kiuJs of saddles in use, as the English or puik 

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

 cowboy saddle. They all have their advantages, 

 according to their dififerent 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 wooden, or the leather tree, making all the 

 difference in the world, uot only to the rider, but, 

 also, to the horse. 



"The wooden tree saddle," as maybe inferred from 

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

 unyielding ]nece of horse furniture happens to fit the 

 horse'.s b;ick, it maj' work tolerablj' well. But the 

 horse may change in condition, losing tle.sh for 

 instance. This wooden unyielding tree cannot 

 adapt itself to the altered circumstances, and tlie 

 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 



Hi 



